PC upgrade repair advice...

[CatastrophicFailure]

Probably the wrong subforum for this, but KSP IS 80% of what I use my computer for.

Anyways, I have an older Alienware Aurora. Intel i7 930/2.8ghz, 6 meg RAM, dual Radeon 6870's, SSD's. Always handled everything I threw at it well but it is starting to show its age.

And the main problem, now it won't boot, just gives me a flashing cursor. Long story short I'm suspecting a bad motherboard. Trying to decide whether to bother trying to fix it or just move on. I'm given to believe that Alienware case/mobo makes a simple replacement unlikely so it'd have to be shipped back & forth to Dell, wasting time & money.

If my contract BS at work goes thru I can probably justify spending on this.

So, question is, would that be a decent upgrade over what I've got? Spent a lot more on my current system but that was many years ago too.

[DSM20T]

Are you against assembling one yourself?? You could save some money by re using the case you currently have and maybe the ssd's. Of course, it may be worth having somebody confirm your diagnosis if that is available to you.

[Xaiier]

Definitely an improvement, and it would run KSP quite well. Not too steep of a price either. I would definitely suggest looking into your problem more first, it may be easily solvable or replaceable.

inb4AlienWarehaters

EDIT: DSM20T's suggestion is decent, you could salvage parts from your current one to build a new computer.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Xaiier

[KasperVld]

Moved to the Space Lounge. For a quick answer I'd check out http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/25004-KSP-Unofficial-Official-Computer-Building-Megathread-%28All-Questions-Acceptable-%29

[CjStaal]

try to find a used 4770k and rampage 3 extreme mobo

[SuccessPastaTime]

I'd recommend building your own, or at least troubleshooting. If it's giving you a flashing cursor, which I assume is like a command line cursor, not a mouse cursor, it's probably not POSTing for some reason. Does the interior of your PC have LED lights, or does it beep as it starts up?

If you just wanna get something new, as your computer is getting old, but don't want to build, I'd recommend cheaper gaming oriented sellers. I've never bought from them, but Cyberpower always seemed pretty legit, and it should be a decent amount cheaper too.

Edit: I've never used Alienware, but if it's built like a Dell, I'd imagine it might be more difficult to upgrade or repair then a home built PC, just because they have different form factors.

Edited October 1, 2014 by SuccessPastaTime

[Camacha]

Prebuilt gaming computers never seem properly balanced and the Alienware you linked is no exception - too much RAM and not enough video card. Depending on your specific needs a tailored system is usually more effective.

The flashing cursor suggests some kind of trouble with the OS or HDD/SDD. I would double check all the relevant SATA and power connectors. Does the SSD show up in the BIOS at all and get you get to that?

[CatastrophicFailure]

Wow what copious and expeditious response.

Was in a bit of a rush when I typed that up. I've done enough troubleshooting to absolutely rule out either the hard drives or Windows (as the old hard drives with the old Windows are currently sitting on my desk). Thought that had fixed it but nope. So that makes the mobo the next likely suspect. It will boot thru POST & the bios screen, can boot from the CD, but with no CD in it just stops at the part where it should start booting off the hard drives. That tells me it's not the graphics cards, memory, or processor... right?

Yes, scratch building a new system is always the most cost efficient but that's really above my paygrade at this point (I'm not the nerd I once was lol ), and I'd prefer some kind of tech support when something inevitably goes wrong (my "projects" never end up being "quick" or "on budget"). Time is of the essence too, as that computer also ran my home security software which I'll now have to bodge onto my wife's laptop thereby negating the whole "laptop" bit. And KSP is just painful on this thing.

I was on I think my third Alienware with the dead one. I've always liked them but I'm a bit annoyed with them now too since I just discovered they no longer build to order and it's just off the shelf. So I'm certainly open to other makers. I don't need a cutting edge fire-breathing liquid cooled gaming monster, just something that'll be better than what I've got now & run KSP well (and GTA5 when they get around to releasing it too).

[Renegrade]

Was in a bit of a rush when I typed that up. I've done enough troubleshooting to absolutely rule out either the hard drives or Windows (as the old hard drives with the old Windows are currently sitting on my desk). Thought that had fixed it but nope. So that makes the mobo the next likely suspect. It will boot thru POST & the bios screen, can boot from the CD, but with no CD in it just stops at the part where it should start booting off the hard drives. That tells me it's not the graphics cards, memory, or processor... right?

Well, those are definitely not totally burned out or something.

Did you follow Camacha's advice about power and data cables? You wouldn't believe how many problems can be fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting cables, or replacing them with known-good ones. Also try new drives on other ports than the ones used...

Also, I dunno what the BIOS is like on an Alienware (I have a couple of old HPs I rescued from various places and their BIOSes are.. rudimentary), but if it has drive-related settings, you might want to make sure they're correct and such.

[cantab]

Agreed, this sounds like a BIOS settings issue to me, specifically with the boot sequence. You say hard drives, plural, which makes me think the system is trying to boot off the wrong drive. Since you can boot from CD, you can see if the drives are readable from a Xubuntu live cd or similar. If they are, that really points the finger at the boot sequence.

Also, if you've been swapping drives around, bear in mind there are some situations where Windows puts stuff it needs to boot on a drive other than the one you put the C: partition on, leading to failure to boot if the drive you didn't even realise Windows was using is removed.

[Camacha]

Did you follow Camacha's advice about power and data cables? You wouldn't believe how many problems can be fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting cables, or replacing them with known-good ones. Also try new drives on other ports than the ones used...

The fact that the system boots using a CD pretty much pinpoints the SSD or associated component as the culprit. Check or preferably replug cables and if that does not work try replacing them (replacement SATA cable and different cable from PSU). Also try another port on the motherboard, as it is unlikely that it got damaged but is easily tested. Just make sure to adjust any necessary settings in the BIOS. If that all fails it is time to dig up another SSD/HDD to test with, as it is fairly common for hard drives to give up or develop fatal flaws. It is one of the more problematic parts in general and therefore suspect.

The BIOS suggestions made above are also good advice. As a general rule, try to test with as little hardware connected as possible, so any printers, memory sticks and whatnot should be removed. Just monitor, mouse and keyboard. The same goes for internal devices, run the system with only the OS drive.

For the rest I suggest you check out an earlier post I made, there probably are some helpful suggestions in there on how to deal with unknown errors.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Camacha

[CatastrophicFailure]

Lemme back up here...

Computer generally runs 24/7. For a while now the Intel RAID controller has been telling me one of the old hard drives was failing. Couple weeks ago, went to bed and all was good, woke up to just a blinking cursor. After several reboots I was able to get it to load into Win7. Figured one of the hard drives was nearly toast. Computer was OK after that for several days. Got two new SSD's, installed on the unused SATA ports, did a fresh install of Windows 8.1 on the SSD's. So completely independent install, windows gives me the option to load 7 or 8 at bootup. Computer seemed to be working just fine after that, including numerous reboots while I messed with all that. Then again a couple days ago, woke up to a blinking cursor. So the new SDD's (also RAID 0) are on completely separate ports, using completely different cables. Tried completely unplugging the old drives troubleshooting the second time, so I've pretty much been thru every combination of cable/port by now.

Also, took it in to GeekSquad today (who I am assuming are at least remotely more competent than me. I could be wrong.). Fellow there seemed to be of the same mind, likely the motherboard, which (he says) they're not equipped to replace, suggested sending it back to Dell.

Edited October 2, 2014 by CatastrophicFailure

[Camacha]

Thing is that motherboards generally do not break that often and that booting while they are broken is even more rare. I am not saying this cannot be the case with your hardware, it is just not where I would look if there are other options. Is there a reason you went with RAID in combination with SSDs? The gains are generally minimal, while complications are very real. It is a cool trick and fun to benchmark, but I would say the actual usefulness is fairly minimal. Might it be an idea to drop the RAID altogether and get the system running reliably with a single SSD?

Did you put the new SSD's on the first and second port (typically 0 and 1) and also used the correct settings in the BIOS? Funnily enough the physical port sometimes matters for Windows, so it might be worth double checking whether the drives are actually attached to the ports with the lowest numbers.

If it is indeed the motherboard it is one of the more tricky things to figure out without actually replacing the whole lot. Do you still have warranty? I guess not - that could get awfully expensive fairly quickly.

[Capt.Joseph Kerbertson]

Flashing cursor could be anything. Ram could have gone bad for instance, boot failure (though it tends to notify you that's what it is),A bad hard drive. Do you have any external drives connected? I added a external drive that apparently was starting to die to a new computer and caused a cursor error. I about had a heart attack because I had spent over 2k building the computer.

Also, You get more for your money when you DIY. When I spent 2k, I got 32gb of ram, a ssd, a tb hdd, a gtx670 (which was awesome at the time), a 8 core unlocked amd 8150 processor and the motherboard plus 3 monitors and peripherals and a sweet case with upgraded PSU (850watt). I couldn't get that much stuff with alienware or dell or really any other brand.

[Elthy]

Yes, scratch building a new system is always the most cost efficient but that's really above my paygrade at this point

Above you paygrade means to expensive, right? But why do you think about an alienware then? You could get the same performance for several hundred bucks less...

Before you buy a new pc you should try to fix the old one, it should still be fast enough for KSP. If it feels slow you should reinstall windows, most times thats enough...

[CatastrophicFailure]

Above you paygrade means to expensive, right? But why do you think about an alienware then? You could get the same performance for several hundred bucks less...

Before you buy a new pc you should try to fix the old one, it should still be fast enough for KSP. If it feels slow you should reinstall windows, most times thats enough...

no, that means beyond my skill level. I could maybe do it if everything went exactly 100% right. It never does.

If it is indeed the motherboard it is one of the more tricky things to figure out without actually replacing the whole lot. Do you still have warranty? I guess not - that could get awfully expensive fairly quickly.

Exactly. If indeed that is what it is I hit the point of diminishing returns very quickly, especially time wise. Time is always my most limited commodity.

[Capt.Joseph Kerbertson]

no, that means beyond my skill level. I could maybe do it if everything went exactly 100% right. It never does.

Exactly. If indeed that is what it is I hit the point of diminishing returns very quickly, especially time wise. Time is always my most limited commodity.

I'll help demystify computer builds for you. It's as easy as wiring a home theater system. There is this stigma associated with building computers that simply isn't true. It's not complicated. If you can put together furniture from IKEA, you can put together a computer... and no I'm not joking. Everything has it's slot, plug, post and screw hole. The software is super easy and you don't even dink with the bios (if you don't want). I can put assemble a computer in about 20 minutes and have it up and running in 45 minutes...TOTAL.

[cantab]

On the other hand it's perfectly possible to screw a build up. I know, I've done it before, and fixing computers is my job.

It's probably easier than building Ikea furniture though!

[CatastrophicFailure]

I'll help demystify computer builds for you. It's as easy as wiring a home theater system. There is this stigma associated with building computers that simply isn't true. It's not complicated. If you can put together furniture from IKEA, you can put together a computer... and no I'm not joking. Everything has it's slot, plug, post and screw hole. The software is super easy and you don't even dink with the bios (if you don't want). I can put assemble a computer in about 20 minutes and have it up and running in 45 minutes...TOTAL.

On the other hand it's perfectly possible to screw a build up. I know, I've done it before, and fixing computers is my job.

It's probably easier than building Ikea furniture though!

its not the act its self, it's the inevitable invocation of Murphy's law tainted by many years of bad tech juju. The very first thing I ever did with a computer, was break it (apparently it's a bad idea to open it up & touch the guts while its on). I come from those distant, dark days when the simplest hardware change meant meant hours of fiddling (anyone remember IRQ's? Show of hands? No one? How bout setting jumpers? No?) and possibly sacrificing the blood of a virgin to Gzxtyos, consort of Othuyeg. Or calling tech support, but that was only a last resort.

Point is, such projects NEVER work as they should for me and always take way longer than I think (takes me a couple hours just to change the oil on the trucks, but darn it, it stays changed!). So anything mission-critical like this I'd rather just pay someone who's smarter than me to do it properly and punctually. That way I have some one else to yell at if something goes wrong. If you yell at yourself people tend to look at you funny and back away slowly.

[Camacha]

It's probably easier than building Ikea furniture though!

In basis - yes. Nowadays every plug has a different shape and if it don't fit you doin' excrement. However, there is a little more to constructing a good system. Selecting the right components is a little bit of on art. I mean, it is nothing impossibly hard, but remember that you are not just dealing with physical compatibility, but also with getting the optimal performance, things like QVL's, clearance and other factors. When it comes to constructing the whole thing you need to worry about ESD, TIM-application, motherboard port order, maybe rails on the PSU and a couple more things.

I am not trying to scare anyone off building a computer, because it really is not that hard. However, it entails more nuance than just plugging things together as if you are installing your Xbox. If you get solid advice, can follow instructions and take your time things should work out though.

[Capt.Joseph Kerbertson]

In basis - yes. Nowadays every plug has a different shape and if it don't fit you doin' excrement. However, there is a little more to constructing a good system. Selecting the right components is a little bit of on art. I mean, it is nothing impossibly hard, but remember that you are not just dealing with physical compatibility, but also with getting the optimal performance, things like QVL's, clearance and other factors. When it comes to constructing the whole thing you need to worry about ESD, TIM-application, motherboard port order, maybe rails on the PSU and a couple more things.

I am not trying to scare anyone off building a computer, because it really is not that hard. However, it entails more nuance than just plugging things together as if you are installing your Xbox. If you get solid advice, can follow instructions and take your time things should work out though.

Really though, most websites (newegg for instance) make the component portion almost dummy proof. If you are buying part a, you'll need part b c and d... here's what we recommend based on other customers who purchased the exact same thing. Yes you do have to be a tad informed while purchasing your components, but putting it together is a simple task. I would say so simple that if more people had the guts to try it, prebuilds would be out of business.

[Camacha]

Really though, most websites (newegg for instance) make the component portion almost dummy proof.

I still see a difference between a working system and the optimal system, but sure.

Yes you do have to be a tad informed while purchasing your components, but putting it together is a simple task.

What about ESD? Most people don't even know this can be an issue, yet it probably causes a lot of the issues with homebuilt systems you see. I am fairly sure many dead GPU's and RAM both come from a lack of proper ESD conduct. That too is not hard - wear cotton, discharge yourself and avoid plastic clothing and furniture - but something to take into account and it can sound rather exotic to the uninitiated. Anyone who has ever seen an electronics plant knows as how much of an issue ESD is regarded there.

So again, it is not hard and feel a lot of people will do fine, but there are some buts and ifs. It ain't no Ikea, so to say. And, of course, you would not believe what people can mess up. I have seen CPU sockets filled with thermal paste and CPU's with pins that were bent mysteriously in every direction. The if you can follow instructions part is rather important.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Camacha