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I've always wanted my own Question!

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by scott_heath 2 views

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I have a Biostar P4M900 motherboard. I bought it because my IT budget at home is woefully underfunded. I have talked to the CFO (er, Wife) and she wouldn't budge. So to use my existing processor, a yucky P4 2.4ghz Northwood, I decided to buy a board that supported Socket 478, BUT still had DDR2, SATA, and PCIe x16.

The result: a massive piece of crap.

For the second time the motherboard has gone bonkers in 4 months and beeps incessantly telly me I have no memory. My 2GB DIMM works fine in other PCs. So, do I:

1. RMA it again and pray God stops hating me?
2. Get them to give me online credit and buy another Mobo and CPU, CFO willing?
3. Launch it into space using several model rocket engines?
4. Determine it's use as protective shielding against 12 gauge buckshot?

Seriously though, anyone had experience with this problem?

28 replies

by tig2

Kick the board to the curb and try a little extra sweet talk with the CFO.

Or steal her credit card.

But seriously, with the credit, the extra to upgrade the CPU is comparitivly marginal.

Christmas is coming. Use the leverage.

by scott_heath

Well, the Mobo I wam looking at is $100 and the CPU is $130. My credit would only be $55, but something is better than nothing!

by tig2

You gotta work the Christmas angle. Use the leverage.

Still- under $200. That doesn't suck! And it beats going the RMA path every few weeks!

by retro77

With the CFO types, you gotta break down into a way they understand. Look at how much down time you have because of this product. If you get the store credit and add probably $85, you can get your self into a low end socket LGA775 mobo and processor. That can go as low as a P4 and as high as a QuadCore, actually saving you money in the long run because of its longevity. Good luck with the wife...err...CFO!

by scott_heath

I am working on a "budgeting trade-off" project right now. I get a little more in my PC budget, she gets a little more her whatever-the-heck-she-buys budget. Mostly books. To bad I never learned how to read...

by retro77

Who brings home the paycheck? What you do is an allotment at work to syphon off $50 a paycheck...after a few months you've got a nice nest egg. Order some parts, delivered to work of course, bring you PC into work one time and upgrade it! I once built an entire computer at work, slowly with with this method.

by mayhem1969

Don't be such a sissy. :) I like that do it all at work behind her back plan. I also recommend you send it off into space with several model rockets, which would be much cooler than simply returning it.

by scott_heath

... love those Estes model rockets when I was a kid. We damaged so many things with those rockets.

I do admit to being a sissy. My wife stays at homw with the kids, but my youngest starts school in 2 years and the wife will return to work. At which point I will waste $20K on something like this:

******************************************
ICON Exotix - Flames
ICON Window and Case Lighting - Blue
Silverstone 1000Watt Strider - Modular
EVGA nVidia nForce 680I - SLI
Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6850 3.0GHz
Icon Watercooling Kit
8GB Corsair DHX 6400C5
2x nVidia GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB
Creative Labs X-Fi Elite Pro
MTron 64GB SSD - 2x32GB Raid 0
Raid 0+1 - Requires 4 Identical Drives
Hitachi 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 2
Hitachi 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 2
Hitachi 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 2
Hitachi 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 2
LG GGWH10NI BlueRay Burner/HD DVD Reader
Plextor 800A DVD/RW Dual Layer
Mitsumi Flash Media & Floppy Drive
Windows Vista Ultimate - 64 Bit
Office 2007 Professional
Microsoft Wireless Desktop 8000
Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
Ergodex DX-1 Falcon Edition
Samsung 30 - 2560x1600
Samsung 30 - 2560x1600
Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
Logitech Premium Stereo Headset
Monster Power 800HP
SIIG Firewire 800 (3) 1394B
Enermax Quiet Mag-Lev Fans
Falcon Northwest T-Shirt (LG)
******************************************

You to can start the divorce proceeding by heading over to www.falcon-nw.com! Although in 2 years I expect to get 1TB Solid State drives, 5TB SATA drives, 64GB RAM, and 4 8 core processors. But maybe I'm just being optimistic.

I swear there is something wrong with me today...

by retro77

In 2 years that'll only cost you $10k! Hahaha

by cg it

I can see the Samsung 30s but the rest?

by tig2

We don't want to be the cause of premature divorce!

The whole "leverage Christmas" thing could conceivably
promote marital harmony. Really. Its better that way...

by scott_heath

I have 3 kids, so we center Christmas around them. last year we couldn't find the Christmas tree past all the gifts. And I'm not kidding. My wife starts buying in August and she is a deal shopping freak. She never pays full price for anything.

We spend a little on ourselves, but my wife hates buying me PC stuff because I tend to sell it within a year or so to upgrade and she says it makes her feel bad, like I didn't want her gift. I sold the AGP x1600 Pro she got me last year so I could upgrade to a GeForce 8600GT. Didn't go over well. So I told her she didn't have to buy my computer stuff anymore. I usually ask for 2 things - high end cookware, like Calphalon Pro Series or good tools.

by cg it

might be useful at stopping buckshot. Those multilayered PCBs can be quite thick.

on the other hand, RMA and get another socket 478 board from one of the big 5.

Asus, Abit,MSI,Gigabyte or Intel.

by scott_heath

I'm an Asus or Gugabyte fan myself. Unfortunately I couldn't find another board even close in price that had everything I needed. All the other socket 478 boards were missing AGP or DDR2 or both. i think I found one for $200, but screw that. I can buy a new CPU and Mobo for that...

by cg it

you can get an AMD Dual Core 65 watt 4600+ from Newegg.com for about $85.00

couple that with a Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 motherboard which has built in video and supports DDR 2 for around $75.00

and well throw in a 500 watt power supply and you've got a decent system for around $200.00 [already have the memory]

by scott_heath

It will be worth $10K a month after I buy it...

Although I hope everyone knows I am kidding!

by retro77

Aren't we always? People don't actually do what we advise, do they?

by scott_heath

With all the wisecracks I've made over the years about the FDISK password retrieval utility I certainly hope no one's been listening to me.

by scott_heath

I would do nothing with it. Play Battlefield 2 & 2142 and maybe Madden 2015 or whatever.

I was kidding anyway. My next big purchase will be a HD TV. I just like to keep my PC barely decent enought to play new games. I can play COD4 on the one I have now... when it boots that is...

by scott_heath

But I've gone back to Intel. After years of only using AMD, I got this last PC for free when I got laid off. Then I did my small upgrade to it. Now Intell and the Core 2 Duo has been beating AMD in the performance tests and the prices are pretty competitive. Of course before I do buy anything new I will do my research again, but if I was to buy today I would go with Intel. The E2160/E2180 has proven to be a hot overclocker, so I might go with that and push it up to 2.8-3.0ghz.

As a side note, I like giving out little thumbs up thingys. Bravo to all of you!

by retro77

Stay a loyal AMD fan!

I have an AMD 64 3000+ in my desktop, looking to upgrade it and a laptop that runs the new 64x2 at 2.0GHz, its runs Vista nice with a meer 2gig of RAM.

Actually my first laptop was an AMD K2 with like 48MB RAM.

by scott_heath

I may have some cash in mid-January to do an upgrade. I'll take a look at the current roadmaps and price vs performance and pick one I guess. I do love to support the upstart company, but not if it means shooting myself in the foot.

by retro77

Ok watches and ties are something you can hold onto and cherrish. But computer stuff...not quite the same. Smart in not asking for computer stuff anymore. You might want to go the gift card route too...maybe not.

by oh smeg

I would personally Deep Six the Biostar Board and replace it with something else. They are junk at best and a total load of rubbish normally.

If the wife is unwilling RMA the M'Board and then when it is reassembled make her use it till it breaks again and then blame her for the failure. After all it must be the users fault!

Biostar Boards are on my list of [b]Never Consider as anything but paper weights.[/b]

Col

by scott_heath

They are on my list of stuff I should never buy, but in a moment of weakness and lust for PCIe, I caved. Ihate feeling cheap, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do! I'll never take a chance on it again though.

by tig2

I can see this. I have been thinking that Calphalon would be a good gift for the significant one myself. I got him an HDTV, 50" Plasma this year. But our only child is 24. Makes a difference.

All said, since you can't leverage Christmas, I would go down the path that Retro suggested- ROI is everything.

I get this easy- the significant one is also in IT. He understands upgrade.

In this case, you explain how having to constantly RMA the mobo is actually COSTING you money. By having to spend copious amounts of time on the web and elsewhere to troubleshoot problems that are truly avoidable, you are actually spending $$$- use your bill rate to estimate the value of your time. Also explain that consistent failure is putting other resources in danger of being smoked, therefore requiring replacement. Finally, remind her that a working system enables you to learn new technologies as they become available, thus increasing your employability.

Devious is not always a bad thing. I know. I'm a girl.

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