General Issues with W8

Mustang

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After testing Windows 8 Pro OEM for several months on backup machine, finally decided to transfer it to my main machine, which has an Intel DX58SO2 extreme mobo.

To my surprise Intel site said the board was discontinued and driver support stopped at Win7 aside from a single driver for the onboard wireless LAN device to connect to other PCs.

The board was purchased on March 25 2011 for $400 odd, and was only discontinued by intel about 6 months back. The funny thing is Intel provide W8 drivers for my back up machine mobo DH65CL which cost $125.

Has anyone got any suggestions for a work around? The board has eSATA, SATA 2 & 3, USB3, 3D graphics, SLI linked graphic cards, etc.

I tried running it with just the drivers provided by W8, but had too many issues to list.

Other problems I had on the backup machine were:

1. Zone Alarm stopped WinLiveMail sending/receiving emails. The work around was to switch off ZA while checking mail, then turn it back on again. Pain in the butt.

2. On board blue tooth would work straight after installing software, but on re-boot was not able to be initialized.

3. Acronis 2012 is incompatible.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
After testing Windows 8 Pro OEM for several months on backup machine, finally decided to transfer it to my main machine, which has an Intel DX58SO2 extreme mobo.

To my surprise Intel site said the board was discontinued and driver support stopped at Win7 aside from a single driver for the onboard wireless LAN device to connect to other PCs.

The board was purchased on March 25 2011 for $400 odd, and was only discontinued by intel about 6 months back. The funny thing is Intel provide W8 drivers for my back up machine mobo DH65CL which cost $125.

Has anyone got any suggestions for a work around? The board has eSATA, SATA 2 & 3, USB3, 3D graphics, CSI linked graphic cards, etc.

I tried running it with just the drivers provided by W8, but had too many issues to list.

Other problems I had on the backup machine were:

1. Zone Alarm stopped WinLiveMail sending/receiving emails. The work around was to switch off ZA while checking mail, then turn it back on again. Pain in the butt.

2. On board blue tooth would work straight after installing software, but on re-boot was not able to be initialized.

3. Acronis 2012 is incompatible.

Sounds like your issues are with Intel and not M$ due to no drivers from Intel or they could not develop drivers because of M$.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
I've never liked Intel desktop boards. Intel server boards are a different story, but the desktop boards have always been flaky in my experience. Intel does everything "by the book", and typically provides no bells and whistles. You would think this would make them more solid, but my experience has said differently.

Intel is prone to this "discontinuation" of boards, even boards where the chipsets are still current. They also refuse to support Destkop boards with Server operating systems (which is common when you are developing for servers). They explicitly make some of their drivers so they don't work in server versions of the OS, or you see goofy things like the computer refusing to turn off when shut down.

In any event, good luck. About the only choice you have is to find Windows 8 drivers for a supported board that has the same hardware, or try to use the Windows 7 drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Thanks guys for the input.

@ labeeman. You're right, the main issue is with Intel, not W8. I can live with conflict between ZA and WLM as it is more of an issue with ZA not being up to speed with W8, because the same issue doesn't occur with W7. Hopefully ZA will get their act together, but they are traditionally always slow to catch up with new OSs.

I can also work around the Acronis issue. Even though the main program cannot be loaded on W8, partition images can be created/restored by loading the program at boot onto RAM using recovery CD. Unfortunately it's not possible to validate a new image except from main program loaded on OS and run from active GUI. On the plus side I don't think I can ever recall a completed image not validating. As distinct from an image error message that it could not read from the source and hence not complete the image. The other alternative is to buy Acronis 2013.

There have been a few other minor issues such as a Word doco of only a few KBs taking 30 seconds to delete. But that issue also occurs from time to time with W7. Or drag/dropping a small size driver or file from the 2nd storage partition onto GUI of desktop, and likewise taking even up to a minute. Or the drag/drop may "stall" half way through the drag, then suddenly pick up and complete a minute later. Hopefully these will be resolved with time and the OS being debugged.

@ Mystere, your points are taken, thank you. I've just about had enough of Intel, and am seriously thinking of switching over to ASUS. I've always used Intel CPU on Intel mobo on the assumption that they should know their own product and compatibility issues would not occur. And that is true up to a point as I've seen many issues on forums that I don't get. But Intel seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. When they finally added overclocking things seemed to derail. DX58SO2 is the 2nd version after DX58SO was a recall board.

I did try using the Win7 drivers, and it partially worked. Some flat out wouldn't install. Others, like Blue Tooth, installed but didn't run properly. It intially ran, but was AWOL on re-boot. Ironically both Blue Tooth and Wireless LAN run off the same "aerial", which came with the board and plugged into an internal USB header. And as mentioned in my first post, the only driver Intel provide is for the wireless device but not Blue Tooth. Yikes!

Maybe with time a third party might come up witht the proper drivers. I have complained to Intel but no response. Blue Tooth is a must have, but could probaly purchase an external USB device compatible with W8. Thanks Intel!
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
Well, if you need Bluetooth, you can get a rather inexpensive bt dongle. More than likely, this BT is probably version 2 compatible anyways, WIndows 8 supports BT 4.0, which gives a lot more device compatibility (particularly what's called BTLE or Bluetooth Low Energy). I bought an IOGear model for like $20.

I disagree that Intel has only recently started to go bad. Maybe you've been lucky, but their various boards have had problems for years, and they are notorious for dropping support. Also, their hardware tends to be very picky about the kind of memory it can take, and you pretty much have to buy something off their compatibility list.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Thanks for the info re BT dongle. Will buy one. And yes, the one that came with the board is almost 2 years old, so probably the earlier version of the one you mentioned. :thumb:

Yes I guess I must have been lucky with Intel. Originally I had used ASUS and apart from one board with a few power issues, it was fine. However, I must admit when I think back carefully, there have been other issues with Intel.

One in particular happened shortly after SATA came into vogue; about 10 years ago if I remember correctly? It was an intermittent one with Nero software, where discs failed to burn and were rendered useless. I found the answer quite by chance when repairing a friend's PC. I had never installed RAID Rapid Storage as I thought it was only used if running RAID config. However, when I hovered the mouse over the Rapid Storage item in the Start Menu of my friend's PC, a pop up message stated that Rapid Storage improved performance and reliability for systems equipped with SATA disks.

The problem had been going on for several years and when I got the DX58SO2 board in 2011, Nero wouldn't run at all. Despite sending error reports to Nero tech support in Germany, and talking to Intel tech support, and posting on various forums ... no one could help. After I installed RAID Rapid Storage, the problem disappeared, period.

In addition, this board, or maybe Intel CPU, would not support low latency, top of the wozza Corsair RAM, which I had to return to the shop. The techo in the shop said what you have said: That Intel stuff was very fussy about what you could run on it. There have also been issues with SSD SATA3 drives periodically not being detected. And the board defnitely doesn't seem to like W8. Even when I installed it as a single installation, with no other OSs on any other HD, internal or external ... I kept getting warnings that eSATA, eUSB and onboard SSD SATA3 drives needed to be checked for conistency. And data was also corrupted on these drives. That problem does not occur on my back-up machine with W8.

Anyway, I wanted an excuse to build a new rig so will probably leave W7 on the existing machine and get an ASUS. What is your recommendation for a good board for w8? I must admit that it runs well on the back room machine with DH67CL board, i5-2400 CPU and 8GB RAM. But one big reason I really want it on my flagship machine is that W8 opens Office Word & Excel in about a quarter of the time taken by W7 ... and I do a lot of work on spread sheets and word docs.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
I'm a Gigabyte guy. I have always felt that Gigabyte boards were built more reliably (they were shipping solid core capacitors long before anyone else, for instance), and have had good results. ASUS is good too, and I know a lot of people that are very happy with them. Both ASUS and Gigabyte focus on the performance market (although they have value boards as well) and their BIOS's are usually very good.

MSI boards are sometimes hit or miss, they make some good boards and also some stinkers. Asrock tends to be more lower-end value boards, but they have a few nice boards as well.

I currently have a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-TH4 (dual thunderbolt) board, which I like quite a bit. Previously, I had a GA-Z77X-UDH5 which had all the bells and whistles (except thunderbolt). I liked that board a lot, but I bought some nice 27" displays that had Displayport and wanted to use the Thunderbolt connectors.

My system is rock solid, runs beautifully, fast.. I have a Crucial M4 256GB SSD. It isn't the fastest on the market, but if you apply the latest firmware, it's not too bad, and reasonably priced.

I don't know what prices for these in AU are, but you usually can't go wrong with either ASUS or Gigabyte. But, I do prefer the higher end boards as they are usually made with better quality components. I also have a i7 3770k (which I don't overclock). I got a great deal on the cpu though, we have a local store (Microcenter) that has amazing prices on in-store CPU's, far below anything online. I really don't get how they have prices so low.

I suggest an ivy bridge chipset (Z77). They're rock solid, and have some nice features over the sandy bridge (runs cooler due to the 22nm process, needs less power, and performs about 5-15% better than Sandy bridge).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
ASUS or Gigabyte

My friend always buys ASUS or Gigabyte motherboards (and AMD CPUs).

I used to get his discards (after a couple of years of use) when upgraded his PC.
I'd get a couple of years use out of them in my PC (until he upgraded again).

In the last decade we have only had one board fail before the 4 year mark.
The symptom was a bulging capacitor (unfortunately replacing the capacitor didn't fix the problem).

When that board died (ASUS) I bought an ASRock motherboard (I had to buy something cheap).
It's OK, except that the disc controller seems a bit flaky.
Luckily the SATA channel for my OS HDD is solid.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
@Mystere Thank you very much for going to so much trouble to provide all that information. Have definitely decided to build total new machine based on your recommendations. Will post results once it's all up and running, which may take a little while as have to research prices, availability, etc.
:thumbsup:

Will probably go Gigabyte as my current SLI linked video cards are all Gigabyte and run seamless. Solid core capacitors early innovation is a big plus and that alone is enough to sway me to that persuasion. I currently have 2 Corsair Force SSD SATA3 120GB HDs in main machine. One for OS and other for storage, or 2nd OS if wanted. All other storage is done on West Digital external HDs, being USB3 750GB & eSATA 1TB which runs in tower caddy. Intel say that Rapid Storage drivers should be installed to allow safe hot plugging of eSATA HD. I presume Gigabyte would have something similar? Or maybe OK by default?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

@ Iehnerus2000 Thank you also for back up info which confirms what Mystere had said. :thumb:

In my experience capacitors are usually the weak point on mobos. And defintiely the first to go in power box, as opposed to step-down transformers, which last forever. I have not built any mobo circuit boards, but have worked in design and construction of radio model aircraft remote control circuit boards. Usually once one component goes it's indicative that others are also probably on the way out. If a capacitor breaks down it can vary the voltage to other components outside the tolerance limits and nuke them. Most devices these days have replaceable modules, rather than replacing individual component.

As a point of general interest Samsung had a lot of problems with their power supply component in LCD, (LED lighted), TVs. Turned out the problem was poor design, but not in the actual electical layout of the board. The metal screws that go through holes on the power board to fix it to the metal chassis of the TV, serve as earthing conductors. The top end of the screw touchs small metal raised ridges on the board to complete the circuit. But they weren't connecting properly with the ridges. Samsung brought out an upgraded power board with exactly the same model number, and the only change made was to replace the ridges with round metal washers.

Techos simply replace the whole board. Cost to solder 6 washers on the scew holes is about 50 cents, and can be done in 25 minutes max, allowing for removing the back panel and power board. To check out if this is your problem examine the points on the TV chassis where the holding screws go in, and you'll see black scorching where the current has been arcing.

Oh hell!

Oh Hell.jpg

Hope you're having an enjoyable Australia Day holiday mate. Misc 963.jpg

Cheers M :D
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
I can also work around the Acronis issue. Even though the main program cannot be loaded on Windows 8, partition images can be created/restored by loading the program at boot onto RAM using recovery CD. Unfortunately it's not possible to validate a new image except from main program loaded on OS and run from active GUI. On the plus side I don't think I can ever recall a completed image not validating. As distinct from an image error message that it could not read from the source and hence not complete the image. The other alternative is to buy Acronis 2013.
http://www.eightforums.com/software-apps/18540-best-imaging-software-suggestions-2.html#post180958
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
@topgundcp Thanks for the heads up. :thumb: Will give Macrium a go. Does it allow the image to be mounted on another PC to retrieve files if a mobo has carked it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
@topgundcp Thanks for the heads up. :thumb: Will give Macrium a go. Does it allow the image to be mounted on another PC to retrieve files if a mobo has carked it?
Sure does.

BTW, with Acronis 2012 Recue media, I don't think there's an option to verify the image on the menu but if you right click on the image, you'll see it there,
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Will probably go Gigabyte as my current SLI linked video cards are all Gigabyte and run seamless. Solid core capacitors early innovation is a big plus and that alone is enough to sway me to that persuasion. I currently have 2 Corsair Force SSD SATA3 120GB HDs in main machine. One for OS and other for storage, or 2nd OS if wanted. All other storage is done on West Digital external HDs, being USB3 750GB & eSATA 1TB which runs in tower caddy. Intel say that Rapid Storage drivers should be installed to allow safe hot plugging of eSATA HD. I presume Gigabyte would have something similar? Or maybe OK by default?

All gigabyte boards based on the Intel chipset also have the Intel Storage Technology drivers. I've never installed them, as I don't hotplug anything and I don't use RAID (not a good idea to use RAID with SSD's since you can't use TRIM when in a raid configuration. Although I hear some of the new Intel drives may allow it). I just install the standard AHCI driver and use that, and have not had any issues. There are also drivers for Rapid Start Technology which I also never install (and disable in BIOS). I do enable the EIST though (that's the enhanced power savings where it throttles down the CPU cores when idle).

Most of the performance boards tend to also include a secondary SATA chipset, such a Marvel chip. Those typically have different driver requirements (they still work with standard AHCI, but if you want raid and what not). It depends on the board.

I would suggest doing a detailed comparison of the features of the boards you are interested in. In particular, look at number of USB 3.0 ports (both on the board and as internal expansion connectors), and various backside connectors (many of the newer boards don't have a PS/2 connector, which you may or may not be OK with). Also, if you want eSATA, you might look for something that has a backplate eSata rather than just expansion slot extenders.

Depending on your case and power supply, you may also have to be cognizant of the location of the power and front panel connectors, but in all honesty, I would also buy a new case that has at least 4 front panel USB 3. But that's up to you. I also prefer cases with quick release drive bays, since I do a lot of swapping around.

Other issues are more typical, such as the kind of audio it supports (whether you want or need optical in/out, for instance). Many boards with optical only have optical out, not in.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
@ topgundcp Thanks for the confirmation re mounting Macrium image. :D

@ Mystere Thank you very much for the comprehensive reply to my query re motherboards. I will certainly read up on the various board specs, keeping in mind the diferent points you have brought to my attention. EIST sounds like a good option to have.

And I think you're right. Time to buy a new tower and start from scratch. My current tower is a Cooler Master Centurion 5 II gaming case, but possibly a bit underpowered. And the whole rig is almost two years old, which is a long time in PC terms.

Likewise I don't use Raid configuration, but installed the Rapid Storage drivers to make the SATA drives run more efficiently and consistently, which in turn enabled Nero to run. I have never overclocked as Intel never allowed it in the past, and even on the DX58SO2 high performance board they warned that it would wear out the components quicker. But with SSD SATA3 HD, 3 SLI linked video cards, extreme CPU & 12GB RAM, you don't really need it. I don't think the human eye could detect the difference no matter what game is running.

I am most grateful.:thumbsup:

Cheers M
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
A Longshot

Usually once one component goes it's indicative that others are also probably on the way out. If a capacitor breaks down it can vary the voltage to other components outside the tolerance limits and nuke them.

My friend and I worked as electronic repair techs (he still works in basically the same field).

Replacing the capacitor was a longshot.
I figured that it was worth trying to replace the capacitor ($1).
If it had worked, it would have saved me $200+ (new motherboard, CPU, & RAM).

Something else was wrong with the motherboard (obviously related to, or the cause of, the capacitor problem) because although it would start, it wouldn't POST. :(

@topgundcp Thanks for the heads up. :thumb: Will give Macrium a go. Does it allow the image to be mounted on another PC to retrieve files if a mobo has carked it?

I can mount Macrium images that were created on my previous installations and read the contents without problems. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
Yeah likewise I have tried to repair a few boards over the years by replacing an individual component. As you say, cost wise worth a shot. The only one that ever worked was not really replacing a faulty component, but re-soldering a dry solder joint on the attaching pins to the board. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
The only one that ever worked was not really replacing a faulty component, but re-soldering a dry solder joint on the attaching pins to the board. :)

I hate dry solder joints. :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
Mustang, here is a tutorial how to deal with Macrium: Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Forums

Note that there are 2 important links in the tutorial:
1. A video from our friend Keith that shows you the whole recovery process
2. A link to my Skydrive from where you can download the WinPE .iso. Saves you a couple of hours producing it yourself.

And for the Windows 8 installation - why don't you go virtual. This is the best of all worlds: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2899-vmware-player-install-windows-8-a.html

And if you want to be really fancy and run your Windows 8 on different machines, do like I have done: Portable OS - Carry your OS on an External Drive - Windows 7 Forums
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
@whs Thank you very much for all that input and for going to so much trouble to provide all those links. I replied to a post you had on another thread in this forum here.

I have read the tutorial in Win7 Forum and already dowwloaded the WinPE.iso from a link you had in another post on this forum. I was originally alerted to it by Topgundcp in an earlier post in this thread.

At the moment I've got W8 installed on my backup PC with no other OSs on the machine and it runs very well. However, I like the idea of portable OS. I've been aware of it for a long time but never got around to doing it.

Truth is while I do enjoy tinkering with PCs in a general sense, most of the knowledge I possess has come from a need to know basis. And aside from solving problems on my own PCs, a lot has come about from resolving problems when helping repair other persons PCs. As mentioned in other posts I belong to a world wide self-help fellowship, and my humble contribution is to try and help other members of this fellowship who reside in my area with their PC problems. And a lot of them haven't got the finances to to to a professional for help.

I'm certainly no expert, and while there's heaps of stuff I don't know, what I do know, I know well. I'm past doing any formal tertiary education, but if I had my time over again, I would devote it to working professionally in the field of computers. Ironically both my son in laws are electronic engineers although my daughters met them totally independently from each other and from my professional engineering background. One is in fibre optic communications and the other in green energy development and deployment.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ult Reatil & Win 8 Pro OEM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Built as DIY
    CPU
    6 core 12 thread & 4 core
    Motherboard
    Inel Extreme & Intel standard
    Memory
    12GB & 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    3 top end SLI linked & onboard
    Sound Card
    In built in graphics card & onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24 & 23 inch Samsung LED backlit
    Screen Resolution
    High def
    Hard Drives
    Corsair Force 128GB SATA3 SSDs in each machine. Plus several external USB3 and eSATA spinner HDs
This world wide self-help fellowship sounds interesting. How do you communicate within the group. Is that only for computers or does it have a larger aspect.

I was lucky. I spent my life in computers since 1961 after I did already a few years before at university. But PCs were new to me too. There is never an end to learning. Now I am into tablets and Android. Where will that end.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
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