Q: Well for a crappy weekend worse (have I been sick the last two days) I think I just fried the mobo on my parents computer. I tried to assist them in getting an approved RAID card (another story) by moving to another PCI slot. from the corner of my eye I saw the CPU fan I think that move just a bit and I thought uh oh . and then by switching the HDDs s [in-up, fans go light on the motherboard and then, NOTHING! thats all i get to power the system. not a beep code or anything, just a black screen. I got everything back down, but still no luck. I think I can assume that this is a fried motherboard (a P3V4X). do you think I can get this warranty or guarantee do I have to buy a new mobo? Thanks, this really sucks!
Best Answer: Okaj first of all you need to relax, and look at what you have to do. The first thing you must do is thinking of what you are going to do with this PC. Always choose one or two parts and base the rest of the PC around this. Usually, this means selecting a processor, and a video card and all the rest of the things will fall in place. Worry about those two first.
The processor. The E7500 is not a bad one at all, yes it can handle DDR3, thats not up to the processor, thats up to the motherboard (you need a mobo that supports intel socket 775 (core 2 processors) and DDR3 RAM (they are quite hard to findand relatively expensive, but it wont be a massive difference. However, if you look for good deals you might be able to get an intel E8400, these are really good and run at nice high speeds (3.0 GHz) and provide decent heardroom for overclocking ,which is good). If you can save a few more bucks, go quad core or even i7, the prices have dropped amazingly and budget buys are always there. It is possible to get a 700 dollar i7 system! i7's are great overclockers and run very well in conjunction with DDR3 mem and good GPU's.
Next is your GPU (graphics processing unit; graphics card). You want to play starcraft II. I dont know the game, Ive never heard of it but I doubt its more demanding than crysis 
Get an Radeon HD4870 or 4890 and go with that. They are relitively cheap cards (100-200 bucks) that provide excellent bang for buck compared to nVidia, who is always more expensive, but does deliver better results (only a fraction better, except for the GTX295.. which is insanely priced).
So there you've got it. A E7500 and a Radeon HD4870/4890 (you can choose another one if you want of course). You will want 4 gigabytes of RAM.
The PSU. This part is very important and requently overlooked by people. Get a name bard powersupply such as a Corsair one, or a Cooler Master one. You must have a decent PSU or your PSU will fail in a year or two. I think 700 Watts will do the job and give you space to overclock and upgrade.
Case. I've always liked the antec cases since they are spacious, have good informative manuals with them and provide decent air supply. Now you will want one without a PSU since your buying one but it is also possible to buy a case with the PSU attached (they are generaly cheaper). What you are looking for in a case is:
At least one intake fan (or somewhere to install an intake fan).
At least one exhast fan (same as above)
if you want a side fan or top fan is a bonus.
Enough space in the case (look for a spacious case, since you might be upgrading to larger GPU's or coolers, also this provides better airflow).
Enough front ports (e.g. 2 usb ports, 1 firewire 400 port, audio port etc.)
Enough drive bays (at least two 5.25 inch drive bays for cd/dvd drives, and at least three 3.5inch drive bays for HDD's if you want to expand) Usually there are many more available.
CPU cooler. Get a good one. If planning to overclock, you will benefit very much from a decent name brand one that might cost 10 bucks more but saves you sound, irritation and space in the case.
Motherboard: I have always preferred ASUS. It will be hard to find a socket 775 DDR3 supporting motherboard, but they must exist. If not, go for some 1600 mhz DDR2 memory, that will do the job well and fastly. Check your motherboard for supporting FireWire if you want to use it (some dont support it!), and check if the back panel connections fulfil your needs. If not, dont be tempted, you will only build one and will regret those ten bucks you saved on 4 USB ports when you need 6! Try to get one with 5.1 or higher audio, gigabit LAN etc etc.
Networking: If you have a wireless network DO not forget a wireless LAN card! (that is, if you dont use a cable) These almost never get included in motherboards or other components and you will have to buy em seperately.
HDD: not much to say here, though do get at least 500 GB's. 320 is done within months. 1TB drives are very cheap ATM sotake a look at that too!. I myself built a 500 GB Samsung F1 drive and it worked out neatly. They are good drives and farily cheap. Western Digital is great too. Get a drive at least 7200rpm. 5400 is just not good enough nowerdays. and of course preferably 32mb buffer.
Hope I helped you out of your stress a bit there ;P
Good luck, take you time and have fun!
Re:well the old unplug the power supply and plug it in later trick seemed to work…. i love finicky things! i wish my computer did not have a personality. it would save me a lot of trouble. at least i dont have to go out and buy new stuff, or have an excuse to upgrade
thanks allRe:ATX power supplies are always live and supplying 5v power to the motherboard as long as they are plugged in. Some have power switches but most don't. Unplug the whole works and go away for a while. These things have been known to heal themselves. Remember the good Lord has his arms wrapped around fools and drunks.
Re:I find the best thing to do is just to flip the breaker on the power supply (most newer power supplies have them) and touch the case before you work with the components.
Re:of course the computer was turned off, but the power supply was plugged in. i have always been told to keep it plugged in and just touch it before working on the computer… this is supposed to keep things grounded i thought?
Re:I guess this underlines the real need to make sure all power sources are unplugged prior to doing any work inside the case.
Your parents have a raid card? Interesting…
Re:I'm a little confused. You say that while installing the raid card the CPU fan moved? Was the computer turned on at the time? You should never plug in/unplug any cards, cables or connections while the computer is powered up.
Take out all the cards except the video card and try it.
Re:most likely friend. gonna have hard time convingin them it fried on it's own
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