My first screw up

[jonnyu]

Today my dad gave me a nice lesson. He said, "Jon, some people have really good judgment. But the only reason they have really good judgment is because they first had really bad judgment." I demonstrated the accuracy of this statement later that when night I tried to force something in my computer that probably shouldn't have been forced, and - what do you know??- It bent!! Hah! Oh, and did I mention it was my processor? Yep! Ironic too, because I was just buying parts to upgrade my system - new mobo, memory, graphics card... only thing I wanted to carry over from my old system was the processor! haha! ...

Perhaps the bigger issue is that I had just finished my "grocery list" of things to buy based off of various recommendations of the THG community... but that's all useless now, unless I pay $130 to replace my 2.4 p4. For that price I could practically buy an amd 64...

I still can't believe I bent that thing.

So what's your worst/first computer horror story?

Oh, and if anyone would like to help ease the pain you could recommend some parts to buy with $500. I now need a mobo, cpu, memory, and graphics card... which I guess is just about everything! The horror.

A while ago someone recommended an athlon 64 3000, Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9, Gigabyte GV-NX66128D 6600, and 512 of ram. Suggestions?

If nothing else, at least post a screw up - we can all learn from it.

 

[endyen]

You need a cheaper board than s939. Maybe <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-190&depa=1" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-190&depa=1</A>, or <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-512&depa=1" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-512&depa=1</A> and of course <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-259&depa=1" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-259&depa=1</A> is a nice choice as well. They are all s754, so a 2800 is possible, though the 3200 is at the sweet spot.
No matter what, get an nforce board. The single chip chipset is a lot cooler.

 

[jonnyu]

Welp, I'm opting for:

MB MSI|VIA K8T800 K8T NEO-FSR RTL $70.00
*VGA PWRCLR|RADEON9600PRO 128M 8X $118.00
CPU AMD 64 |3000+ ATHLON 64 RTL $146.00
DDRAM512MB CORSAR64X64 VS512MB400 RAM $71.25

I know this is a little late (seeing as I checked out at newegg last night) but does anyone see any problems? I got it all off Sharky Extreme's october value guide . I've never ordered off of newegg before, so I don't know if you can change orders after you send your money- but if there seem to be any glaring mistakes it'd be nice to try to work it out sooner than later.

 

[petrolhead2003]

Putting a ddr module in the wrong way(motherboard in casing still!)and forcing the clips on,it all clicked together!!
Turned on,mmmm,what's that burning smell..aaaaaahhhhhhhh.

One fried ddr module and a fkd Nforce 2 ultra 400 motherboard.

What a twat.

Did'nt kill anything else except ddr and mboard.

I won't be doing that again.

 

[Cybercraig]

How bad is it? A ZIF socket is a "Zero Insertion Force" socket, not a "Push In Somewhat Slowly" (PISS} socket. How many bent pins?

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

 

[jonnyu]

I think like 7 or 8

 

[Flinx]

Can u try straightening them? I mean if the processor seems a lost cause anyway?

Anybody have experience in straightening pins?

I would think either adjacent flat plates or somekind of very small relatively strong tube.

The loving are the daring!

 

[endyen]

If you didn't push it in all the way, you may be able to save the chip. A nice set-up to sell, after your A64 system is built.
In the past, I used to straighten pins with a plastic knife. I've gotten more carefull in my old age.

 

[pat]

You know the pen that you have to buy lead for them..? They happen to have the right sized hole to straighten bent pins... They are good too for connector's pin. They are availabe in .5 mm and .7 mm hole size.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[jonnyu]

Hey thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

I've had a lot of clock calls with my water cooling. But luckly, distilled water doesn't conduct too well and so I was safe.

But I can guarantee that the day will come, when I make a stupid mistake and blow up my PC.

______________
OK it's your choice:
You can have the boat, or you can have the Mystery Box!
...Hey wait a minute! A boat's a boat, but a Mystery Box could be anything. It could even be a boat

 

[Squick]

I think my best mistake was when I upgraded from a 486 to a Celeron 300A (First attempt at overclocking too). It was a 486SX-33, so it had no heatsink. And I was always asmused that it would get warm to the touch. Well I got my 300A and I noticed that an OEM chip has no heatsink. Well I figured as long as I put a house fan pointing at it I would be able to turn it on at least without it burning out until I get a heatsink ordered.

So I put everything together, and without a heatsink I turn it on and hop into the BIOS where it locks. I thought that was odd... Well I wanted to see if the processor was already hot, the 486 would take 30 minutes or so to heat up to ~15 F over room temperature, so I touch the center of the process with the pad of my forefinger... And boy oh boy... That was like touching the sun! I instantly jumped back and ran to tend to my burn...

The chip was fine and worked great for over three years till I upgraded again... I didn't ever try to run a processor without a heatsink again after that