and then i plugged it all in and it all got messy.
at this stage i wanted to see if things were working without taking any more risks. i wasn’t at all sure that the 7600gt graphics card was going to work without a fan so i left the fan on for the time being.
…. and it didn’t work. press the power button. ‘click’ from the power supply but nothing more. no light on the front. nothing.
between the web, the motherboard manual and the case manual the possible culprits were:
1. the memory
2. the PSU
3. the lack of a cpu fan
so i popped out to the local shop and bought a cheap one of each to try to pin down the problem. i say cheap – that’s another £80 right there.
and none of it helped. still ‘click’. still nothing else.
then i remembered that there was some doubt in my mind about whether or not this motherboard supported the core 2 duo cpu i’d bought. further examination showed that it was, indeed, the wrong pcb revision. right make and model, just the wrong revision. the first revision supports “dual core” but not “core 2 duo”. apparently the difference is the designation of a single pin – hence the new revision rather than a new model.
a couple of online chats with dabs.com revealed that they had absolutely no way of knowing what revision they’re sending you – you just have to open it up and see when it arrives.
