[Alien]

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Firstly the PSU wouldn't fit in the PSU cradle as the hole in the back of the cradle for the cables to exit was too small so the loom could only go so far through before the thickness of the loom stopped it being pushed through and it also fouled on the fan mounting in the top of the case! But, seeing as this PSU has no fan underneath I flipped the PSU 180° and it slid in no problem, cables went through the hole no problem and didn't fould the top fan.

I thought the silencer series were standard size, & that it was only the Turbocool 1KW model that was bigger than standard?

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Then, missed a standoff on the mobo tray so when I'd put everything together the I/O connectors were 2mm lower than the I/O panel so none of the eSATA/Network/USB ports could be used. Stripped it all down and sorted the missed standoff, f***!!!

I always double or triple check my standoff placements. Good thing I do, as this Asrock is narrower than the last 2 boards I've had, so uses standoffs in different positions.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Next, saw a bent pin on a fan connector so bent it back with a flat blade screwdriver, screwdriver slipped and knocked a surface mounted resistor off the mobo , f**k knows what that has done?

Damn, dude, how much pressure were you applying? You have to be very gentle when straightening pins.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

The two case fans on the side window fouled on the CPU heatsink and the Graphics card heatsink so I couldn't put the side panel on! The fans were bolted on with allen screws and nuts, got a tin of 40 allen keys and NOT ONE BLEEDER FITTED! Had to get a pair of pliers on the nuts and use a pair of wire cutters on the cap head to grip inside the allen hole and the outside of the cap head so I could twist the screw from the nut, the cap heads were smooth not rough!

1 thing I've heard of, but not yet tried, for a situation like this with some sort of weird screw or bolt that you don't have the correct tool for is to use a lighter & an old biro. What you do is remove the ink part, then heat the writing end of the pen barrel until it's soft & then push it into the hole/bolt/whatever & let it cool. Apparently you may need to repeat the process a few times to get a good fit.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Accidently pressed the CMOS clear button and wiped the BIOS settings, set it back up as it was before (I think) and managed to boot into XP, ran 3DMark06 and lost 500 marks?

Probably just some performance tweak you forgot about, maybe something to do with RAM.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Noticed the sound was in mono, only one speaker working! Pulled out the jack plug from the sound card and noticed the tip had broke off and was wedged inside the plug on the soundcard, you gotta be effing kidding me!! Spent 20mins trying to get the damn thing out, ended up bending the metal on the back of the connector so the tip popped out, then spent another 5 mins trying to bend the metal back into the plug! Found a spare lead with a stereo plug on it so snipped it off and the broken one then soldered up a new lead! Fortunately the sound is now in Stereo and both speakers are working!

Holy crap dude, I think you must have a gremlin infestation or something!

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Knocked my 4" strip light off the desk and broke it, this one takes 4 x AA Batteries but now doesn't work Saw some broken wires so soldered them back but still won't work! I use this to read at night so can't do any reading until I get it fixed/replaced.

Yeah, the tube's probably knackered.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Managed to boot the system and it's now working (hence I can post this drivel), PC Probe says the CPU temp is hovering between 36°C/37°C. Case temp with sensor 32°C, with PC Probe 35°C.

Ran Orthos for 10 minutes, PC Probe said:

CPU: 53°C
CPU Fan: 2400rpm
Mobo: 36°C
Sensor 1 - CPU: 44°C
Sensor 2 - case temp: 38°C (think this higher because it's near the rear of the CPU heatsink so more hot air hitting it).

I thought the max speed of the fan on the ACF64P was only 2200rpm? That's what it says on the box anyway.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Might have to re-jig the HDD's as there are 2 x 80mm fans in the slots where the HDD's slide in, so they are blowing down the gaps between the 3 HDD's I've screwed in. Might have to lower/raise the HDD's to get a bigger gap for the fans to blow through, but with the luck I've had today don't fancy touching it just yet!

Probably a good idea. Sometimes if I've had some bad luck with a situation like that I'll just call it a day, as the stress of stuff that's already gone wrong can just make you more likely to have more mishaps.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Not sure if the system will stay stable now I've broke that resistor off, however a run of 3DMark06 and Orthos hasn't caused a BSOD/crash/freeze so I guess that's a good sign, fingers crossed!

For your sake I hope so. It could just be that it's for something you're not currently using, e.g. SATA. I very much doubt the Asus warranty covers slipped screwdrivers, which means they'd probably charge you more than the cost of a new 1 to fix it. What you could do is send them a detailed description of the part [e.g. if it has anything written on it] & anything written near to where it was [e.g. R123], although a close up photo would be your best bet, & email Asus about it to find out what part it is. Failing that, I've uploaded a high-ish res image of the Crosshair here, so you could just put a ring around it or an arrow pointing to it in your 2D app of choice.

If you find that out then you should hopefully be able to get a replacement [I don't know if Maplin do surface mount resistors, but if they don't RS will], & then find someone in your area that's qualified for surface mounted soldering.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

And the case sticks out 5 inches more than old one so I now keep banging my knee on it when I swivel my chair around as I forget it sticks out more!

Isn't there room for it on your desk, next to your monitor or whatever?

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Lady Luck was not on my side today If I'd fallen in a barrel of tits I would have come out sucking my thumb!

LMAO! I've not heard that 1 before.