Hardware Adventures

[Cybernoid]

The story so far.

I had a really old Soltek MB and a Duron processor, and decided to upgrade a bit. However, while upgrading, I somehow managed to break the motherboard and the CPU. So, I bought the cheapest AMD mb I could find (an Asrock) and the cheapest Athlon XP, and some ram. Now, it worked. A bit later, I decided to buy a better motherboard. I bought an Asus (deluxe! ooh!). It didn't work properly, WLAN didn't work at all. At the same time, my Radeon 9800 broke down, as well as my old Matrox G450 and my serial ata drive. Hey, no big deal? I determined that I've reached a dead end and decided to switch to Intel. I bought a new P4 and an MSI motherboard. For some reason, the CPU didn't work at all. And for various reasons the warranty was void. I bought a used Prescott. It didn't work either. I determined that the motherboard is busted. I switched to my old Asrock/AmdXP system. I also bought two serial ata drives recently, but I had difficulty in getting them to work properly. Then my floppy drive broke down (or the disk did), so I couldn't install Windows XP on the SATA drives. So I'm now stuck with two new serial ata drives that are effectively useless. I think I've wasted about 2000 euros or so, in total. I have mountains of useless, broken, redundant or otherwise obsolete hardware. I'm burnt out. I'm tired. Nothing works, everything breaks down. Why can't I get anything to work? I don't even have a proper gfx card now. Can't play much.

 

[ewilson248]

I will try not to sound preachy here, but you need to know a few things up front before spending any more cash. OK, first thing: Trust nobody and verify everything!
this means simply, if you buy used gear, most of the time you get what you pay for.
Know who you are buying from, and where it came from. ie.. its history. Nobody gives good stuff away! Secondly, perhaps maybe its time for some basic training of hardware knowledge in book form or classes. CompTIA A+ books are everywhere.
I have boxes of HW thats almost 10 years old, it all still works.
most items dont " break, bust, or void warranty" on there own, usaully a human is involved somehow.

OBTW -- I am just trying to help, dont flame me if you dont like my advice.

 

[blahblahblah]

When you buy computer hardware, take your time to make sure everything is compatible. Also read reviews about the hardware you are buying to make sure it is reliable.

Here are some review sites

tomshardware
anandtech
xbitlabs

Like, ewilson248 says, take some time to learn how to install hardware. I would recommend buying a book teaching you how to build your own computer step by step. That will give you valuable pointers on how you should handle hardware.

Until you regain your confidence with building computers, trying building one as a noob. Buy an anti-static wrist guard. Install your hardware by the book, follow the instructions exactly. Consult multiple websites/books about how to install the hardware you bought.

PS - I also doubt all of your hardware broke, that seems highly unlikely. You should always make an effort to check broken hardware on another system. And always make sure you keep unused hardware in an anti-static bag.

 

[Asus]

One question. Do you remember the brass standoffs that go between the motherboard and Case? Link

Grab someone you know who builds PCs and have them watch you just to make sure you don't miss anything.

If nothing you have really works then you can't sell it. Give it to someone that would know how to check if parts are working and if they can sell any of it have them give you half of the cash.

 

[Cybernoid]

I'm not the sharpest knife in the hardware drawer, but I know how to install everything. Except maybe CPUs. Installing a cooler for AMD is like brushing yourself with sand paper and then rolling around in salt, only not as fun.

Part of the problem is that when the problems started to occur constantly, I just got so tired that I swapped around hardware with little regard for antistatic precautions. I don't know. I have an antistatic wrist band and everything, but... shit? From now on, I'll have my machines assembled by the shop.