am I dealing with a snake? (kinda long)

[crucibelle]

Ok, first a little history of my comp. I bought it at sam's club, really cheap - it was an emachines etower 500is. It came with the monitor and everything - only $400. this was about 4 years ago. A couple of years later, I took it to a computer repair shop and had it upgraded - basically everything inside of it was changed. I don't know what the emachines originally had in it, except that it had a 500 mhz celeron processor and 64mb of pc100 ram. Anyhow, it was upgraded to a Duron 800 mhz processor, 128 mb of pc133 ram, a larger hard drive (the old one was only 4 gig, this one is 9). The motherboard was changed to an EpoX KT133 (I think) with a via chipset. An 8 mb Trident Blade 3D (pci) video card was also placed in the comp.

Well anyhow, things went smoothly until about a month or two ago, exactly 3 months after the warranty on the EpoX motherboard expired, it died. Mind you, I never overclocked anything, my system never overheated, etc. So, I take it in to this same shop to get it fixed and the guy puts in a FIC AE31 mobo. When I got it home, I wasn't too happy to find out that the video was onboard and took 8 mb of my 128, leaving me with 120mb. I expressed my concern about this to the computer tech guy and he told me that it was hard to find a micro-ATX board without onboard video. Well that is find and dandy, but I think he could have at least placed a board in here with an AGP slot (this one has none). This board has 3 pci slots (that's ok by me). One ISA slot (don't think I'll be needing that) and one CNR slot (I don't even know what the heck that is). Anyhow, I went around looking online to find a board that maybe he'd trade out for this one. I found a Biostar one that I liked (M7VIG), mostly because it supports the pc133 that I alread have, and supports DDR for future upgrades. AND it has an AGP slot (even though it also has onboard video of 32mb). I emailed him and asked if we could do a swap. He said no problem but that the M7VIG had been "discontinued" and that he recommended that I get the M7VIQ instead. Then he threw in a "but I think it only supports DDR memory, so you'd have to purchase some of that." (from him of course). I emailed Biostar and they told me straight up that the M7VIG had not been discontinued and had no idea why someone would tell me that. My guess is that this guy is trying to squeeze more money out of me (he already seriously overcharged me for the FIC mobo and I didn't find that out till after the fact).

Another issue - what good is DDR memory going to do me when I am limited (for now) to a 100 mhz fsb? Would it do me any good at all? I know I could upgrade the processor, but money is tight and is going to be that for a looong while. I don't see a processor upgrade coming up for me anytime soon.

I don't know what to do, should I keep the FIC board (I haven't had any probs with it so far) or get the Biostar one? Or is there another board I could ask him to trade? (I payed 89.95 for this FIC board). Also, are there ANY ATX boards that will fit a small case? My guess is no, but I thought I'd ask anyhow. Any suggestions for what I should do would be appreciated!! thanks in advance.

[techteen143]

go somewhere else, if the guy already overcharged u he'll do it again. find a reliable place and ddr isn't gonna do much better on a 100Mhz FSB. Get the board somewhere else.

[Dourden]

It is possible that he is trying to suck more money out of you. It is also possible that what he told you about that board is true form his point of view. Most local shops have distributors that they have to go though. It is possible that his distributors have stopped carrying that model of motherboard. He is right about the fact that most micro-ATX boards have on board everything and most that have on board video also don't have an AGP slot thats why they are cheaper. DDR 2100 memory may not help all that much but it doesn't hurt and 128meg 2100 DDR is running round 30$ right now which isn't all that much. Heck SDRAM is starting to get more expensive than some DDR Ram now. I do think that if you are suspicious of this guy that you should try going elsewhere at least to get a second opinion or quote. If this guy values your business it might at least try to cut you a deal that is at least even with another store. If he doesn't and his prices are way off base compared to another place you might think about going there. Becareful though Cheaper doesn't always mean better. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

[DalyTek]

OK, I am a PC technician myself (10 years now). This shop is, in my opinion, a waste of time and money.

First of all, if the warranty expired on the motherboard, then it is logical you would have to buy another. We can all agree on that.

BUT, you should be able to get a motherboard with specs that meet your needs. Onboard video is not that common, only on lower-end boards. I have a micro-ATX board here at the house that has onboard video (which is ALWAYS shared with system RAM) but also has an AGP slot. And it is about as generic as you can go.

DDR really won't do you any good at this point, but will provide you with an easier upgrade option in the future.

By the way, a CNR slot (also known as an AMR slot) is for "Audio Modem Riser" and is basically an onboard interface for a special type of winmodem.

I would recommend looking for an ECS K7S5A motherboard. That's what I am using in my computer. It has both SDRAM and DDR slots, and supports all socket A processors from Duron through Athlon XP. It is a very stable motherboard but can be picky about what type of expansion cards you use (mostly videa cards). It has an onboard LAN, onboard audio, but no onboard video. Has a 4x AGP slot though. You can get used K7S5A motherboards for around $40-50 too.

If you need any help with your system, or if you want me to work on it for you feel free to give me a shout at dalytek12@msn.com
I'm always glad to help out, and nobody understands a tight budget better than I do.

[yeadon563]

I think that for $204 u can get a new bare bones system. Then you can pull all your old stuff out and put it in a new case and board.

How much have you spent already on this computer? There are many places on the net where you can buy an affordable bare bone system. Your spending all this money just to keep the same case?!!!

Another point is the hard drive. How much did he charge you for a 9 gig drive? And what did you do with the old drive? Did you add it to your system as a slave? These days with rebates you can get at least a 30 or 40 drive for $40 or $50 bucks. Shoot for that matter how much did he charge you for the 128 ram? In my town a genric stick of pc 133 ram is about $27.


I'm thinking that maybe this guy saw you coming.

Yeadon563

[CERuppel]

Definately start shopping around. And tell the people at these shops that you are looking around and what you are looking for.

In my experience the 'snakes' will give themselves away by thier responses, and the good ones will talk to you and help.

P.S.: Don't judge a store by one experience, just talking to one person could get you the wrong impression. Took me a couple years but now I have stores and techs that I can trust in this area.

Good luck, and if you know enough to open your case and read the manuals then maybe you should try your handat building your own? Just a thought...

[angelcat]

These guys are correct, shoping around is probably your best bet. I foyu can shop online, the people here can help you find some of the best deals around!

Welcome to TechIMO!

[John Prophet]

Biostar M7VKG has onboard audio plus 4x AGP slot. Im sure there are many others....and nowadays, also some MicroATX boards with onboard vid, plus AGP slot, plus DDR.

JP

[/dev/rhetorical]

Two sources most don't think about, albeit riskier:

do you live near a university? put an ad in the student paper saying you're looking for excess parts. I have also snagged equipment free that's just dumped outside student IT labs, repair sites, etc. I have grabbed mobos that worked, HDs that worked, CDROMs that have worked.

Salvation Army. I kid you not. Turn the stuff on while you are there And if you strike out, hell, who doesn't need a waffle iron!