My recently acquired computer..

[tsumake]

Hey All,

Thanks all for your help with some of my problems. I have some more questions and I'm posting some pics of my computer for help.

My specs are:

AMD Mobo, the number is something like smp800...

Dual 3 ghz processors

ATI radeon 9600

160 gig HD

WinXP Pro (no SPs)

1gig RAM

Here are some pics:

The computer is a bit cluttered... I was checking the Hard disk and I found it was only attached to two screws. Turns out it doesn't "need" any attachment screws because it's literally jammed into the slot...

Here are my questions:

1. When I do a cold boot of the computer, I get a screeching noise from the CPU fan (I think it's from the fan). Do I need to replace it? Clean it? The interior is very dusty.

2. While the computer has two processors, and it lists them in the Device manager, when I load up task manager and look at the processor consumption tab, I only see one processor. Also, when I load up the computer, it only lists on proc on startup. However, when I up the cycles in DosBox to like 30,000 it doesn't seem to take much out of the proc at all; it stays at 30% consumption. Is one of the processors busted, or am I looking in the wrong places?

3. My DVD burner is constantly accessing a CD when inserted. This actually corrupts installations and prohibits me from acessing certain games. Will disabling Auto Instert notification remedy this, or is there a problem with the cables? This is a brand new burner, so I can't fathom it being the problem?

4. I want to upgrade the graphics chip from a 9600 to an X800. But I only have a 400W PSU. Will I have to worry about power consumption?

Thanks so much for your help. I wan to polish up this comp it's not a bad system.

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

1. Clean ALLLLLLL dust out of the whole machine as best you can. If it still makes noises, replace it ASAP. If it dies, chances are yer whole comp will too. Never have dust in your machine..

2. I don't know, never worked on a dual processor machine

3. Sounds to me like a fucked up burner, or a software issue. ie. you have sumthin on yer machine that's makin this mess up. Have another drive to test it out w/?

4. 400 watt will do fine as long as it's a good quality brand in good shape.

PS. None of yer pics work...

 

[tsumake]

Thanks for the reply.

Can anyone recommend me a good site to upload pics? I used Kodak's photo album site.

I don't think it's the burner. The same thing happened to the CDRW/DVD combo drive that was in there. Could it be the data cable? Why would it constantly check the CD?

What's the best way to clean the system?

Thanks!

 

[lordofduct]

photobucket!

shit is free for like 100 megs of storage at 250Kb an image with like a gig of bandwidth

or

you can pay 20 bucks and get unlimited space, 1 meg image allowance, unlimited bandwidth (within reason is how they put it... if your eating a terrabyte of bandwidth there is something wrong).

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

try a new cable, cheap and easy fix. It a fresh install of windows?

 

[tsumake]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try a new data cable for my dvd burner. Is there a specific name for the cable?

I'll post up the photos on photobucket soon. Thanks again!

 

[tsumake]

Here they are:

 

[antime]

In Task Manager, select the Performance tab, View/CPU History/One Graph Per CPU.

 

[CrazyGoon]

Originally posted by tsumake@Sun, 2005-08-28 @ 01:35 PM

3. My DVD burner is constantly accessing a CD when inserted. This actually corrupts installations and prohibits me from acessing certain games. Will disabling Auto Instert notification remedy this, or is there a problem with the cables? This is a brand new burner, so I can't fathom it being the problem?

That reminds me. I'm looking for a DVD-ROM that fits that description (mostly). I'm hoping to find one that is designed to run like that - rather than your case, though . Anyone know/ heard of DVD-ROMs that keep the media at a readable speed at all times whilst the media is present? Silent operation is also sought for.

In regards to your question, I'm not sure. It's strange. Your whole description regarding your pc is strange aswell. You say the interior is very dusty, except it's hard to imagine why it would be so dusty, given that your pc is so new (judging from the specs). Also, the person who assembled it, didn't take much care with the assembly, since the CPU fan is noisy, and didn't do anything about the dodgy burner.

With all that expensive goo plugged into your mobo (mmm, dual core AMD ), you'd best make sure it doesn't get too hot. At any rate, clear that dust out pronto. On second thought, send that baby back to the guy who assembled it for you (assumming it was a male), bitch to him your problems, and get him to give the case a nice spit and shine while he fixes his problems (that's right - they are his!).

 

[tsumake]

Well, the thing is I got this computer for virtually free. The guy was moving back to Singapore that night, so he sold me his comp and monitor for eighty bucks. He's a great guy, and I can't in my right mind complain about the computer. He told me he had problems with it, so now I'm trying to see if I can fix them.

Another question: When I boot up the comp, the fan make's a strong, discordant whirring noise for a few minutes, then calms down. Is it too dusty, or do I need a new cooler. I posted pics above of what the fan looks like. But, being a newbie with this mobo, I'm very apprehensive about touching the fan or anything near the precious CPU. What is the proper way to remove the cooling fan for maintenance/cleaning/replacement? Is there a good website that gives an illustrated instruction for such a thing? Thanks again!

 

[CrazyGoon]

I stumbled across something that may help your CPU prob - http://boyce.us/windows/tipcontent.asp?ID=224

This is the process you need to go through to get windows to recognise (and utilize) your other CPU, when you already have the OS installed. Also written (on another page), was this:

You can try to replace the system driver with the correct one, but a reinstall is the best option since the first option could leave the system unbootable.

So proceed with caution. First thing I would do (apart from verify that the CPU isn't being recognised by windows) is research a bit more about the little problem of rendering the comp unbootable. Though, even if that happened, the bright side is that you should be guarenteed that the CPU's will be recognised after the re-installation.

About the screeching fan - a temp solution which works for me:

If the fan is whining at me from a cold boot, I switch off the system, take off the case side, and then proceed to push the fan in various directions. This works with an 80mm exhaust fan of mine. These fans are very durable, and I have yet to break one through this method - hell, thesedays I can't even be bothered shutting down the system when I'm fixing the fan.

 

[tsumake]

Thanks CrazyGoon for the advice. I actually opened up my PSU, which was filled with dust. I used my trusty can of canned air and blew out as much of the offending particles as possibled. I fiddled a little with the fan, and while it still makes noise, now I'm pretty sure it's just the fan being bitchy, so I'm not worried. It quiets down after a while.

Oh, after downloading the mobo manual, I realized that it isn't dual-proc... it's a via pm800 m2 mobo.... technically, with HT, it's kinda like dual-proc, but not really... I'm not complaining at all, though, since I got the system for free and the 3ghz proc is not bad at all. I just replaced the radeon 9600 with an X850 pro, and the comp's where it needs to be. I can theoretically overclock the processor to 3.6ghz, but my experience with overcloaking has always left me with a cooked hotdog smell, so I'll leave it as is.

 

[CrazyGoon]

Bummer about that mobo. I guess the only way to make use that other processor is to buy another motherboard.

Enjoy your new system