Faulty Motherboard? (M2N78-LA)

System Specs

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01905330#N72



Hey everyone, I was on the forums a few months back looking for advice on buying a new video card for my system. One posted feedback was "I would be more concerned that you have the infamous M2N78-LA board.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware/m8530f-desktop-PC-with-M2N78-LA-mother-board-doesn-t-r...", and around that same time I had this experience:



05-06-2012 07:28 AM

actually, now that you mention it. i do believe i have had problems with my mobo already. recently i got the blue screen and my comp wouldnt start up, HP diagnostics tried saying my harddrive failed. system repair wouldnt work, reinstall of windows wouldnt work... i eventually had to install windows onto a different partition from what i usually do, just to get my computer back online, and for some reason that worked. once it was back up, i realized all of my old files were still accessable, and that the harddrive seemed to be fine. i have since completely reformatted the entire harddrive and did a fresh install of windows. havent had any problems with the harddrive, but a HP diagnostic scan before start up still indicates that my harddrive is failing (HD-8 error). i read online somewhere that it might be a problem with the MOBO. what should i do about this? just continue on until my mobo inevitably fails?



Well... fast forward to 9/02/12 and I think my computer is in serious trouble. I will update my last post by saying my computer would receive random blue screens upon start up several times since May, but nothing required complete reformats or installation of windows... the computer would flash the blue screen, successfully repair itself, then restart normally. Well I knew I was pushing my luck and I think my system finally had enough. The other day, it decided it did not want to start (it was stuck on windows loading screen for several hours). I tried system repair and everything else I could think of, and I noticed throughout whatever I was doing, the computer would take incredibly long to do anything I asked it to. I messed around with it, eventually ended up reformatting it, and although my computer starts and I seem to be able to browse files on the harddrive, everything seems to take an amazingly long time, enough time to make the computer unusable.



So if you managed to make it this far through my story, first I want to say thanks, and secondly I would like to know if this sounds characteristic of a mobo problem or if it could be something else?



Thanks in advance for any help/feedback.

 

I've seen several M2N78 series boards that came into my shop with similar issues - basically the PC appeared to start (fan and lights on) but there was nothing on the screen and no BIOS beeps. These appeared to be newer systems since they came with Windows 7 as the OEM OS.

One had a capacitor that was bulging; the others showed no sign of physical damage.

Since this series of boards appears to be trash, my advice is to take what still works (CPU, drives, etc.) and rebuild a new system using a better board. If you go this route, a few notes:

* You will have to buy a new copy of Windows; the OEM one is set to only work with the OEM board.

* Most new boards use DDR3 memory. Since DDR3 is dirt cheap (8GB <2x4GB> = $40), don't waste time trying to find a DDR2 board.

* You will end up having to buy a new case, since the front connector hookup to the board is proprietary HP.

* If the budget allows, also invest in a decent power supply (450-500W) from a known brand such as Cooler Master or Antec. The OEM PSUs are usually junk.

Hope this helps.