Calling all geeks, nerds and gurus - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

The short version ...

18 month old PC

ASUS P5N
Intel Quad Core 2.3
4GB SD/1066
8600GT graphics

About 6 months ago, I started getting blue screens and restarts. The blue screen never lasted long enough to read the first couple words much less the error. The event log pointed to voltage errors. Looking at the cooling fans for the processor, video card, 3 drives and a 500W power supply, I figured the problem was an easy fix.

I replaced the marginal PS with a dual bus 650W unit. All seemed good ...

About 3 months ago, the system began locking up occasionally. Not often, just often enough to be a tad annoying. Event log kept pointing to memory issues. So, I figured it to be a bad DIMM

I replaced the G-Skill with Crucial and it appeared to fix the problem.

About 2 weeks ago, the same symptoms returned, only this time with more frequency and it would be blue screen once or twice and then a system lock would occasionally get thrown in.

And over the last couple days, it has got progessively worse and worse, to the point that it never even reaches the bios prompt nor do the keybord/mouse power up and there are no audible "beeps".

So, I think I have either fried a motherboard or processor or both.

So, I ordered this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131358

with this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115202

Before any one has a heart attack, NewEgg had a combo deal, there is a $50 mail-in rebate and I had a returning customer 15% off promo code. I saved a tick over $200 on the combo. Pricey still but, I've been throwing parts at this thing for a while.

Now, I've never exchanged a MB and processor before.

How difficult is it to install a processor? Any tips?
I have some thermopaste to use for the the heata sync and then a new fam to keep it all cool.

Once I get everything installed and I power it up for the first time, will it automatically see my system drive? Or will I have to start from scratch? I plan on just powering it up with the system drive only and then add peripherals as I go. Again, will it automatically pick up the drives as I plug them in?

What about my graphics card? Will I have to reinstall all the drivers or will the system just pick them up?

Remember, my system drive is fine as far as I know. So, everything for everything is on there.

Sorry for the long post, just venturing into uncharted territory and wondering I I should expect.

Thanks for the help.

mitchntx View Member Profile	May 30 2009, 02:42 AM Post #1
Nothing says 'I love you.' like a box of Hydroshoks Group: Moderators Posts: 5,284 Joined: 23-December 03 From: Granbury, TX Member No.: 4	The short version ... 18 month old PC ASUS P5N Intel Quad Core 2.3 4GB SD/1066 8600GT graphics About 6 months ago, I started getting blue screens and restarts. The blue screen never lasted long enough to read the first couple words much less the error. The event log pointed to voltage errors. Looking at the cooling fans for the processor, video card, 3 drives and a 500W power supply, I figured the problem was an easy fix. I replaced the marginal PS with a dual bus 650W unit. All seemed good ... About 3 months ago, the system began locking up occasionally. Not often, just often enough to be a tad annoying. Event log kept pointing to memory issues. So, I figured it to be a bad DIMM I replaced the G-Skill with Crucial and it appeared to fix the problem. About 2 weeks ago, the same symptoms returned, only this time with more frequency and it would be blue screen once or twice and then a system lock would occasionally get thrown in. And over the last couple days, it has got progessively worse and worse, to the point that it never even reaches the bios prompt nor do the keybord/mouse power up and there are no audible "beeps". So, I think I have either fried a motherboard or processor or both. So, I ordered this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131358 with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115202 Before any one has a heart attack, NewEgg had a combo deal, there is a $50 mail-in rebate and I had a returning customer 15% off promo code. I saved a tick over $200 on the combo. Pricey still but, I've been throwing parts at this thing for a while. Now, I've never exchanged a MB and processor before. How difficult is it to install a processor? Any tips? I have some thermopaste to use for the the heata sync and then a new fam to keep it all cool. Once I get everything installed and I power it up for the first time, will it automatically see my system drive? Or will I have to start from scratch? I plan on just powering it up with the system drive only and then add peripherals as I go. Again, will it automatically pick up the drives as I plug them in? What about my graphics card? Will I have to reinstall all the drivers or will the system just pick them up? Remember, my system drive is fine as far as I know. So, everything for everything is on there. Sorry for the long post, just venturing into uncharted territory and wondering I I should expect. Thanks for the help.

mitchntx View Member Profile	Jun 3 2009, 12:14 PM Post #2
Nothing says 'I love you.' like a box of Hydroshoks Group: Moderators Posts: 5,284 Joined: 23-December 03 From: Granbury, TX Member No.: 4	Well alrighty then ... Up and running once again. A couple small snags worth noting ... First of all, The BIOS picked up my existing Drives without a problem. Getting the BIOS to recognize them in the correct order was frustrating for those of us BIOS challenged. A couple taps of the keyboard and a well timed cable shuffle ... success. Next came XP turning off the USB ports. They were fine while navigating the BIOS. Both my keyboard and mouse are USB. Kind of hard to run the driver disc without mouse or keyboard. But in true Microsoft Windows fashion, it magically stopped killing the ports after numerous excursions through the BIOS maze. And yes, USB 2.0 and Legacy USB were enabled. Just boom ... there they are! And speaking of driver disc ... sometimes the OS would recognize the disc and sometimes it wouldn't. I would install a set of drivers from the disc on an occasion where the disc (not the drive, the disc) and the restart prompt would come up. Upon reboot, the disc would read blank. Another reboot, and it would reappear ... or not. But once I got all the drivers installed, it hasn't failed to recognize the disc since. Another Windows wave of the magic wand. Any way, thanks to everyone that helped and especially to Kevin for the time on here and on the phone ...