Replacement mobo

[Ringel05]

Not sure but I think I'm starting to have problems with my old mobo. The computer was in non-climate controlled storage for almost a year. Gotta keep this on the cheap so I'll keep everything but the mobo;
The CPU is a AMD Phenom IIx2 550, socket AM3 (938).
One that was recommended was the ASRock 88GMH/USB3. Anyone else have any other suggestions?

 

[Moonglow]

several

 

[Moonglow]

take it apart and clean terminals, looking for inta-terminal connection through weatherization, bug larva etc.

 

[Ringel05]

I also took both side panels off, it was running so hot the fans were at full speed. I've also had it shut down on me twice due to the heat.

 

[Moonglow]

no wano. try cleaning before you buy, I do. you should see this huge power supply I had to replace on my Hewlett Packard.
I also have a Compaq that needs a new video board.The pain is that the old parts are discontinued and cannibalizing can be difficult to find cause of manufactured obsolescence.

 

[Ringel05]

no wano. try cleaning before you buy, I do. you should see this huge power supply I had to replace on my Hewlett Packard.
I also have a Compaq that needs a new video board.The pain is that the old parts are discontinued and cannibalizing can be difficult to find cause of manufactured obsolescence.

Yeah, I know all about obsolescence, had to replace half the components in my wife's HP when I rebuilt it. Pretty much just re-used the HDs, graphics card and RAM.

 

[Ropey]

Not sure but I think I'm starting to have problems with my old mobo. The computer was in non-climate controlled storage for almost a year. Gotta keep this on the cheap so I'll keep everything but the mobo;
The CPU is a AMD Phenom IIx2 550, socket AM3 (938).
One that was recommended was the ASRock 88GMH/USB3. Anyone else have any other suggestions?

ASRock are generally stable and that's a nice bit of board imo. All three video inputs, usb3, 7.1 chanel with digital output and 16GB maximum memory.

I think you've chosen well.

 

[Mr. H.]

no wano. try cleaning before you buy, I do. you should see this huge power supply I had to replace on my Hewlett Packard.
I also have a Compaq that needs a new video board.The pain is that the old parts are discontinued and cannibalizing can be difficult to find cause of manufactured obsolescence.

Yeah, I know all about obsolescence, had to replace half the components in my wife's HP when I rebuilt it. Pretty much just re-used the HDs, graphics card and RAM.

I got nuttin'. But I do have a question. And I think it's you that helped me with this before...

My Dell (from hell) Studio XPS laptop freezes up on a whim. 4 times one day, twice a month hence.

It was suggested I make a modification to the BIOS (I think), and/or something with the Registry. Remember that?

 

[Ringel05]

no wano. try cleaning before you buy, I do. you should see this huge power supply I had to replace on my Hewlett Packard.
I also have a Compaq that needs a new video board.The pain is that the old parts are discontinued and cannibalizing can be difficult to find cause of manufactured obsolescence.

Yeah, I know all about obsolescence, had to replace half the components in my wife's HP when I rebuilt it. Pretty much just re-used the HDs, graphics card and RAM.

I got nuttin'. But I do have a question. And I think it's you that helped me with this before...

My Dell (from hell) Studio XPS laptop freezes up on a whim. 4 times one day, twice a month hence.

It was suggested I make a modification to the BIOS (I think), and/or something with the Registry. Remember that?

Not modifying BIOs, upgrading BIOs. On the bottom of the laptop is an express service code, copy that code down, go to the Dell web site and type that code in. It should bring up your laptop and suggest all the available upgrades including any new BIOs versions.
If the service code doesn't work you can search by model. One other thing. Does your laptop get really hot? Does it freeze up or suddenly shut down when playing games or watching vids?

 

[Ringel05]

Not sure but I think I'm starting to have problems with my old mobo. The computer was in non-climate controlled storage for almost a year. Gotta keep this on the cheap so I'll keep everything but the mobo;
The CPU is a AMD Phenom IIx2 550, socket AM3 (938).
One that was recommended was the ASRock 88GMH/USB3. Anyone else have any other suggestions?

ASRock are generally stable and that's a nice bit of board imo. All three video inputs, usb3, 7.1 chanel with digital output and 16GB maximum memory.

I think you've chosen well.

I've had ASRock before, great boards. The only real drawback is there's only one true usb3 and the the board only supports SATA 3gb but supposedly the overclocking capabilities more than make up for it.

 

[Ringel05]

One other problem with the ASRock 88GMH/USB3 is finding one. I'm wondering if some of the newer AM3s will take the 938 socket. That way I can upgrade to a x4 or x6 later down the road.

 

[Ropey]

One other problem with the ASRock 88GMH/USB3 is finding one. I'm wondering if some of the newer AM3s will take the 938 socket. That way I can upgrade to a x4 or x6 later down the road.

I believe AM3+ is a modification of the AM3 Socket designed for CPUs which use the AMD Bulldozer microarchitecture and retains compatibility with AM3 processors. This means it supports AMD’s Phenom II processors, as well as Athlon II and Sempron 100 series processors housed in an AM3 socket form factor and will allow you an upgrade path.

Link

As well, there's two USB3 at the back but no internal insert on board.

The Gigabyte iteration looks fine as well.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3412#ov

 

[Ringel05]

Yeah, double checked and all AM3+s are backwards compatible. So yeah, I can go with a newer board. Grazia!

 

[Mr. H.]

Yeah, I know all about obsolescence, had to replace half the components in my wife's HP when I rebuilt it. Pretty much just re-used the HDs, graphics card and RAM.

I got nuttin'. But I do have a question. And I think it's you that helped me with this before...

My Dell (from hell) Studio XPS laptop freezes up on a whim. 4 times one day, twice a month hence.

It was suggested I make a modification to the BIOS (I think), and/or something with the Registry. Remember that?

Not modifying BIOs, upgrading BIOs. On the bottom of the laptop is an express service code, copy that code down, go to the Dell web site and type that code in. It should bring up your laptop and suggest all the available upgrades including any new BIOs versions.
If the service code doesn't work you can search by model. One other thing. Does your laptop get really hot? Does it freeze up or suddenly shut down when playing games or watching vids?

A thousand thanks.
May your camel spit only dates.

Don't do gaming. Mostly browse internet, edit photos, work on documents. But yes sometimes the fan spins a lot and it gets hot. Sometimes it's as cool as a cucumber. I have on occasion placed an ice pack under it LOL.

But, nah... it's totally random. I've done a fair amount of reading up on the problem and I tend to go with the idea that Dell shipped a run of bad laptops, and they knew it. Of course, this problem didn't crop up until it was way out of warranty.

 

[Ringel05]

The other thing that just occurred to me is my graphics card might be overheating. It is pretty old and they tend not to last for more than a few years. Uummmmm.......

 

[Ropey]

The other thing that just occurred to me is my graphics card might be overheating. It is pretty old and they tend not to last for more than a few years. Uummmmm.......

Likely the onboard video will be better than your discrete card. If not, then you can look at removing the video housing and apply new thermal paste. That usually helps quite a bit.

Conversely you can download a program that will allow you to underclock the GPU and possibly attain better temps.

 

[Ringel05]

The other thing that just occurred to me is my graphics card might be overheating. It is pretty old and they tend not to last for more than a few years. Uummmmm.......

Likely the onboard video will be better than your discrete card. If not, then you can look at removing the video housing and apply new thermal paste. That usually helps quite a bit.

Conversely you can download a program that will allow you to underclock the GPU and possibly attain better temps.

My onboard is a quarter gig shared, my NVidia card is a full gig. Maybe new thermal paste on the CPU a well as cleaning everything.

 

[Ropey]

The other thing that just occurred to me is my graphics card might be overheating. It is pretty old and they tend not to last for more than a few years. Uummmmm.......

Likely the onboard video will be better than your discrete card. If not, then you can look at removing the video housing and apply new thermal paste. That usually helps quite a bit.

Conversely you can download a program that will allow you to underclock the GPU and possibly attain better temps.

My onboard is a quarter gig shared, my NVidia card is a full gig. Maybe new thermal paste on the CPU a well as cleaning everything.

Yep, I would do both.