Look, I’ll be the first to admit: I haven't touched anything related to PC building in about a decade.
The case... As far as old parts go, I’ve got a DVD burner and a 1TB SATA 2 hard drive sitting around. Everything else needs to be brand new. For the CPU, I was thinking something along these lines: i3 8100 $467 DDR4 RAM 8GB 3000MHz Panther Silver $210 GTX 1050 Ti (honestly, I'm thinking about grabbing one used since they're basically half price right now) $542 A 240GB SSD Also, if anyone knows a decent online shop where I can snag some deals, let me know. =) But here's the kicker: I absolutely need to be able to pay in installments using a Chase card. Money is a bit tight lately.
So, about the laptop in the title A buddy called me because his machine keeps shutting down. Some repair guy told him the motherboard is shot, $133 repairs and all that nonsense...
I take a look, and man, the CPU and board are cooking (sitting at 70-90 degrees Celsius). (My bad, I should've checked the fan first.) I pop the back panel off, and the heatsink looks spotless, but the thermal paste? It’s basically evaporated. There's almost nothing left...
I clean everything out, slap on some fresh paste, and put it back together. The fan won't budge (it only has one)...
And that's where the headache starts. (I didn't have my multimeter on me at the time.) I tried measuring the pins with an old meter I had lying around—there's some variance there. You've got the black and red (+), plus a yellow one that I can't quite figure out. The fan is dead in the water... the resistance is bleeding over to the black and red wires.
He takes it to a shop, they find a used working fan, plug it in, and still... absolutely nothing happens.
How do I test those pins? I'm trying to cool the laptop down just enough to see if I can get macOS running smoothly again, just to rule out some weird software setting being messed up somewhere...
If the outlet on the motherboard actually died, what's the easiest way to wire up an external fan to keep things cool, since everything shares a single heatsink?
The laptop is strictly for web browsing, no gaming or anything heavy, so it doesn't need massive cooling. The real issue is when he's scrolling through Facebook—it overheats on white backgrounds, which is a huge pain.😁
So, how do I cool this thing down, and what's the best way to test the motherboard pins... The fan runs on 5V.
I'm heading over to his place today to go through this properly with a real multimeter... we'll see what the verdict is.
So, here’s the deal with my RAM... 1x1GB stick works fine (667MHz) 1x1GB stick works fine (800MHz) 2x1GB setup works great—using a mix of those two above, and the system correctly sees 2GB total. But this 1x2GB stick? Total junk. It’s some no-name 800MHz module I grabbed from an overseas site, and it’s failing hard. The system says 2GB is there, but it's only actually using 1GB; the other half is just sitting there as "hardware reserved." When I plug everything in together, the OS claims I have 4GB, but I can only actually use 3GB because 1GB is stuck in reserve.
The motherboard is an ASUS P35. Is it possible the sticks are just defective? Or maybe I got scammed with some fake capacity? 🙂
Ran a memory check and it didn't flag any errors. Next step is to test them on a different board to see how they behave. I might just borrow a standard 1x2GB stick from a buddy to see if the issue follows the stick or stays with my board.
So, for now, this is just how it stands... I’m sitting at about 35-40 degrees at idle, and it hits 62 degrees once I push it to the limit... I really need to figure out why the system is still reporting 4GB total with only 3GB usable; Resource Monitor is showing that 1GB is being swallowed up by "hardware reserved"...
I’ve already gone through and installed every single driver... so it doesn't look like the issue is coming from the GPU (GT220 1GB)
Update is finally done... I’m running an E8400 dual-core at 3.0 GHz—nothing too crazy—but man, this thing used to fly compared to when I had the E4300. It was basically three times faster back then.
My real headache was the system check. It just wouldn't cooperate, no matter what I tried... I woke up this morning to find about 200 pending updates waiting for me.
Is anyone else running into issues with Windows Update? Specifically, svchost... It’s just devouring my RAM until it hits 100%. I'm talking about svchost alone—mostly because of the Windows Update process tucked inside it—gobbling up nearly 2GB of memory. Just a total resource hog.
An update just won't take—it's driving me nuts. It gets stuck right at the "check" phase and that's it. I've already tried a clean install of Windows three times now, and nothing works. It’s just... yeah. Makes you want to throw the whole thing out the window. I've tried every single fix under the sun. Every workaround, every little hack, every "magic solution" you find online... nothing. It’s just a total wash. Nothing works.
I ditched that latest Windows update, but now after I restart, it just sits there endlessly spinning on "checking for updates." It's like a dog chasing its own tail.
I finally cooled down the processor, and man, it’s sitting about 20 degrees lower now. It won't even touch 63 degrees on the cores. I gave the heatsink a good cleaning and slapped on some fresh paste... though the paste was actually still new, I just hadn't cleaned out the dust from the heatsink itself)
As for my RAM, I'm still scratching my head over why it isn't showing up right. Honestly, I have this nagging feeling the GPU is just swallowing it all because of some driver issues—and don't even get me started on Windows Update. It's being an absolute nightmare lately... just devouring every bit of memory I have until nothing else will run, haha)
My old MSI P965 Neo basically gave up the ghost on me during Christmas. It had clocked about 60,000 working hours under its belt, and since day one, running an E4300 on it felt like a constant struggle to squeeze performance out of a budget setup when you're broke 😁
Running around here and there... Picked one up today and got it assembled ASUS P35 with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 First thing hitting me is the temperature, though I managed to fix part of it... I didn't dive deep into the BIOS settings, but I noticed the multiplier or whatever was set to 6x (I didn't mess with anything, just skimmed through) Tried putting it under a bit of a load, and after half an hour, the max temp hit 78 degrees on one core, slightly less on the other CPU temp was at 73 degrees..
Still, feels a little high to me... The cooler is just that standard Intel 775 stock unit...
So I started poking around the BIOS. Everything looked a bit sketchy (you never really know how much someone messed with used gear), so I hit "load optimized defaults." Suddenly the multiplier jumps to 9x, and instead of 2000MHz, I'm sitting at 3000MHz..
Ran another stress test and now the temps are hovering at 68 on the cores, and even lower on the CPU itself.. I'll give the heatsink a good cleaning tomorrow (it's pretty dusty, haven't had the time yet)...
Anyway, what are the absolute maximum temperatures I should be allowing for this processor? =)
Second little headache... I'm running DDR2 memory 1x 1GB, 667MHz 1x 1GB, 800MHz 1x 2GB, 800MHz (no label on this one, just going by memory—some no-name Chinese stick a buddy gave me)
In Windows 7 SP1, 64-bit, it shows 4GB total, but only 3GB available... -Any idea why? 😁 There's no integrated graphics, (I'm using my old GT 220, 1GB)
Finally got this cast off today. The doctor’s basically telling me there might be some lasting issues. He wants me to try moving my finger, but since it hasn't fully healed yet (it's been five weeks), it’s pretty rough. Every time I try to shift it, there's this sharp pain, and honestly, the connection is just gone. It’s like my brain sends the signal to squeeze, but the joint just ignores me entirely. Total disconnect. :/
If this physical therapy thing doesn't pan out, I might just have to call it quits and go for the amputation. I wouldn't do it myself, obviously, but I'm curious—what does the actual procedure look like? And what's the recovery timeline for a targeted finger amputation?
Got my cast on Friday. Fast forward ten days—just finished painting it—and now I'm back under the plaster again today. It’s like being stuck in a loop. One minute you're decorating your new accessory, the next you're right back at square one.
The doctors say everything looks fine... but I don't know. It feels like it’s just not healing at all. Honestly, even the way they're positioning me doesn't feel right. It's like trying to fix a cracked windshield by just taping it over—it might look okay for a second, but the structural integrity just isn't there. So, they took the photo without the cast on, and then I ended up getting it back later... just a weird sequence of events, really. It’s like when you go to a mechanic to get a part checked, they take a quick snap for the insurance, and then you’re left sitting there waiting for the actual repair to happen. A bit disjointed.
I can't see the image you linked. It looks like the link might be broken or I just don't have access to that specific screenshot. If you want me to take a crack at rewriting something, go ahead and paste the actual text here. Once you do, I'll get to work turning it into something fresh.
So, two days ago on Saturday, I went and broke the ring finger on my right hand. The X-rays show a fracture at the base of the proximal phalanx of the fourth finger, with some minor displacement of the bone fragments.
Right now, I’m rocking a splint. I'm just resting up until Friday when I find out if I actually need surgery. Honestly? Probably not. But I'm wondering if I can just stick with the splint because a heavy-duty cast sounds like a total nightmare. It's not like I'm some kid who doesn't know how to be careful while things heal.
My motherboard is pretty locked down, honestly. There’s just so little that's actually unlocked or adjustable... so for right now, I’m definitely not touching anything.
I can't make heads or tails of all these calculations either. All this stuff about memory and whatnot... none of it makes any sense to me. xD
That’s exactly what I was thinking... look, just as a heads-up, I actually swapped out the thermal paste on my CPU yesterday after clocking in about 50,000 hours of uptime... now the per-core temperatures are looking much better, so the chip itself is running about 10 degrees cooler than before.
This is actually my third graphics card in this build, and honestly, everything is running like it's brand new. 😁 The only snag is when I start playing around with the overclocking. If I set the FSB to 220, it boots up perfectly fine, but once I hit 233, it just refuses to post—the fans spin up, but that's it. I haven't touched the voltages yet; you think maybe that's the culprit? -I'm also a bit fuzzy on the whole RAM-to-CPU relationship during an overclock. One of my sticks is 667MHz and the other is 800MHz, though they're both running in dual-channel at 667MHz... could that be part of the issue? Or does the system just need more juice?
Regarding the BIOS, it says I'm running version 1.9—which, honestly, is the last time I ever touched an update...
Beyond that, I’m wondering if this upgrade is even worth my time. Some benchmarks suggest the Intel Core 2 Duo 925 is a massive step up, but then you read the forums and everyone says this whole platform was a complete dud. Apparently, they run incredibly hot and just don't deliver the performance people expected. :/
Motherboard: ASUS P965Neo Power supply: some "junk" unit that came bundled with my midtower case—it’s an old boy, probably 6 or 8 years old now. -Mode COM Feel II - 400ATX Current CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 925 1.8ghz x2 (tried overclocking it to 1.98 and it holds up) -Temperatures: at 100% load and 1.800mhz, I'm hitting 82-83 degrees (no matter how long I run it) +at 100% load and 1980mhz, it hits 84-85 degrees (after about half an hour) Cooler😳 Just the stock cooler that came with this processor, and yeah, the case is open.
The plan: swap in an Intel Core 2 Duo 925 (3.0ghz x2); according to the web, the board supports it. -Price: $17...
****Quick question: would I need to reinstall Windows after the swap? I just finished reinstalling Windows 7 64-bit two days ago because I was getting ready to upgrade the RAM.
Would that happen right during the CPU swap itself? (I'm sticking with the old cooler and power supply for now) From what I've read, the E4300 pulls 65w, while the 925 draws 90w...
-Rest of the build: Nvidia GT220, 2gb DDR2 RAM (dual channel)—I'm grabbing another 2gb soon, so I might as well grab the processor at the same time.
Thanks for getting back to me... Look, the scar isn't really what's bothering me. It’s more about just getting 😁 to heal up as fast as possible. I really don't want to deal with an infection or end up stuck with a nasty scab for two months. I don't have any ointments or anything on hand—I'm just a college student living in a cramped rental right now, so my supplies are basically zero until I can get back home in .
So, I took a tumble while out for a run about half an hour ago... I’ve got one of those "playground scrapes" on my elbow. It wasn't bleeding much at first, but now it’s stopped and there's just this clear fluid weeping over the surface—not really dripping, just sitting there. The wound is roughly 2cm by 0.3cm, plus a few little circular spots on the top of my forearm, maybe half a centimeter wide each. I already washed up and cleared out all the grit and dirt from the pavement. Should I try to disinfect this? The problem is, all I have on hand is some Tequila and Vodka. Thanks for the help. I couldn't find the right thread for this, so I figured I'd just start a new one.