[hothatchaway]

I have a Lenovo 3000H Desktop lying around unused for the past 4 years. This was purchased in 2007 for my younger brother who has since moved on to laptops. Thought of reviving this instead of tossing it out. The monitor has gone kaput but the CPU is running. I opened the case and found that the PSU is working and the fans are spinning. The DVD drive was opening and closing repeatedly with the power on and that got fixed when I replaced the CR2032 coin cell CMOS. However, I could not enable any screen output since the CPU has a VGA output only and all the TV screens I have are HDMI only. The PC had a licensed version of Windows running, whatever the current version for 2007 was. Again, I have no clue what state the system software is at since I am yet to buy a VGA to HDMI adapter.

Request suggestions on the equipment that I need to get started. I intend to run Linux (light version) and have my 8 year old daughter tinker with it to learn more than just operating windows. This will be a hobby system only, if I can get it up and running. I had zero knowledge of electronic HW until a week back when I started reading online so that I can the case apart. So my knowledge is very limited. I would need suggestions on how to load Linux via USB as this PC is not wireless compatible.

Attaching some pics

[Joxster]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Update the bios to the latest. Old ryzen 3 bioses had huge problems. Only agesa 1.0.0.3ABB and 1.0.0.4B are stable enough to be used.

Very, very good point! I should have advised this first. Using the latest BIOS is incredibly important for all Ryzen processors.

Cheers

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Joxster

Alright. We can see from the screenshot that your RAM sticks should achieve 3200Mhz at 1.35V. You can follow the video guide that you posted, except use 1.35V instead of 1.36V for your RAM.

Cheers

So turns out that my bios version has a few different options in the BIOS setup page. And i think whatever tinkering i did, was not fruitful.

Shall post pics of the options later and hope you can help me out

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Update the bios to the latest. Old ryzen 3 bioses had huge problems. Only agesa 1.0.0.3ABB and 1.0.0.4B are stable enough to be used.

Think my Gigabyte is on the F41 bios which was released in July 2019 and the latest version of F50 released in November 2019. Shall update it then.

[vasudeva]

I have been using only assembled desktops since 1998 and with one vendor since 2009. That vendor is good but as I have moved to higher components, I find that my vendor is not fully technically qualified for solving the occassional problems. I am fortunate to be able to afford higher-end components.

I am desperately looking for a genuine, technically competent and competitive sales and after sales home visits for repairs, installation of new components. My vendor does all this but his prices for components are higher than in the market and I find it somewhat embarassing to let him know that I bought from someone else. In a desktop PC, the vendor should be able to not only procure the parts, but assemble them, deliver them, and take care of after sales. Honestly, I have been too lethargic to look for a new vendor but I feel that the time has come to move on. Home visits after sales is essential as it is tough to carry a 10 kg cabinet (with components, multiple hard disks, GPU, PSU, etc).

[vasudeva]

I recently bought a Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVME 500 GB. This replaced a 2016 Samsung 860 Pro 256 GB. I have read that in real world, NVMEs are not significantly faster than top of line SATA SSDs. This has been confirmed by my usage. NVMEs do have one advantage over SATA SSDs. Prices are competitive, and NVMEs have a lot more potential to reach higher speeds. Major players have reached the limits of SATA SSDs and maybe we wont see too much product upgrades in 2020 and onwards.

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

I upgraded my 2011 PC with new components in June 2019

New components:

CPU: Intel Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core

CPU Cooler: Intel E97379-001

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX LGA1151
2S

Would be keen to know how is the mobo. I have a i7-6850k and asus x99 deluxe ii. Frankly I am now done with xx chipsets (have used x58, x79, x99 from 2009-20) and am now looking for a LGA1151 CPU with perhaps a Gigabyte board. I am also done with ASUS considering their service quality.

[satish_appasani]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Would be keen to know how is the mobo. I have a i7-6850k and asus x99 deluxe ii. Frankly I am now done with xx chipsets (have used x58, x79, x99 from 2009-20) and am now looking for a LGA1151 CPU with perhaps a Gigabyte board. I am also done with ASUS considering their service quality.

The mother board works as expected. I am neither a power gamer nor tweak MB / CPU settings for more power. Went with this motherboard for future compatibility and scalability. In the past few months since I built this system I do not have any trouble with it.

[vasudeva]

Thanks. I also do not tweak much. I am tired of ASUS and plan on a Gigabyte board for my next build.

[Joxster]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Think my Gigabyte is on the F41 bios which was released in July 2019 and the latest version of F50 released in November 2019. Shall update it then.

Was just wondering if everything worked out for you buddy? Didn't hear back after this post

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I am tired of ASUS and plan on a Gigabyte board for my next build.

I would be interested to hear about why you're tired of ASUS. If you don't mind explaining of course.

Cheers

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I have been using only assembled desktops since 1998 and with one vendor since 2009. That vendor is good but as I have moved to higher components, I find that my vendor is not fully technically qualified for solving the occassional problems. I am fortunate to be able to afford higher-end components.

I am desperately looking for a genuine, technically competent and competitive sales and after sales home visits for repairs, installation of new components. My vendor does all this but his prices for components are higher than in the market and I find it somewhat embarassing to let him know that I bought from someone else. In a desktop PC, the vendor should be able to not only procure the parts, but assemble them, deliver them, and take care of after sales. Honestly, I have been too lethargic to look for a new vendor but I feel that the time has come to move on. Home visits after sales is essential as it is tough to carry a 10 kg cabinet (with components, multiple hard disks, GPU, PSU, etc).

I do not understand the after sales part. Computers do not require any regular maintenance if they are in a clean and less dusty environment.

Purchasing the components and assembling them is a one time job. Unless you are looking at adding more units of the system with time. The street/area in your city which is famous for computer peripheries will also have the people with technical know how to assemble even the complex hardware. You just need to look around.

Honestly, if its a single unit, buying from vendor does not make sense financially. It may have made sense a decade ago(We have purchased 3 times from vendor at higher markups), but definitely not in 2020

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by Joxster

Was just wondering if everything worked out for you buddy? Didn't hear back after this post

Been a bit busy and whatever time i get i have been setting it up and gaming. Tried to OC the RAM and ended up with a BSOD and had to hard reset the BIOS

So just taking it slow. And yet to update BIOS as well. So yeah

Converted one my 4TB externals to an internal drive for my music files and it's a charm. Next year need to get myself the creative ae-9 or the evga nu-audio pro. That with an amp and a pair of bookshelf speakers, my home audio setup would be complete.

For now, just enjoying the build. I call it El Diablo and i threw in my Diablo funko pop figure inside. He seems to like it inside. Must remind him of home with all the heat inside!

[vasudeva]

AMD has been reporting solid increase in CPUs as per their investor relations. I now find them vastly better VFM. I wonder when will Intel see the hit and cut prices of their CPUs to better compete with AMD. i9-9900k is overpriced and so is i7-9700k.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

I have a Lenovo 3000H Desktop lying around unused for the past 4 years.

First please check if the VGA ports are fine by connecting it to some old monitor or a TV that has VGA input. You can download the ubuntu image here https://ubuntu.com/#download , and copy it on to a bootable pen drive.

[aditya.bhardwaj]

Hi Guys,

I need some urgent help from you guys as I am facing a major issue with my computer. I am running an ASRock 990fx extreme4 motherboard with AMD 8150 processor, with 24gigs of RAM with a 128 gig SSD (OCZ)

Now, due to being busy, I switched on my desktop after two months or so and it just went on to the preparing automatic repair screen for Windows 10 ( Black background with blue windows logo ) and then it's stuck since then.

Things I have tried doing is mentioned below:-

1. Clear the CMOS and changing the battery
2. Update the BIOS through instant flash
3. Noticed the CPU temp was at 81 degrees celsius so cleaned the liquid cooler and CPU and put thermal paste again. Now the temperature is hovering at 53 degrees during idling ( checked in through the UEFI setup as it's not going further anyway )

Now once I press F11 and select boot options, it shows me my SSD, HDD, and the disk drive. In addition, it says USB: SANDISK and UEFI: SANDISK. This is the bootable USB for windows 10.

Once I select the UEFI option, it reboots and gets stuck with the ASRock logo displayed on the screen and nothing else .

Now because of the lockdown, I am not able to work on anything. A request if someone can help me with the same.

[reignofchaos]

Just select the ssd directly not the UEFI version. It should boot.

[aditya.bhardwaj]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Just select the ssd directly not the UEFI version. It should boot.

Dude, i don't know how, i was trying this since the past 9+ hrs but i did the same now after taking your suggestion and it booted up

Can't thank you enough.