built my own PC - little problem (1 Viewer)

[MichaelZ]

well first off, this is what i got

lian li pc-69 case
antec 550 ps
asus p4c800 mb
intel p4 2.6MHz overclocked to 3.1
corsair 4x512mb ddr400 mem
seagate barracuda SATA 160GB hdd
pioneer slot load dvd player
ati radeon 9800 pro
extra exhaust fan just below cpu


anyways, my problem aint that serious...more of an annoyance.

whenever i startup my computer from completely off my computer says "system failed cpu test" and it'll just repeat it over and over. then when i reboot its fine.


also, i'm in the market for a cd burner...i was thinking for a plextor 52/24/52. its a bit costly, my friends are telling me "nah nah nah, just go for an LG, all burners are the same"


and one more question, not really about the computer, i also want an MP3 player...looked at creative jukebox zen with 60GB harddrive...i think that's just plain overkill, so i'm more lookin at sonicblue RioVolt S35S (128MB upgradable to 640MB)

 

[Clinton McClure]

As far as CD-burners go, I bought a I/O Magic 52x24x52 a couple months back and it totally smokes other burners I've used...makes an 80 minute cd in about 3 minutes.

 

[Scott L]

Michael, newer Asus mobos have a helpful audio helper that will tell you if there's something wrong with the system during bootup. It has helped me numerous times when I didn't know what was wrong.

It's probably acting up in your situation because of your OC'ing. I'm not sure if hyper-threading or some other new feature is making the motherboard act up when overclocking but see if asususa.com has a support forum or try emailing them.

I was looking at a Plex too because of good past experiences. The prices now are just way out of range when comapnies like Lite-On make the same thing of comparable quality for half the price. I went with a Lite-On 48x and love the decision I made.

 

[JamesHl]

Man, with all the money you spent on that other stuff (550 watt ps, 2 gigs of ram, $400 vid card) why didn't you just buy an actual P4 3ghz? If I had to guess, I would say it's the oc that's doing it. Run it at normal speed and see if you still get the message.

Plextors are nice, but not worth the money. I used to have one when the extra sized buffer was a useful and rare feature.

 

[brentl]

Agree with Scott --- Lite on!

 

[Paul_Fisher]

Why not get a DVD-burner? Don't those burn CD's as well?

 

[MichaelZ]

the reason i didn't get a 3.0 cpu is that i did have a wee budget, so i decided to go for a smaller cpu, it just wasn't worth the extra cash...I'll probably upgrade to a 3.2GHz in a couple months

 

[JamesHl]

Where'd you get that other stuff and stay within a wee budget? I have to build a couple systems next month and I usually use newegg, something like that from there would cost...

 

[MikeAlletto]

The 3Ghz processors are almost $200 more than a 2.6Ghz. Why spend $200 for a 400Mhz increase in speed? I think the 3.2Ghz are almost $300 more.

I'm looking at almost the same thing but with the MSI 865PE motherboard (neo 2 fisr or something like that) and only 1 gig of memory instead of 2. Also I'm not buying a sata HD yet. I'm not going to pay more for something that all reviews say is not any faster than an ata100 drive yet. I'm looking to buy in about 2 months or so.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Yep, a DVD burner would be a much better investment.

As for the CPU, make sure that you have the latest mobo drivers from their website.

Glenn

 

[JamesHl]

The 3ghz are the new core, though. Aren't they? I think that's why it's more expensive.

 

[MikeAlletto]

The 3ghz are the new core, though. Aren't they? I think that's why it's more expensive.

No, there are 2.4, 2.6, and 2.8Ghz 800Mhz fsb P4 hyperthreaded processors (as well as 3.0 and 3.2Ghz). They are all the same. Intel just charges a premium for the very latest and greatest, they always have.

 

[Eric_L]

I say check the mobo driver. Asus has a very good tech support line. I know from recent experience. You may want to drop them a call. Make sure to register online before calling.

Do a test of the memory also. I just got a bad stick from corsair that was causing heat and other weird troubles.

 

[MichaelZ]

ya, i'm gonna go check the drivers and contact asus if it still is acting up.

perhaps i'll just save for a bit longer and get a DVD-writter. it doubles as a cd-writter too, correct?

any good ones to get? plextor?

 

[JamesHl]

Format wise, I would recommend a dvd+rw, as they are generally more compatible with things. A good place to find out about cd/dvd burners is cdrinfo.com