Motherboard Question

spyder07 · Post by **spyder07** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:43 am

Ok, they look the same to me but is an MSI 845 Pro the same as an MSI 845 GL Ultra? I've got an ultra in my machine now and it's not detecting the processor. I'm using a P4 2.4 Ghz processor.

Another thing, if I got the pro would I be able to get the processor out or is it somehow secured in there permenantly. I haven't done any work with processors before so I don't know anything about them.

iohkus · Post by **iohkus** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:49 am

weak low wattage power supply or dead CPU will do this

the worse is when shit doesn't detected and you get paranoid about defective parts

if this is your first time building a pc or doing any cpu installation or anything i'd let someone else do it and just watch them the first time

it is easy but there's a lot of things a newb3 can do wrong on their 1st system

Icabod · Post by **Icabod** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 5:45 am

Ok, they look the same to me but is an MSI 845 Pro the same as an MSI 845 GL Ultra?

The diffrence is most likely small, a few extra BIOS and input/output options. I never had personal experience with these MBs so I wouldn't know for sure.

iohkus · Post by **iohkus** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:15 am

he can't go into bios if his mobo won't recognize his CPU and doesn't boot

or did you mean that your mobo would boot with the CPU except it just wouldn't recognize the speed it's at?

Icabod · Post by **Icabod** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:47 am

If he was O/C'ing it, all he has to do is pull out the lithium diode battery (looks like a quarter on most boards) for about 30 seconds then put it back and the BIOS will be at default settings again.

And to answer your second question, yes the processor detaches from the mobo. Usually there is a little hinge attached to the bottom which you can pull the whole HSF/Processor out with.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:24 am

Did the CPU come with the MB? If so, then it might be glued on with adhesive thermal gel.

I would not advise this, but this is what I did and it works fine still...
SOME DAMAGE COULD RESULT TOWARDS THE CPU/MB IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW HTE INTSRUCTIONS CORRECTLY!
Follow the instrucions included with your motherboard in installing/uninstalling the heatsink. If the heatsink will not come off easily even after all the plastic retainers have been removed, then read on. MAKE SHURE THAT ALL OF THE RETAINERS HAVE BEEN REMOVED BEFORE PROCEDING
Pull fairly hard on the heatsink, and the CPU shouldcome out attached to it. Now that you have the heatsink and CPU separated, clean off the part of the heatsink that was touching the CPU, removing the glue's remnants. Put the heatsink down to dry.

With the CPU alone, pull the levers on the CPU socket so that they are at a 90* angle from the board. This allows the CPU to slip in/out easily. Notice: there is a convertor for your CPU socket, so there are actually 2 levers. You only have to mess with the top one(on the 'Socket 423/Socket 478' convertor). Try to put the CPU back in. If it wont go in easily, rotate it 90*. Repeat until it fits. Do not apply any real ammount of force towards the CPU when doing this. that could result in a busted CPU! Remember: if the lever is up, it will slide in very easily.
Reattach the HS to the CPU using htat helpful little manual provided with the motherboard.

With regard to the motherboard not detecting the CPU. This can be caused by a number of things. If you upgraded from an old procesor, and that one worked in this MB, revert to it. Set the CPU multiplier (in the CMOS/BIOS) to the lowest it will go. Underclocking the procesor cannot harm it, so don't worry. Put in your 2.4Ghz again. Now that the motherboard is manually set to see the CPU at a very low speed, it should have no problems. Find out the proper CPU multiplier (in this case, 8) and set it to that.

spyder07 · Post by **spyder07** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:34 pm

Well I bought the whole system back in April and it broke sometime in august so I'm pretty sure the battery is dead anyways. It was working perfect right up to then. It just plain old kicked the bucket. I wasn't overclocking at all. I did notice something though, the box that they ship with it says AMD on it instead of Pentium. Would you even be able to do something like putting a P4 processor in an AMD board and have it work?

See I suspect it's the MB because when I got it, the USB ports never worked. I'd have the replacement parts already if the fuckers I bought it from where still in business. I just found some MB's on Ebay cheap so I figured, "What the hell, it's only $18".

Jimmyjay86 · Post by **Jimmyjay86** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:04 am

An $18 MB??? I'd say you get what you pay for. Dump it and buy a new one.

Always go to the MB manufacturer page for specs and to see what chips it is designed to use. Not all boards can take all chips....

http://www.msi.com.tw/

spyder07 · Post by **spyder07** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 2:40 am

No, see I found basically the same one on Ebay for $18.

Killa-Killa · Post by **Killa-Killa** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 7:58 pm

Can you say "Bullshit"? No real P4 mobo is $18. If I were you, I'd buy a real motherboard- at a real price. Any P4 motherboard under $80 has something wrong with it. Even off E-Bay. My advice is: Never, ever buy core PC parts used. There is a reason that they're trying to get rid of them.

Also, I tend to buy brand name Motherboards. Either somebody I've already bought from, or somebody whose products I've seen to consistently work well. In my experience, the best maker is Asus. We just got 352 of their P4C-800 Deluxes. 6 didn't work. Just six. Normally about 15-30 fail. Another (cheaper) manufacturer is ECS-Elitegroup.

spyder07 · Post by **spyder07** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 8:17 pm

Well I was just trying to find something close to what was already in there. I might take the whole thing to CompUSA to see if they'll look at, but if they charge for that I'll just ask for some advice.