Ask A Geek

Q: I’m doing some upgrades on my PC and I’m wondering if this PSU has the correct cables for the motherboard. I couldn’t find a site in English that supplied more info on the PSU but I wrote down what I could get a hold of.

PSU: XION AXP PowerSupply 630W V. 2.20 SLI Ready

630 Watt Version 2.20 with 120mm Cooling Fan x 1 / 20 +4 Pins (Prescott ready) / SATA x 2 / PCI-Express x2 (SLI ready) / Titanium Nickle Coating Surface, PFC

Specifications:
4-pin FDD connectors – 2
4-pin HDD connectors – 6
4-pin P4 connectors – 1
5-pin S-ATA connectors – 2
6-pin PCIe connectors – 2
Active PFC – No
Dimensions – 145 x 150 x 85 (LxWxH) mm
Modular – No
Power – 630 W

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131397&cm_re=M4A77TD_PRO-_-13-131-397-_-Product

Thanks, appreciate the help!

Q: I have ASUS motherboard with a Nvidia 8300 mGPU and I have the recommended 8400 GS Video card. Are there other cards I can use with this chip set ?

Q: I want to replace the battery on my motherboard but don’t want to lose the BIOS settings. Is it safe to replace the motherboard battery while the computer is running?

A: It is not safe to touch any internal parts of a computer while it is plugged in never mind running. You should always make sure that your computer is shut off, unplugged, and that you are grounded before touching any internal parts of the computer because a simple shock (electrical discharge) from you to the computer could ruin your computer. It is no different when it comes to replacing the battery on your motherboard. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: I have misplaced my book for my motherboard: MSI MS 7030 (VER:1) K8N Neo FSR and I need to know what to do to change the battery on the motherboard. The battery is 7 years old.

Q: Can you recommend me a new motherboard?

My current computer hardware specs are:
Graphics card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Kentsfied core, Socket 775, 2.4 GHz, 8mb cache

Sound card: Creative soundblaster X-Fi

PSU: Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W

Cooling: Zerotherm Nirvana NV-120 Quiet CPU cooler.

RAM: OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition 2 x 2gb.

Previous Mobo: Asus P5K Premium Wifi-AP, Intel P35 Chipset, LGA775 CPU support.

Those are my hardware specs, if any more details are necessary I can provide, I need a new mobo compatible with this hardware, any help would be appreciated.

Q: Is it bad to put heat sinks on any if not all the motherboard chips?

A: You will want to figure out if adding heat sinks to your motherboard will void the warranty. Adding them might also cause issues if you have to RMA the new motherboard, especially if you’re using any kind of permanent or semi-permanent thermal adhesive. Since heat sinks are metal you’ll need to also be very careful to avoid causing any kinds of shorts which could potentially toast your new motherboard. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: I want to upgrade my old PC by adding more RAM. The problem is I have no idea what kind of RAM it needs. I know there are many types of RAMs DDR, DDR2 and what not so which type should I buy?

I currently have single chip with 512MB so I am wondering if it would be okay to install 256MB or if I would have to install 512MB like the first one?

I am running Windows XP Pro and the motherboard is a ASRock K8Upgrade-NF3 (4 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 Future CPU Port, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN).

A: Based on the information from your motherboard, your system has 2x DDR DIMM slots and supports DDR400/333/266 non-ECC, un-buffered memory. In non-geek terms this means you need DDR RAM, and that 400, 333 or 266 will work.

A 256meg stick should work but the prices on the older DDR RAM are very low. You can buy a new stick of 512meg for only $10-$20 US. You will see more of an increase in performance going from 512MB to 1GB than from 512MB to 768MB.

You can find examples of what RAM will work at NewEgg.com.

Q: Hello my fellow geeks! I have hopefully a very simple question for you guys.

I have an average desktop but I want to transform it into a number crunching light rendering beast before I start university. I have bought and installed new RAM, graphics, and sound cards but I still need a new processor.

My question is will this processor work with my motherboard?

Motherboard Name Asus IPIBL-LB (Benicia)

Intel BX80580Q8300 Q8300 Core 2 Quad Processor

If it is not compatible then can someone please suggest a new processor around the same price and power that is compatible?

Q: I am buying the following components and I am wondering if everything is going to fit and work on my new computer. I am also wondering if the corsair 650W power supply enough?

Antec Three Hundred case

ASUS P5QL PRO, P43, Socket-755

Corsair powersupply 650W black ATX/EPS

Corsair Dominator TWIN2X PC8500 4 GB DDR2 with Fan (Is fan needed)-the one without is cheaper.

Samsung Spinpoint T166 250GB SATA2

HIS Radeon HD 4890 1 GB GDDR5

Intel Core 2 Quad 8400 2,66ghz.

Did i forget anything?

Q: Is it bad to put heat sinks on any if not all the motherboard chips?

I ask this because I just got a new MB an I have some Heat Sinks left an I would like to use them for something. Plus I say the motherboard would look a lot better with them on.