HH and MSI Lazy Days Of Summer Sweepstakes!

There is one aspect of auto service that I still like: the dreaded SERVICE ENGINE SOON or CHECK ENGINE light! Probably most people hate it when this thing lights up, but I actually get a bit excited - serious! I view it as a challenge, and I hope all of you hardware geeks out there have your own personal scan tool! Newer cars (1996+) pretty much diagnose themselves and relay the info to a scan tool, and even if you choose to let someone else fix the problem, at least you will know exactly what's up. This knowledge could possibly save you from being stroked by an unscrupulous mechanic. You don't necessarily need to purchase a tool, either, as there is scanning software available that will run on your laptop. A good investment, IMO!

Oh you crazy people keeping your old systems.  I can never afford (nor would I really want to ) keep my frankensteined systems.  My current rig is finally the first one that I was able to build using all new parts save the monitor.

It's probably for the best.  We don't have the room with my wife's aging dinosaur Dell taking up part of my Man Room.

Super Dave:

I hope all of you hardware geeks out there have your own personal scan tool

Why yes,......... I do have an OBD-II scanner for my cars, but Toyota (in their infinite wisdom) crippled scanners that they don't sell! (the greedy bustards)

So my scanner is good for the '07 Sonata and most of my neighbor's cars too, but I can't use it on the '06 Tacoma 4X4. Knowing in advance exactly what is wrong with your car when you go in to have it fixed is priceless. My neighbors dig it too.

realneil:

I do have an OBD-II scanner for my cars, but Toyota (in their infinite wisdom) crippled scanners that they don't sell! (the greedy bustards)

Probably your Toyota is running CAN protocol.

The CAN protocol is a popular standard outside of the US automotive industry and is making significant in-roads into the OBD-II market share. By 2008, all vehicles sold in the US will be required to implement CAN, thus eliminating the ambiguity of the existing five signalling protocols. - ripped from Wikipedia

A scan tool or software  that supports OBD II and CAN is the one to get! I really like THIS software.

Super Dave:

Probably your Toyota is running CAN protocol.

Could very well be the case. It's upsetting that my $150.00 portable scanner worked on the '05 Toyota that I had, but not on the '06 model.

I think that they believe somehow that more jobs will go to them and their rip-off prices if they keep us from reading our own codes. My Hyundai dealer's service manager didn't believe that I had such a device (or so he said) and that I already knew that the O2 Sensor on bank two, position 2, was defective and covered under the vehicle's warranty. They wanted 90 bucks to do their own scan and I refused to allow it. I connected my scanner to the car and showed him the codes and the definitions too.

It is a great tool to have and I love to pull it out when I see my neighbors under the hood and scratching their heads. Now when they get a light, they just drive over to my house first.

Many car parts stores will scan your codes for free as well.

Check THIS out, realneil.

Optix:

Oh you crazy people keeping your old systems.

But it's only out of economic necessity!

Optix:

We don't have the room with my wife's aging dinosaur Dell taking up part of my Man Room.

The only Man Room I have has a shower and sink.

Super, Thats the little boys room :).

Super Dave:

Check THIS out, realneil.

Yow! it's exactly what I need, but it's over $600.00 for the base unit and the Toyota and Hyundai add on parts. That's a lot of computer upgrades!

When I'm in a bind and I have to read the truck, I can go to AutoZone and they'll read it for free. This works as long as the truck is running, and being a Toyota, it's never failed to run.

realneil:

I can go to AutoZone and they'll read it for free.

Auto Zone used to do that here, but last time I asked they declined. Virginia must be friendlier than California!

Super Dave:

Virginia must be friendlier than California!

I moved here from Southern California in 2006 and never looked back.

We've had the mildest summer here in So Cal that I can ever remember! I ran my AC for only 2 days in July, and probably only 5 or 6 days in August. That has saved me a bunch of money on my Southern California Edison bill, so if I win this sweepstakes I'm gonna put that money into my new build! What about you, realneil? Are you BUCK$ UP for the build?

realneil:

Super Dave:

Check THIS out, realneil.

Yow! it's exactly what I need, but it's over $600.00 for the base unit and the Toyota and Hyundai add on parts. That's a lot of computer upgrades!

When I'm in a bind and I have to read the truck, I can go to AutoZone and they'll read it for free. This works as long as the truck is running, and being a Toyota, it's never failed to run.

I've got an SCT hand held tuner that I use to tune the Mustang, it can also read and clear CELs. I actually had to use it for that, for the first time the other day. Might have an O2 Sensor going bad. Gotta keep an eye on it.

acarzt:

Might have an O2 Sensor going bad. Gotta keep an eye on it.

Concerning O2 sensors  - the sensor itself might be bad, or the heating element in it might be bad (not coming online fast enough). Either way you're going to have to replace the sensor. If the bad O2 sensor happens to be the one AFTER the catalytic converter (CAT monitor) you may have to replace the catalytic converter. Ouch.

Ahhhh, i'm not too concerned about it lol

It came on once, I cleared it like a week ago and I haven't heard from it since lol

The code did come from the passenger side o2 sensor after the cat.

If it comes up again, i'm gonna swap the sensors and clear the code and see if it throws it for the other side.

So acarzt, I'm going to ask you the same question I asked realneil: If you win this sweepstakes are you buck$ up for the build? It's going to cost some serious moola to complete this thing!

If I win this, those 460s will be replacing my gtx295. And then 1 of 2 things will happen...

I'll either hold on to both the 295 and this board and save up and start building a system out of it... or i'll just sell both and find something useless to spend the money on lol

SOOOOO, someone else needs to win this, so that board does not go to waste lol

That's pretty much how it would go for me as well.

I'd have to hang onto the board and the cards until I have enough cash for a chip.  I could at least swap out my 5770 for one of the 460's in the interim for a nice little boost but this would make a fine foundation for an upgrade so my wife can have my i3 to replace her P4.

This is a very exciting time for computer nuts.  The tech that is available is incredible.  Budget offerings acting like high end boards of last year and high end boards of this year offering stuff that we used to only dream of.

acarzt:

Ahhhh, i'm not too concerned about it lol

It came on once, I cleared it like a week ago and I haven't heard from it since lol

The code did come from the passenger side o2 sensor after the cat.

If it comes up again, i'm gonna swap the sensors and clear the code and see if it throws it for the other side.

acarzt   I would,nt be overly concerned with that oxygen sensor code.It is not at all uncommon to get an O2 sensor code because they can be brought on by a number of things.If its intermittent I would,nt go out and buy one right away. Thats whats called a soft code!  When it comes on and stays on thats called a hard code then you need to look at it further.If your not having a drivabilty problem or suffering a noticable loss of fuel mileage then like I say dont be overly concerned. I was in the automotive field for 28 years ,ran an independent service center and worked for GM as a Drive ability tech, primarily onboard computer diagnostics, fuel systems, wiring well pretty much everything and its a common thing to see people throw money at a problem thats not even there.Just keep an eye on it. Im amazed that you have an OB II scanner  thats cool!!

Super Dave:

What about you, realneil? Are you BUCK$ UP for the build?

Not yet, unfortunately. I do have a nice little bit of cash coming in November (surprise money) and if I won, I would hold onto everything and build something to really brag about with it then. I wouldn't dream of selling that mainboard once I had it in my home. A $300.00 motherboard is a luxury that I can't afford, and if I had the cash to get one, I'd probably feel really guilty about spending all of that money on myself. (it's like a Jewish guilt complex without the Jewish mother at my shoulder) Ha-Ha!

I don't expect to win, so I know  I'll probably be building something as fast as I can make it go, on my own budget.

An SLI setup with a pair of GTX-460's is just one of my goals. I'd like to be able to add an SSD drive to it as well. A larger screen would be nice. Whatever I end up with will probably be my last hurrah because guys on a fixed retirement income usually don't have a lot to spread around.

amdcrankitup:

Im amazed that you have an OB II scanner  thats cool!!

A person has to have one these days just to cut through all of the BS that some mechanics try to feed you. I need a better one than the one I have if I want to read my Toyota truck. It's lucky that my local AutoZone reads codes for free if I need it. (knocks on wood because he hasn't needed it yet)

realneil:

A person has to have one these days just to cut through all of the BS that some mechanics try to feed you.

Your right having something like that is very handy and your right there is unfortunatly a lot of mechanics out there that will BS you at a moments notice and me being a former Tech I found myself always having to prove to any potential customers that I was honest and not there to screw them out of their money!!! The problem with a some mechanics is they are trying to make all of their money off of everyone that comes in their door instead of doing the right thing and having a return customer that for life. Then you have the other kind of mechanics that  arent qualified for the job in the first place and is guessing at his repairs at your cost!!!!!!! When that happens then you cant spend your money on your toys. I wont let anyone work on my cars unless Im just sick and not up to the job! Good luck to all of you someone is going to get lucky REAL SOON!!

My civic engine light turned on last week.  I should check those scanners out, because Im constantly THINKING im being scammed by car men, weather I am or not.  If not I will take yalls advice and get it checked at autozone.  Hehe, I have some front axles in my trunk that I need to collect my core charge on anyway.

As for this build,  I would not have the cash to finish it right away, but I could sell my 890fx/1090T/HD5850 combo and probably come out with a legit i7, my question is, since I have 4 2gb skicks of DDr3 already, could I just add two more, or does it have to be tripple channel?

lifeskills:

my question is, since I have 4 2gb skicks of DDr3 already, could I just add two more, or does it have to be tripple channel?

You need sets of three. and they should match. So if you buy two more sticks, just like the other ones, it should work fine. (that's what I would do)

Many think that you should buy them all from the same lot number, or in matched sets, but I'm not so sure. If I was buying all of my RAM at once, I would opt for sets because you can usually get a deal on them anyway.

realneil:

lifeskills:

my question is, since I have 4 2gb skicks of DDr3 already, could I just add two more, or does it have to be tripple channel?

You need sets of three. and they should match. So if you buy two more sticks, just like the other ones, it should work fine. (that's what I would do)

Many think that you should buy them all from the same lot number, or in matched sets, but I'm not so sure. If I was buying all of my RAM at once, I would opt for sets because you can usually get a deal on them anyway.

Oh, i thought they had to be bought in a set of triple channel RAMs xD. I only have 2 1GB DDr3 Ram so im going to buy new ones anyway if i win :D