Computer Question: External Sound Systems

Oct 17, 2008 | yosemitest

[Yosemitest]

My Toshiba Satellite A75 S226 has developed a sound problem, that Microsoft support says is a hardware problem. It's 1990's technology.

Are there any after-market sound systems that would work through USB-2 ports?

And also, I have a Cooler Master ATC-110 case that I've never used in ATX. Is it feasible to build a new computer in ATX, or is the technology too old?

[Yosemitest]

Just trying to get some old data back, and save some money by using what I have in storage. Only the data is important.

[TChris]

Just trying to get some old data back, and save some money by using what I have in storage. Only the data is important.

There may be a way to disable the sound within your BIOS settings. That may let you boot past the blue screen and get what you need. Just check Toshiba's online support to see how to get into the BIOS.

[Yosemitest]

My Toshiba hasn't locked up, and the technician shared my computer and got into the bios to update it, and it didn't help.

When the sound quit, it got noisy with static, and faded in volume.

The computer that locked up is an old AST computer, that I'd like to retrieve the data out of, and it has two hard drives, very small in size.

[TChris]

The computer that locked up is an old AST computer, that I'd like to retrieve the data out of, and it has two hard drives, very small in size.

The computer technician should be able to hook the drives up to one of his computers and dump all the data onto a CD or DVD for you.

I do this for folks all the time.

[Yosemitest]

Thanks.

Next question: If you were building that Cooler Master ATC-110 case, and all you had was the case, what would you buy for a power supply, motherboard, and chip set, provided that you wanted several drives in the computer?

[Malsua]

I build computers all the time for folks.

I’ve become very fond of the various Gigabyte motherboards. Never had a problem with them and they have passive northbridge cooling(no fans to wear out). I just built this one for a guy who’s not a gamer. It’s got USB/Firewire, DVI and E-sata. It uses DD2 800 which isn’t too spendy.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128072

I’m also very fond of Thermaltake power supplies. Something in the 500 watt range will do just fine. Go 600-700 if you’re going to get a gaming video card.

[JerseyHighlander]

DO NOT BUY CREATIVE!!

THEY PURPOSEFULLY BREAK THEIR OWN HARDWARE DRIVERS TO FORCE UPGRADES!

Try the Turtle Beach Micro external sound card... at http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/micro/home.aspx

If you shop around you can get it for about $25 delivered w/ no tax. Works great for my circa 1999 Sony laptop.

[JerseyHighlander]

First off, for the laptop... download this:
http://www.reallyeffective.co.uk/sound-control/

Sound Control

First released in July 1999 and updated regularly since, Sound Control is a freeware replacement Windows Sound Mixer applet which together with most of the features of the standard Windows mixer it also allows you to add hot keys to adjust any combination of your sound mixer volumes. Support to control Winamp with a series of hot keys, CD Player and an On Screen Display is also included. Supports Windows 95 / 98 / NT4 / 2000 / XP and Millennium-Me.

[JerseyHighlander]

If you want to run the smallest possible program to replace the windows master volume controller.. try this:

http://www.codesector.com/audiosliders.php

[TChris]

If you were building that Cooler Master ATC-110 case, and all you had was the case, what would you buy for a power supply, motherboard, and chip set, provided that you wanted several drives in the computer?

First a few questions:

1) Do you know what kind of drives you'll be using? (SCSI, SATA, ATA) ...and how many?

2) What will be the primary purpose for the machine?

3) Will you be doing any gaming, CAD or other 3-D work on it?

4) Which operating system will you be using? (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)

5) Do you want to overclock or otherwise tweak the thing for maximum performance, or do you just want it to run reliably?

[Yosemitest]

1) Do you know what kind of drives you'll be using? (SCSI, SATA, ATA) ...and how many?

They're not SCSI, they're the wide flat wire, SATA I think, but I'm not sure. I'd have to unpack the AST Computer and take it apart to see. I want a large today's technology main drive and use the old ones to get the data out of, then scrap the old drives. I think they're 33 MHz speed. Then I'll put in another new hard drive for a backup.

2) What will be the primary purpose for the machine?

Home use, I'm not into gaming but I surf the net for old tractor parts, truck parts, and general info. I do a little 401K work and Scottrade. And I play on Free Republic from time to time.

3) Will you be doing any gaming, CAD or other 3-D work on it?

I have a Punch Home Design Platinum that's a few years old, I'd like to use to build a house with. But I'm not into CADs.

4) ch operating system will you be using? (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)

I'm using Windows XP SP3, but I'd like to go to another operating system that would do my taxes with turbo tax. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but I'm use to windows since 1981.

5) Do you want to overclock or otherwise tweak the thing for maximum performance, or do you just want it to run reliably?

I just want it to run reliably, with DSL Internet service. There use to be a time that I was into PC Maximum and wanted speed, but my budget won't allow it now.

....

[TChris]

OK. It sounds like you would do just fine with a pretty basic (by today's standards) system.

Here's what I would recommend:

Power Supply: Any brand 300-400 W unit (~$60) - They're all pretty reliable, in my experience.
Motherboard: Asus M2N-MX SE Plus (~$50)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (Windsor core) (~$90) Including cooler
RAM: 2x 1GB DDR2-1066 Modules (I like G.Skill brand) (~$45)
Hard Disk: Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM SATA2 (~$65)
Optical: Samsung 22x DVD/RW, SATA, Black (~$25)

This system will give you very good bang-for-the-buck, given what you've described.

The motherboard has built-in graphics that are more than adequate if you aren't going to play 3D games on it. A 500GB drive is only about $15 more than a 250GB one, so it's money well spent. The motherboard has the ability to connect your older ATA drive for data transfer, but you'll want SATA for the new stuff.

RAM is cheap, so I'd start with 2GB and add more if you need later. Most motherboards perform best with two identical modules, rather than one bigger one.

Anyway, that's my $0.02 worth.

[Yosemitest]

Thanks for the advice, I'll check it out.

With room in the case for 4x5.25", 2x3.5",and 5x3.5"(hidden) ATC101SX1, would that make a difference in your choice of motherboards and power supply for later expansion?

[TChris]

With room in the case for 4x5.25", 2x3.5",and 5x3.5"(hidden) ATC101SX1, would that make a difference in your choice of motherboards and power supply for later expansion?

If you were a power gamer, and had one or two big, hungry 3D graphics cards to feed, then I'd probably bump that number up a bit. But modern hard drives need less than 10 W maximum. (The spec on the model I recommended maxes out at ~8.5W during read/write.) The thirstiest power drinker in the system is the CPU, at 89W. I think a 300-400W power supply would keep you going just fine.

NOTE: I just checked closer on the specs for the motherboard, and I'm going to have to recant on it. The one I listed only has 2 SATA ports, so it won't expand like you want. So, for the motherboard I'll recommend the Foxconn A7GM-S instead. It has 6 SATA ports and costs around ~$70.

Foxconn makes Dell's motherboards. They're pretty reliable in my experience.

[Yosemitest]

Thanks again.

My knowledge is old and I was thinking about Asus motherboards with the most expansion slots,
but I'd have to start all over again, learning what's good and what's not.

[TChris]

I was thinking about Asus motherboards with the most expansion slots...

Expansion slots aren't nearly as important as they used to be. Nearly everything is integrated onto the motherboard. The one I recommended for you has Hi-Fi 8-channel audio, Gigabit Ethernet, USB2, Onboard graphics with VGA and HDMI outputs, 6 SATA2 ports and an ATA-133 port. There's a PCI-E graphics card slot and two PCI expansion slots, but I can't think of much that you'd ever put into them. Maybe 4 more USB ports or a Firewire connection at some point. *shrug*

[Yosemitest]

Will the Foxconn A7GM-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard fit my ATX motherboard tray?
Or will I have to modify it?

[Yosemitest]

The only other concern might be WIFI to my printers, but I’m sure that could be added in an expansion slot.

[TChris]

Yes.

Every ATX case of which I am aware also has the necessary holes for MicroATX installation. You may need to remove and reposition some of the threaded standoffs if they're already installed. Just screw them into the holes that line up with the new motherboard and you're good to go.

[Yosemitest]

I'll look at it and measure the holes.
I think I bought it, before the mini ATX format came out. But I'm not sure.

Thank you again.