Sorry no post for ages. I kinda give up on it now. The 2nd GPU is broken. I tried booting with the monitor connected to it and black screen. Removed and graphical performance (which was really bad for it's specs) was no different. Surprised it was as bad as it was even with one GPU broken. It's not worth gaming on at all. I'll try a new GPU (NVidia GT 700 series i had one picked out) and if it is still poor for gaming a new mobo, RAM and CPU will be in order. ( I can reuse opticals, SSD and GPU)

PCLinuxOS KDE 64-bit on the free one with the dodgy GPU.
Windows XP 2002 on the Pentium '01 PC

PCLinuxOS is my first Linux so i can only compare it to Windows. It is 100 times better than Windows. It does what it's told and is fast too. You can actually start using once it turns on. On my laptop there's a wait of 30 secs where nothing happens after the desktop first comes up. Also it takes ages sometimes to do simple tasks. 13 years on Windows, Linux blows me away.

Since the GPU is broken that's most likely why your getting the black screen or it could be an Xorg problem.
I was taught by members here with a lot of experience that if a system won't boot to desktop it has to be Xorg, the kernel, or maybe a proprietary video driver most likely.

It could also be something in the init sytem (sysvinit, startup and systemd) but in testing it's Xorg related.
You could try running and update and see if that helps. If that doesn't work try "Recovery Mode" and direct it to boot when it get's around to asking what you want. Recovery Mode runs a few more corrective tools and may fix it on it's own.

***If you can run the desktop environment as root the problem is with your user not the system at large.***

I have found that Lubuntu works great on older computers that have celeron or pentium processors.
You could give that distribution a try.

Sounds like your laptop needs a driver.

Yes, Linux is exceptionally nice, I agree.

Good luck-:)

I think I won't give up on the gaming PC's GPU. I compared it to the GTX 750 I was considering getting and it's not all THAT much better.

When booting on 2nd GPU it seems to start but I can't see anything, like monitor's unplugged. What if I just try putting the 2nd GPU in the 1st slot on it's own, that should rule out if it's dead or not (it's a pain though because the slots are weird (i know they're PCIe though they're not AGP or anything like that))

The whole system is lightning fast compared to our aging Windows systems but when you try playing Minecraft the frame rate is 25-30, and it freezes every 10 seconds or so for about a second. This made me think it was a GPU issue (driver i suppose will fix it). But rFactor is very slow and almost comes to a standstill when you start a race. It just seems to be the system is poor (2.2 GHz AMD, 4 MB RAM). I do plan to overclock though, may as well try to get SOME performance out of it.

Don't know whether to get more RAM and a new CPU (therefore new mobo) and keep the GPU, or replace the GPU and keep everything else. 1st option is probably better and will happen anyway eventually.

I may be able to get the installation disk or original HDD for it and get Windows back on it just so I can get the driver easily.

The laptop's recently been rebuilt using Dell Factory Restore though. After Welcome, the desktop shows and you can do stuff but it takes forever and after all the startup programs and services start up it's not so bad. Still not brilliant though. My mother's PC is a little similar too so I just blamed Windows.

Thank you so much for your help with my rotting system.


EDIT: 2nd GPU works in 1st slot. Me = Confused...well that saves $145

You could try that and see if it works or not.

Before you up the RAM look at the board and determine what and if it's expandable to.

Depending on the age of the computer replacing a CPU on an older mobo could create issue's.
Somehow putting a new processor on an old mobo I don't think will go to well.

I would just replace the mobo and keep the Graphics Card you have. OR purchase the GTX 750.
-::-A high performance graphics card will require a more powerful power supply.-::-

A standard ATX mobo may not fix in an older pc's tower. You might need a Mini ATX.

Your Welcome-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=-1&isNodeId=1

I was planning on getting a new mobo, RAM and CPU all at once. I can't increase RAM and wasn't going to get a CPU replacement. Both GPUs work. I might just get new system and keep GPUs and PSU. I want to avoid a new PSU if I can as I have a IDE DVD drive. If I get a new mobo i have a IDE to SATA data converter, but not a power converter. I'll make a new case if I get a new mobo.

As I upgrade the PC, old parts will be replaced and as they do, the old parts will slowly get put back together until I can build the old one again. This will always go on. I will never buy a entire new PC but will keep replacing parts and slowly end up with more and more old parts to rebuild all my old PCs. Weird.

I noticed that the 1st GPU's fan is really dusty, but the 2nd is perfectly clean. Sadly it appears the previous owner didn't know/couldn't fix only one GPU being used. He spent money on a card that never got used, and GPUs aren't cheap either. It would have been a really good card too because he always put great hardware into his PCs.

Not sure those drivers are ever getting installed. I'd say I'll be getting a new PC. This one's rubbish for gaming anyway (Minecraft's poor FPS is probably because of the driver issue, but rFactor seems to not be GPU related)

The IDE to SATA converter will work well.

I don't like the IDE plugs. They are very difficult to unplug.

Heavy dust could be why you had trouble with the one card.

Depending on what mobo you buy they can be pretty pricey too.
I have heard a lot of folks here say that Asus and Gigabyte make very good boards.

I've had a MSI mobo for 5 years and my desktop runs great.

I built a gaming computer for a friend and if your looking for a high end gaming board look here.
http://gaming.msi.com/products/mothe...z97-h97-series

Good luck to you and have fun building.

MSI 970. I spent ages already, searching and this is what I decided on. AMD FX-8350 CPU and I'm looking at three different 2x4GB RAM kits.

With that Graphics Card you'll need at least a 550 watt power supply.
Might ever go for 750 watts just to be on the safe side.

Cool that processor is the Black Edition, 8 Core. -:You'll be good:-

RAM went up since the last time I looked.
Kingston brand is high:-

Keep your receipt. You can mail in your rebate and MSI will give you a Visa with the rebate on it if you send it in on time.

Corsair gives their customers rebates as well. ($10-$20)

I'm keeping the old PSU and GPUs so if the guy built the old one properly it'll be good.

Roger that:-