Archive for the ‘Desktops’ Category

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How big of a HDD can I install on a Sony PCV-RX550?

Thursday, March 25th, 2010
lurch asked:


I have an older computer, the sony PCV-RX550. My 60 GB HDD is starting to go out, and so I decided it is time to upgrade since it is so hard and not cost effective to try and find a 60 or 80 gb HDD for replacement. i decided to buy a WD 160 gb HDD. The problem is that some friends of mine are telling me that my system may not be able to support or read a drive this big. Now I have all the latest updates from microsoft, and Ive pretty much done everything short of rebuilding the machine to upgrade it. Now Im not sure if im going to have this type of issue or if there is some kind of software or BIOS fix that can be downloaded to solve this issue. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
Im currently running Microsoft xp pro with all the latest updates.

Bridgeport Mill rebuilding

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Posted in Desktops | 2 Comments »

Rebuilding my computer, need some opinions?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Rawn Paw asked:


-500 Watt power supply
-2 250GB Hard drives @ 7200 rpm each
- EVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 640mb edition Graphics card.
- Intel QUAD core Q9400 model @ 2.66Ghz (Cannot/Will not replace this, however it CANNOT be overclocked on this motherboard, so switching the mobo is an option)
- The Intel DG43NB Desktop Motherboard recently installed late last year (For more technical specs on the motherboard, visit http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG43NB/DG43NB-overview.htm )
- 4GB of memory 2x 2GB sticks both running at 800mhz
-Running Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Yes, I know i’m wasting my 4gb with a 32-bit OS.

Those are the specs of my computer, if needed I will supply more information. I have $425 to use on this machine to get it as best as possible, I want to run Crysis on very high, Age of Conan in DX10 at all maxed settings, and other intensive games. I was going to get a Radeon HD 4850 x2 vid card tonight but I would like some opinions on what would benefit me most. If it’s not possible with the current specs/budget just tell me what will get me closest to that goal.

My initial plan was to get the vid card mentioned, (if needed buy a power supply that’s suited for that card as well if mine isn’t strong enough) an Asus/Gigabyte motherboard (Particularly looking for brands easy to OC), I would probably have to get new RAM for the new motherboard if I were to get it. And also a 1TB hard drive @ 7200 rpm/32mb cache.

^ Will this be the greatest choice for me to make or can I just go with the 4850 x2 and save me a couple hundred if my setup is already good enough?

Or if someone else has a better suggestion i’m open. Thanks!
Mark, do you mean the 8800 GTS is a good video card or the 4850 x2 card that I WANT to get?
My RAM is maxed out. Vista 32 will not recognize any more past 3gb of RAM.

contractor machine replacement parts

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Posted in Desktops | 6 Comments »

rebuilding a dell e521 pc?

Monday, February 1st, 2010
luh t asked:


I have a dell Dimension E521 AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor 5000 (2.60Ghz, 512K)
with Memory Dual Channel 4GB (4×1024MB) 533Mhz DDR2.

Its just over 2 years old and recently on boot it got stuck half way on the bios (post?) screen, the bar would fill up half way and get stuck. I am guessing something is failling somewhere when its doings it checks. So I unplugged everything swapped the ram checked all connections tried a new hard drive, tried to use the onboard graphics card instead of the PCI xpress card etc etc.

I have got nowhere so I want to try and salvage what I can from this, but I am not sure of the best route I presume the motherboard has died (common on this model I believe) so I was going to by a new case and board plug everything back in and hopefully be back up and running. If the motherboard has died would it normally affect the CPU? is there anyway of testing it before i shell out on a new board or should i just take the risk (£35ish?)

Thanks for any help!

Also when I plugged the hard drive in to another machine it had serious errors on it and I had to use knoppix to recover the date from it BUT the pc still wont boot with a new drive?
I forgot to add that it wont do anything at all now, the lights come on that are on the motherboard but there is no surge of everything starting up and nothing shows on the graphics card (i have tried PCI and onboard)

rebuilt Bridgeport Mills

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Posted in Desktops | 2 Comments »

rebuilding my computer?

Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Liana Mei asked:


okay, so my custom built computer got a virus on it last night – it was my own stupid fault I hadn’t done an antivirus update in the last several weeks. anyway, I took out my other internal hard drive which i was going to use for something else and never got around to.

I have successfully reinstalled most of my programs and the computer is running smoothly, except for the audio. My ECS motherboard comes with something called “Realtek HD Audio Manager”. I got it to work last time (when I first built the machine) with a bit of difficulty but now I can’t figure out why I can’t get any sound from either my speakers or my headphones, it worked fine yesterday and I didn’t touch any of the jumper settings when I installed the new hard drive. Does anyone know anything about configuring the sofware/ drivers for this program? I was going to listen to one of my favorite songs on youtube but I can’t seem to get it to play…that or anything at all for that matter.
Please don’t insult my intelligence and I won’t insult yours, no it is NOT on mute.
Okay, i’ll look this all over tomorrow…I basically uninstalled the drivers wondering if reinstalling might not help and now it really does say no audio device when i go the audio section of control panel. So i’m going to try to reinstall and if that doesn’t help, then I am so going to bed as it is 2 am
okay so I reinstalled the proper drivers from the motherboard cd and once again have a “recognized” audio device. At least recognized in that it shows up in the control panel, still no sound so I’m back where I’m started, which I guess is better than a step backward.
I built my dad’s computer with the same motherboard, I might just have a look at his computer tomorrow and see what the realtek program settings are over there, I remember it took me a while to figure it out the first and second times, of course the same will be true of the third time.
okay so i found something that looks promising. I have the 6100sm-m motherboard from ecs and it says that there is a driver for realtek hd audio manager that was released in may of this year, I’m guessing my motherboard which was installed in may of 07 had it automatically updated or something. so i’m hoping that driver will do the trick.
i went to the “sounds and audio devices properties” and the hardware tab claims that everything is working properly.
YAY! I’m halfway there, I got the speakers to work by adjusting one of the “real hd audio manager” properties. Now I just need to figure out the headphones then I’m done. But suffice it to say it does not seem like a hardware problem anymore. And yes, I just downloaded the driver from the ecs website.

machine rebuild Bridgeport Mills

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Posted in Desktops | 4 Comments »

Rebuilding my computer, need some opinions?

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Rawn Paw asked:


-500 Watt power supply
-2 250GB Hard drives @ 7200 rpm each
- EVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 640mb edition Graphics card.
- Intel QUAD core Q9400 model @ 2.66Ghz (Cannot/Will not replace this, however it CANNOT be overclocked on this motherboard, so switching the mobo is an option)
- The Intel DG43NB Desktop Motherboard recently installed late last year (For more technical specs on the motherboard, visit http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG43NB/DG43NB-overview.htm )
- 4GB of memory 2x 2GB sticks both running at 800mhz
-Running Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Yes, I know i’m wasting my 4gb with a 32-bit OS.

Those are the specs of my computer, if needed I will supply more information. I have $425 to use on this machine to get it as best as possible, I want to run Crysis on very high, Age of Conan in DX10 at all maxed settings, and other intensive games. I was going to get a Radeon HD 4850 x2 vid card tonight but I would like some opinions on what would benefit me most. If it’s not possible with the current specs/budget just tell me what will get me closest to that goal.

My initial plan was to get the vid card mentioned, (if needed buy a power supply that’s suited for that card as well if mine isn’t strong enough) an Asus/Gigabyte motherboard (Particularly looking for brands easy to OC), I would probably have to get new RAM for the new motherboard if I were to get it. And also a 1TB hard drive @ 7200 rpm/32mb cache.

^ Will this be the greatest choice for me to make or can I just go with the 4850 x2 and save me a couple hundred if my setup is already good enough?

Or if someone else has a better suggestion i’m open. Thanks!
Mark, do you mean the 8800 GTS is a good video card or the 4850 x2 card that I WANT to get?
My RAM is maxed out. Vista 32 will not recognize any more past 3gb of RAM.

Bridgeport machine repair

Tags: , ,
Posted in Desktops | 6 Comments »

How big of a HDD can I install on a Sony PCV-RX550?

Monday, October 26th, 2009
lurch asked:


I have an older computer, the sony PCV-RX550. My 60 GB HDD is starting to go out, and so I decided it is time to upgrade since it is so hard and not cost effective to try and find a 60 or 80 gb HDD for replacement. i decided to buy a WD 160 gb HDD. The problem is that some friends of mine are telling me that my system may not be able to support or read a drive this big. Now I have all the latest updates from microsoft, and Ive pretty much done everything short of rebuilding the machine to upgrade it. Now Im not sure if im going to have this type of issue or if there is some kind of software or BIOS fix that can be downloaded to solve this issue. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
Im currently running Microsoft xp pro with all the latest updates.

Hardinge repair parts

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Posted in Desktops | 2 Comments »

rebuilding a dell e521 pc?

Saturday, October 24th, 2009
luh t asked:


I have a dell Dimension E521 AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor 5000 (2.60Ghz, 512K)
with Memory Dual Channel 4GB (4×1024MB) 533Mhz DDR2.

Its just over 2 years old and recently on boot it got stuck half way on the bios (post?) screen, the bar would fill up half way and get stuck. I am guessing something is failling somewhere when its doings it checks. So I unplugged everything swapped the ram checked all connections tried a new hard drive, tried to use the onboard graphics card instead of the PCI xpress card etc etc.

I have got nowhere so I want to try and salvage what I can from this, but I am not sure of the best route I presume the motherboard has died (common on this model I believe) so I was going to by a new case and board plug everything back in and hopefully be back up and running. If the motherboard has died would it normally affect the CPU? is there anyway of testing it before i shell out on a new board or should i just take the risk (£35ish?)

Thanks for any help!

Also when I plugged the hard drive in to another machine it had serious errors on it and I had to use knoppix to recover the date from it BUT the pc still wont boot with a new drive?
I forgot to add that it wont do anything at all now, the lights come on that are on the motherboard but there is no surge of everything starting up and nothing shows on the graphics card (i have tried PCI and onboard)

Hardinge parts

Tags: , ,
Posted in Desktops | 2 Comments »

rebuilding my computer?

Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Liana Mei asked:


okay, so my custom built computer got a virus on it last night – it was my own stupid fault I hadn’t done an antivirus update in the last several weeks. anyway, I took out my other internal hard drive which i was going to use for something else and never got around to.

I have successfully reinstalled most of my programs and the computer is running smoothly, except for the audio. My ECS motherboard comes with something called “Realtek HD Audio Manager”. I got it to work last time (when I first built the machine) with a bit of difficulty but now I can’t figure out why I can’t get any sound from either my speakers or my headphones, it worked fine yesterday and I didn’t touch any of the jumper settings when I installed the new hard drive. Does anyone know anything about configuring the sofware/ drivers for this program? I was going to listen to one of my favorite songs on youtube but I can’t seem to get it to play…that or anything at all for that matter.
Please don’t insult my intelligence and I won’t insult yours, no it is NOT on mute.
Okay, i’ll look this all over tomorrow…I basically uninstalled the drivers wondering if reinstalling might not help and now it really does say no audio device when i go the audio section of control panel. So i’m going to try to reinstall and if that doesn’t help, then I am so going to bed as it is 2 am
okay so I reinstalled the proper drivers from the motherboard cd and once again have a “recognized” audio device. At least recognized in that it shows up in the control panel, still no sound so I’m back where I’m started, which I guess is better than a step backward.
I built my dad’s computer with the same motherboard, I might just have a look at his computer tomorrow and see what the realtek program settings are over there, I remember it took me a while to figure it out the first and second times, of course the same will be true of the third time.
okay so i found something that looks promising. I have the 6100sm-m motherboard from ecs and it says that there is a driver for realtek hd audio manager that was released in may of this year, I’m guessing my motherboard which was installed in may of 07 had it automatically updated or something. so i’m hoping that driver will do the trick.
i went to the “sounds and audio devices properties” and the hardware tab claims that everything is working properly.
YAY! I’m halfway there, I got the speakers to work by adjusting one of the “real hd audio manager” properties. Now I just need to figure out the headphones then I’m done. But suffice it to say it does not seem like a hardware problem anymore. And yes, I just downloaded the driver from the ecs website.

Bridgeport Mill replacement parts

Tags: , ,
Posted in Desktops | 4 Comments »

Rebuilding my computer, need some opinions?

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Rawn Paw asked:


-500 Watt power supply
-2 250GB Hard drives @ 7200 rpm each
- EVGA Geforce 8800 GTS 640mb edition Graphics card.
- Intel QUAD core Q9400 model @ 2.66Ghz (Cannot/Will not replace this, however it CANNOT be overclocked on this motherboard, so switching the mobo is an option)
- The Intel DG43NB Desktop Motherboard recently installed late last year (For more technical specs on the motherboard, visit http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG43NB/DG43NB-overview.htm )
- 4GB of memory 2x 2GB sticks both running at 800mhz
-Running Vista Ultimate 32-bit. Yes, I know i’m wasting my 4gb with a 32-bit OS.

Those are the specs of my computer, if needed I will supply more information. I have $425 to use on this machine to get it as best as possible, I want to run Crysis on very high, Age of Conan in DX10 at all maxed settings, and other intensive games. I was going to get a Radeon HD 4850 x2 vid card tonight but I would like some opinions on what would benefit me most. If it’s not possible with the current specs/budget just tell me what will get me closest to that goal.

My initial plan was to get the vid card mentioned, (if needed buy a power supply that’s suited for that card as well if mine isn’t strong enough) an Asus/Gigabyte motherboard (Particularly looking for brands easy to OC), I would probably have to get new RAM for the new motherboard if I were to get it. And also a 1TB hard drive @ 7200 rpm/32mb cache.

^ Will this be the greatest choice for me to make or can I just go with the 4850 x2 and save me a couple hundred if my setup is already good enough?

Or if someone else has a better suggestion i’m open. Thanks!
Mark, do you mean the 8800 GTS is a good video card or the 4850 x2 card that I WANT to get?
My RAM is maxed out. Vista 32 will not recognize any more past 3gb of RAM.

Hardinge machine replacement parts

Tags: , ,
Posted in Desktops | 6 Comments »

rebuilding a dell e521 pc?

Monday, September 14th, 2009
luh t asked:


I have a dell Dimension E521 AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor 5000 (2.60Ghz, 512K)
with Memory Dual Channel 4GB (4×1024MB) 533Mhz DDR2.

Its just over 2 years old and recently on boot it got stuck half way on the bios (post?) screen, the bar would fill up half way and get stuck. I am guessing something is failling somewhere when its doings it checks. So I unplugged everything swapped the ram checked all connections tried a new hard drive, tried to use the onboard graphics card instead of the PCI xpress card etc etc.

I have got nowhere so I want to try and salvage what I can from this, but I am not sure of the best route I presume the motherboard has died (common on this model I believe) so I was going to by a new case and board plug everything back in and hopefully be back up and running. If the motherboard has died would it normally affect the CPU? is there anyway of testing it before i shell out on a new board or should i just take the risk (£35ish?)

Thanks for any help!

Also when I plugged the hard drive in to another machine it had serious errors on it and I had to use knoppix to recover the date from it BUT the pc still wont boot with a new drive?
I forgot to add that it wont do anything at all now, the lights come on that are on the motherboard but there is no surge of everything starting up and nothing shows on the graphics card (i have tried PCI and onboard)

Bridgeport machine support

Tags: , ,
Posted in Desktops | 2 Comments »

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