upgrade - move dell components to my case?

[groovepapa]

When going for upgrade from my old P3 933 system, I decided I'd try out building my own PC again. First time was a disaster, this time was no different.

I bought an NF7-S 2.0 mobo, 512 MB of PC2700 memory, Athlon XP 2500+ Barton, a Radeon 9600 video card, Codegen Case (Enermax 350W PSU). after a bunch of problems getting into POST, we (anandtech forum members and I) determined I have a bad CPU, unless someone can think of something else we didn't try...(search for my other post here).

now I still want/need to upgrade, and I have all these components, but I'm tired of getting burned trying to build a system. should I get another CPU and try again with all these same components, or should I just sell the mobo/cpu and get a new combo or something? I've thought about taking in my components to a local PC shop and having them put it together, but it seems like such a waste.

I'd really like to get a new CPU and try again, but my experiences leave me thinking that PC building is somehow much harder than I anticipated...I figured I would just buy the components, assemble them, plug in and go...is it really very complicated, or have I had bad luck?

 

[JSSheridan]

It isn't that hard, to do, it just sounds like you've had some bad luck. Don't give up man. Peace.

 

[0ptimist]

Copy that

 

[0ptimist]

Copy that

 

[sharq]

You learn from your mistakes, don't give up, get a new cpu (shouldn't it be under warranty?).
In my initial days, I did things to computers ppl didn't think were possible. Infact, it got to the point that friends and family would not let me touch their computer (literally, I couldn't use it even) because of my "affect" on computers. I've gotten better though, they now ask me for help.

 

[groovepapa]

well, I got the CPU from another anandtech member who said it should have worked fine, but I don't know...

are CPU's from newegg under warranty? if so, I'll grab one from there and give it another go...

thanks.

 

[JSSheridan]

OEM CPU's have a 30 day warrenty and retail CPU's have a longer warrenty.

 

[groovepapa]

UPDATE: I bought a new CPU from a local shop and put it in. so now I've got brand new memory, supposedly brand new mobo, brand new cpu, brand new power supply, brand new case, and an old GeForce 2 Ultra that works in my old computer...

and STILL NOT GETTING ANYTHING ONSCREEN!

I tried using only one stick of memory in each of the DIMM slots...nothing. also tried assembling out-of-case on a piece of cardboard...nothing. I've tried everything I can think of and I still can't get anything onscreen at all...the little LED on the monitor just stays orange and never gets any kind of signal.

I'm about 2 or 3 posts away from screwing all this and buying some Dell or something! playing Halo on a P3 < 1Ghz really sucks. Anandtech members, help me figure this out...why is building this PC so frustrating?!

TIA.

 

[mAsTAd]

bad moniter?

 

[groovepapa]

no, the monitor works fine with my other computer too. and it works fine with that video card in my other computer...

 

[groovepapa]

looking at Dells...I can get a P4 2.66 system with a 15" flat panel monitor for $519. then I could use my 512 memory and radeon 9600 graphics card and sell my mobo and cpu for $100-$150? making a new Dell system with flat monitor for about $400!

my new case has a pretty cool window cut into it, and I'd like to keep that...how hard would it be to move all the Dell stuff over to this case? I'll put the Dell PSU, mobo, cpu, hd, cd, everything...into this case...has anyone done that?

anyone else think this is a good substitute?

 

[fishsgood]

i think dell makes its psu's, motherboards, cases, and such so that they cant be moved into a different computer. im not sure about this on newer dells though. Also you might want to check the computer with a different powersupply or make sure its set to 115V. i had it set to 220V and the computer showed the same characteristics. good luck.

 

[stevty2889]

Have you tried a PCI video card in case maybe the AGP port is bad on the motherboard?

 

[groovepapa]

no, I'm done trying things...the dog got into the trash and pissed on the floor while I was working on this thing, so I got mad enough and just bought a Dell. if moving the components isn't possible, I might just get a window kit and mod the dell case so I can put some nifty lighting on it...

 

[DaNorthface]

you should alawys buy a new motherboard instead of used or reburbished ones. There's just too much that can go wrong with non new motherboards and it's such a sensitive and important piece of hardware.