Think this build will work?

[jmitchell1532]

So, my motherboard fried somehow, and now my PC is dust. I can't even get the thing to boot up w/o a BSOD, and then it shuts down. So, suffice it to say, I'm in the market for a new build. I have PTLE 7.3.1, an MBox 2 mini. Do you think this might be a good option?

Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Business (***Includes Downgrade rights to Microsoft Windows XP Professional)
Processor Intel® Core(tm) 2 Quad Processor Q8200
Processor Speed 2.33GHz
Level 2 Cache 4MB Level 2 Cache
Front Side Bus 1333MHz Frontside Bus
RAM Installed / Max RAM Supported 4GB DDR2 RAM (Not Expandable)
Memory Configuration (2) 2GB DIMM Memory Modules
Memory Slots Available (0) Available 240-pin DIMM Slots
Hard Drive (2) 500GB 7,200RPM Serial ATA Hard Drives (Raid 1 Configuration)
Multimedia Drive Supermulti 8x DVD+R DL; 8x DVD-R DL; 22x8x16 DVD+RW; 22x6x16 DVD-R; 12x12 DVD-RAM; 48x32x48 CD-RW
Display Type Display Not Included
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 7100 Video Card
Video Card Memory Up to 224MB of Shared Memory
Sound Card Intel® High Definition Audio Chipset
Sound Output Mode 7.1 Channel Surround Sound
Network Features 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Network
Ports and Connectors (1) PS2 Keyboard Port; (1) PS/2 Mouse Port; (1) DVI Port; (1) VGA 15-pin Port; (2) Front USB 2.0 "A" Ports; (4) Rear USB 2.0 "A" Ports; (1) RJ-45 Network Port; 6 port Audio jack
Memory Card Reader 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
Supported Flash Media CompactFlash I(tm); CompactFlash II(tm); IBM Microdrive(tm); SmartMedia(tm); Memory Stick(tm); Memory Stick Pro(tm); MultiMediaCard(tm); Secure Digital Card(tm)
Expansion Bays 2 (1 free) External 5.25" Bays; 2 (1 free) External 3.5" Bays; 4 (3 free) Internal 3.5" Bay
Expansion Slots 1 (1 free) PCI-E x16 Graphics Interface Slot; 1 (1 free) PCI-E x1 Interface Slot; 2 (2 free) 32-bit Bus Mastering PCI Slots


Any help'd be appreciated. My budget is about $1,000

[albee1952]

I assume this is an off the shelf PC? Without knowing what motherboard or chipset, there is no way of knowing if it is compatible with Pro Tools. Also,

Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 7100 Video Card
Video Card Memory Up to 224MB of Shared Memory

this looks like onboard video and that is NOT compatible with PT. RAID is not supported in any config. For your $1K, you should be able to build a solid quad system. Look into an intel or ASUS motherboard and a Q9550 with 4 gig or RAM and build it. If your old system uses an ATX case, you can reuse the case(and maybe the PSU as well) and reuse your old drives to keep the cost down. Also use a cheaper 256 video card(anything higher than 512 may actually hurt PT performance and gets you nothing in return).

[jmitchell1532]

Hey, Albee. Thanks for the tips. Ideally, I'd love to build a quad system. Not sure on the Botherboard. I'll check it out. The specs I poseted were just off of Micro Center in Boston, which is near my place. Cool thing about it, it's like a supermarket of computer parts, so I can make a list of my wants, and they'll probably have most if not all in stock.

[sw rec]

You SURE it's the motherboard? Typically a BSOD while trying to boot means a corrupted boot sector. A fried MOBO typically won't even let the thing start AT ALL, certainly not even far enough to get a BSOD.

[albee1952]

MicroCenter often has smoking prices that are in-store only. Compare to newegg and print the new egg page for anything that is priced lower and I bet MC will match it.

[Kryst]

Originally Posted by albee1952

MicroCenter often has smoking prices that are in-store only. Compare to newegg and print the new egg page for anything that is priced lower and I bet MC will match it.

I don't know Micro Center. but I'd add to this that they might also give a discount for your old computer for parts. I know others have allowed the trade-in.

[RiF]

Originally Posted by jmitchell1532

Hey, Albee. Thanks for the tips. Ideally, I'd love to build a quad system. Not sure on the Botherboard. I'll check it out. The specs I poseted were just off of Micro Center in Boston, which is near my place. Cool thing about it, it's like a supermarket of computer parts, so I can make a list of my wants, and they'll probably have most if not all in stock.

My motherboard (or CPU or RAM, I don't know) fried last week, too.
I went for an Intel Core i5-750 CPU (best price/performance-ratio. Is as fast as an i7, but for a good € 100 less) plus an Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (€20). I added an Asus P755D P55-chipset-based motherboard which has 3 PCI slots (I have some UAD-cards and an M-Audio 1010LT to fit in), Firewire onboard (my Digi 002R works with this one!) and heaps of USB-ports. I added a cheap € 35 nVidia 9400GT (PCIe, DVI and fanless passive-cooling!) video card with dedicated video ram (important!!!! onboard VGAs eat memory bandwidth from the CPU, so your system will be much slower!) and some 4 GB DDR3-800 RAM for € 50. I kept my old case, harddrives and my ATX PSU and had a rocking new quadcore system for about € 390,- (equals to around USD 550) total. Its very quiet, because of the cooler (fan-speed controlled by the board) and the passivly cooled VGA.

[jmitchell1532]

Actually, SW, I have no idea if it's the motherboard. This has never happened before. I went to turn it on, I got the screen to select which profile (I have a "default" and a "recording" profile), selected recording, the splash screen for "Windows XP" pops up, then, like a blink of the eye, a really quick BSOD pops up, and the computer shuts down. I try it on my "default" profile, same thing. I boot into safe mode....you get the picture.

I don't think it'd be a virus or anything, because I have Norton, AVG Free, Spybot, and Malware Bytes that run regularly overnight.

Could it be a power surge of sorts? I know a transformer blew a few blocks from my house last week, but I was plugged into a surge protector.

[RiF]

Originally Posted by jmitchell1532

Actually, SW, I have no idea if it's the motherboard. This has never happened before. I went to turn it on, I got the screen to select which profile (I have a "default" and a "recording" profile), selected recording, the splash screen for "Windows XP" pops up, then, like a blink of the eye, a really quick BSOD pops up, and the computer shuts down. I try it on my "default" profile, same thing. I boot into safe mode....you get the picture.

My guess is: Damaged RAM (I had this twice with very similar effects). Try these to confirm it:
1. Remove ALL cards (except the VGA), deplug all external devices (except keyboard and mouse) just to make sure nothing else is interfering. If you have 2 (or more) RAM strips installed, remove all except one. Swap RAM strips and try again until the system boots.
2. Download Ubuntu Linux Live-CD image from ubuntu.com, burn it to a CD (using a different machine of course). Boot from this and start the memory test from the intro screen and see what it will tell you.
2.1. It might be interesting if the Ubuntu Live-CD boots, too. If it boots fine, your hardware is OK and your Windows installation or harddrive is corrupted. The Ubuntu-CD will not change your system at all, you don't have to install the Linux, just boot directly from CD into the system.
2.2. Ubuntu has a disk-check to at the intro screen which I would run as well. But your harddrive might be corrupted because of the damaged RAM, so a failed disk check does not lead to the harddrive as being the cause of the failure.

If that does not help, I don't know how to find out if it's the mobo or the cpu, but you can detect damaged RAMs this way (which are easy and cheap to replace).
Chances are good that it's the RAM (or harddrive), because a damaged mobo or CPU would not bring you as far as the Windows boot screen but would crash earlier (but who knows...).

[jmitchell1532]

Thanks for the help. I don't know. I think I'm gonna go to Micro center this weekend and see if A) they can troubleshoot it, or B) what my best options are.

Think a quad is the way to go for a build? Or a duo?