The computer parts I ordered arrived, and my friend Eddy and I set about installing them. Problem is, when we were done and took the computer back into the computer room to test it out....it didn't turn on. And when I say it didn't turn on I mean nothing whatsoever occurred. No fan noises, no beeps, no nothing. We tried a few dozen different things to get it going, and nothing worked. Eventually Eddy had to leave and I kept testing, but eventually my conclusion was that one of the following three was DOA: motherboard, CPU, or RAM. Chances are it's the motherboard as it's likely that *something* would have happened if the CPU or RAM had been dead, even if it wasn't much. So I'll be submitting the motherboard for RMA and meanwhile I've put things back the way they were, with the addition of the Audigy 4 SE. (The only part that works with the old motherboard.)
Which is really disappointing, on the one hand. I would very much have liked to be blazing along through games with the power of SLI, dual-core, and DDR2 ram behind me at this point in the evening. Now it's going to be at least another week or two. On the other hand, at least I still have a gaming PC to use while I wait. Usually when some bit of hardware asplodes, I get to put the PC up on blocks for a while and suffer tragically from my loss of recreational options.
Which is really disappointing, on the one hand. I would very much have liked to be blazing along through games with the power of SLI, dual-core, and DDR2 ram behind me at this point in the evening. Now it's going to be at least another week or two. On the other hand, at least I still have a gaming PC to use while I wait. Usually when some bit of hardware asplodes, I get to put the PC up on blocks for a while and suffer tragically from my loss of recreational options.