New HTPC Mobo and Processor - Asus P5N7A-VM Geforce 9300 IGP is dead

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › New HTPC Mobo and Processor - Asus P5N7A-VM Geforce 9300 IGP is dead

Nimma

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#54044 15-Dec-2009 18:13

Well my 6 month old Asus P5N7A-VM (Geforce 9300 IGP) is dead after only 6 months. It wasn't cheap and I don't think I'm likely to get refunded based on some comments I've heard. If this is the case i have two options to rebuild a win7 HTPC with the remaining parts I have. If Diablo III ever comes out I'll buy a graphic card to suit but until then I am games free.

Option 1:

CPU: existing E5200
Motherboard; Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L @ $70 (not going to spend $250 on the same motherboard again!)
Graphincs: Radeon HD4350 @ $50

Option 2:

CPU: Sell the e5200 and get an Athlon II X2 240 @ $80 or a 235e low power @ $130
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H @ $130

Any thoughts on these builds? Option 1 is the cheapest but option 2 has a more nicely featured mobo albeit with IGP instead of discrete. My understainding is that TV3 freeview HD 1080i should be fine with the Athlon II and 785G chipset.

Thanks!

traderstu

334 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 113

#282901 15-Dec-2009 20:34

Mimma, your motherboard has a 3 yr warranty. Contact your supplier and try to work something out. If you don't have any joy, please let us know.

Nimma

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#282910 15-Dec-2009 20:51

It's currently with computerlounge whom I bought it from and I believe they have passed it on to Asus. I can see that one of the caps has blackened and several of the circuit paths are toast. Will see how it goes... Hope for the best expect the worst

Niel

3267 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 80

Trusted

#283275 16-Dec-2009 22:55

I'm considering spending $1700 with CL and would be interested to know how you experience their after sales service. Can find it cheaper at PC Online Shop, but after sales service is also important.

I'm going with Gigabyte due to track record. Asus is popular, but I rate Gigabyte higher when it comes to reliability.

The 9000 series video cards run hot, might be related. I also found your post from when you ordered the board and you mentioned wanting to overclock to get the 9300 essentially the same speed as a 9400. There is a reason why it is not a 9400, and it is not only because of temperature. Your claim will probably depend on how much Asus allows overclocking and if they will find out.

You can never have enough Volvos!

Nimma

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#283279 16-Dec-2009 23:05

Hi Niel

I didn't end up overclocking since the onboard 9300 dud everything I needed just fine especially considering I don't run games. I actually ended up running and extra 120cm fan since the asus 9300 runs notoriously hot anyway. Speedfan allowed me to monitor all the temps and control the fans accordingly

at this stage the warranty claim lays with asus nz rather than cl specifically and I didn't mean to imply Any negativity toward cl. Just disappointing that my premium motherboard is dead after only 6 months.

Ps the acer aspire ones makes a poor backup htpc!

Regs

4066 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 206

Trusted

Snowflake

#284103 19-Dec-2009 23:02

must have been a big box to house a 120cm fan!

Sales Engineer
Snowflake
www.snowflake.com

about.me/nzregs
Twitter: @nzregs

Nimma

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#284801 23-Dec-2009 11:26

Just to let you know I had greatr after sales service from computerlounge who replaced the motherboard. I'm off there again today to buy myself an Antec NSK2480 case in fact.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

dale77

298 posts

Ultimate Geek

#285753 29-Dec-2009 00:57

CPU: Sell the e5200 and get an Athlon II X2 240 @ $80 or a 235e low power @ $130
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H @ $130

Any thoughts on these builds? Option 1 is the cheapest but option 2 has a more nicely featured mobo albeit with IGP instead of discrete. My understainding is that TV3 freeview HD 1080i should be fine with the Athlon II and 785G chipset.

I have a similar board (HD3200 instead of HD4200 onboard). One issue to be aware of is that the HD3200 (and possibly HD4200) does not handle full-resolution 1080i *in mediaportal*, if that is your HTPC ui. It did work with other applications, but mediaportal's rendering approach was too much for the onboard.

Athlon II should be fine, I have a 4850e X2 (2.5Ghz). It is your graphics solution you need to look at. My own Sapphire 4670 seems to be a great solution, the large slow fan is inaudible in my system.

Is there a real cheap AMD motherboard option to which you could add a 4670? no need to pay for sideport memory if you're not using the onboard.

HTPC: Antec Fusion 430, Intel i3, Gigabyte 1050, Corsair 4x1Gb, Hauppauge WinTv, Logitech z-5500, Logitech Harmony 525, Yamaha Rx-v6a, Samsung KS8000 4k, Windows 10, Mediaportal 1.30, BLU-RAY: Panasonic UB820

smac

338 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 40

#286885 4-Jan-2010 14:17

Interesting comments regarding warrentee etc being with ASUS not CL.

Under NZ legislation your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer. The retailer may then claim from the manufacturer, but that's their problem, don't let them make it yours. If you ever encounter a retailer stalling you while they deal with a supplier, start throwing the legalise at them.

Good to see CL came to the party on this one, I wouldn't expect anything different.

Oh and as an aside - the ASUS BIOS allows overclocking of the GPU, so I think they'd be hard pressed to refuse a claim on that point alone. That's like a car manufacture refusing a claim cause you red lined it - not gonna happen. Allowing it to overheat is another matter.