Worst PC Build Screw Ups

Page 35 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
I swear that a PC isn't compatiable with specific components...

I'm dealing with a caretakers PC (this is seriously dirty...It smells of rolled fags and has layers of dirt)
managed to clean it (this is a tiny P4 system, 512 RAM, win xp) but no matter what can I get this thing to work with the original components! I've tried everything...RAM, mobo, connections, HDD, GPU, CPU everything but no matter what will this thing operate! Changed the components - everything, but still won't play along...Just put it down to a tiny system.

I've tested everything, all ok, both with another mobo and with software, all ok. Every piece of the system will work with something else, but not the original components that supplied with it!
 
Glad that intelligence isn't wasted on some people...Thanks for telling me...Next you'll tell me that water flows down when you turn the tap on...

(By the way, only having a giggle squire...Some people can't take a joke around here)
 
After the installation of a larger hard drive, my PC would power on for maybe half a second before it would turn itself right back off. I tried the power button several more times at first not being sure what was wrong before the "burning electronics" smell started. Opened the case and found nothing out of the ordinary. It was a textbook hard drive install.

It turns out that while sliding the 3.5" HDD partially out of its bay to connect it, the sharp edge of the case clipped a small resistor soldered onto the circuit board on the bottom of the drive. Instead of the resistor breaking off completely, it stayed partially soldered but bent backwards coming in contact with the nearby power connector on the drive causing an electrical short.

The hard drive as well as the ATA controller on the motherboard were fried because of this.
 
Well I'm currently building my first PC (never built one from scratch before) and I researched for about a month or two to scout out the most efficient parts for the money that were quiet. Anyways I ended up buying some very good quality stuff and then it came to RAM. As I said this was my first build, and I had read a ton of guides, tuts, ect. but none ever mention what the timings on RAM meant. Being the idiot that I am I thought higher was better which made me neglet the much cheaper Corsair 2 gig RAM sticks with 4-4-4-12 timings and instead urged me to buy the more expensive Mushkin Ram with higher latency and 5-5-5-12 timings.

Also I found some really nice reviews on the Silverstone TJ-03 and right after I got it and opened it up later read on the web that the TJ-09 which was much newer and supposably "better" was released with the exact same price. Still hating myself for that but at least the case looks nice. Just those times when you realize you could have gotten something better for the money and it was entirely your fault that bum you out.... :? :?


Blah, guess it had to happen sooner or later. Figured out how to build everything together so far so I'm kind of relieved, but then again software troubleshooting is supposed to be the worst so I better brace myself.

BTW anyone know what the differences in volateges make? I read that you increase them when you overclock but what about for stock parts. For example: The Corsairs had 2.1V while the Mushkin had 1.8V what do these differences in voltage mean? One consumes less power than the other or is there a more spec-related item.

MY Build so far:
Silverstone TJ-03 (black)
EvGa 680i SLI Mobo
Intel Dual Core 2 E660
Zalman CPNS9000
Mushkin 2 gig RAM (2 x 1G)
GameXstrean 700W PSU
EvGa GeForce 7800 GT
Seagate Barracuda 320G HD
Western Digital Caviar 80G HD (backup purposes)




Also while the Corsair used 2.1V and the Mushkin
 
Yo,

You'll always and I mean always buy the part that gets outpaced the next day. Its just a matter of if you have enough inner peace o withstand this.

The 5-5-5-15/12 timings shouldn't affect you too much. This is an Intel we're talking about here, not AM2. You don't really need super tight timing or low latency of you to get good performance. Matter of fact, the only place you might see a difference is in the synthetic benchmarks, like SuperPi or a MFLOP bench.

The differences in voltages could mean a lot depending on what board you use. Take for instance this example. I use a few different motherboards. Lets take my Asus P5B Deluxe and my Gigabyte DQ6, along with Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 and OCZ DDR2 800. The Asus and the OCZ RAM are often incompatible as they boot at different voltages. There can be a lot of headaches there. You're using good (compatible) RAM and so you won't have to worry about this, and you really don't have to star worrying about the voltages unless you plan to overclock. Then thats a whole different story.

Basically, unless you see blue smoke, you've got nothing to worry about. Just remember to use standoffs. And be grounded.

Best Regards,
Ninja

PS.
If you do plan to overclock, please read this:
Core 2 Duo Overclocking Guide
 
Not really a hardware issue but on a new build I couldn't get a NIC to work for love nor money. Reinstalled drivers, find new hardware, deleted from profile, changed network settings - just everything I could think of. So I decide it must be bad out of the box - pulled one from wife's working computer to try. When I went to install in the new build I happened to notice the small problem of the network cable not being plugged into the network card. That bad boy will just work like it should if you will only provide a connection to the network. Those lights on the front of that router come in handy if you only take the time to look. I can't believe I didn't follow a more logical train of thought that would have found this before I wasted all that time. My nickname around here now is "ping ping"!
 
You'll always and I mean always buy the part that gets outpaced the next day.
Click to expand...

Either outpaced or reduced in price.

Its just a matter of if you have enough inner peace o withstand this.
Click to expand...

It is much harder to withstand a huge drop in price. Trust me; I am the voice of experience. ~1 month after I bought this CPU, the price was cut in half. I beat myself up for a month or two; now I'm just happy that I have a computer that works.
 
JYNX
I curse you with a failed hard drive.
(next time knock on wood).


Also, to cure the pricedrop woes.... COMPUSA offeres a good warrenty that allows you to get a full refund, or upgrade to what ever tech is availible at the price you payed, if something happends to the product.

I just picked up a 8800gtx and for $40 bucks, (1 year) I can exhange the product for the best card 11.5 months from now (should I overclock the card till it fails).

This solves all your problems.
 
Ok this doesn't actually count as a PC build screw up but it was a screw up none the less.

I received a link for a flash game from a friend while at work. I then sent a reply back to the e-mail, saying, "I was going to go in the comms room and play it" Unfortunatly, somehow I copied in the sales staff distribution list which includes the MD D'oh.... I've never felt my balls retract in my body faster... I told my boss and he laughed so I think I'm ok. Sucks
 
Email:
I was going to go in the comms room and play it
Click to expand...

Code speek:

00100010 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01101111 01101111 01101101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100010

http://www.sitinthecorner.com/binary/binary.php

Now you will be safe.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom