What should I upgrade for video editing and 3d rendering?

[C0RR0SIVE]

Well, the processor and board only support DDR3-1600 or higher speed RAM if you overclock it, otherwise the base speed will be DDR3-1333. How did resetting the BIOS go? Or?

With AMD systems, overclocking can be difficult, increasing the speed of everything with out decreasing the speed of the HT Link can cause some really funky issues.

 

[defl8or]

Braindead. There's nothing. It doesn't even look like the SSD is being accessed. The GPU fan spins up and down rhythmically. The screen keeps going into power saving mode. I can turn it off and back on, but it stays black, and goes back into power saving mode after a few seconds. Without the RAM, I get the No-RAM warning beeps, and I tried one stick on its own and got the same problem, then tried the other, and...same problem but without the cycling GPU fan. Maybe it's the processor, but it was running stable at 49 degrees, and I never got the problem till after the restart. I think I can rule out the GPU, cus the prob;em was exactly the same when I swapped it out, and I don't think it;s my OS or any of the drives, because I can't even get BIOS. So...processor, board or Ram, I guess. I don't think I overloaded my PSU, cus it's 750 watts if I remember, and there was a ton of headroom when I worked out how. much juice I'd need. Plus, i dunno why it would wait for the restart, to give me problems. I don't even have another desktop I can swap parts with to eliminate stuff

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

You have no way of testing using onboard video?

 

[defl8or]

No, it's an old board. The socket is VGA. I think I might have a VGA to DVI adapter somewhere, so I'll give that a try.
Ahhh. just turned my head and I'm looking at one. Edit. Nope. DVI to VGA. Wrong way around, so...nope no way to try onboard GFX at the moment. And all the old RAM I've been able to find is the wrong pinout.

I think my TV has a DVI input on it, so I can at least rule out the monitor. the PSU turns out to be 600W but I just checked and I only need 325 minus the fans. And that's with the dvd drive and third HDD, which have both been out of the system for weeks

Actually...The drive I removed, I removed because it kept locking up and I thought it was failing. The DVD drive hadn't worked for a while, so...it may not be unrelated. In fact, the DVD drive DID work, but I didn't have enough SATA power leads, so I'd unplug a HDD if I needed to burn a disc. But, since my last spring cleaning, when I added a splitter, it's not worked at all. No power whatsoever.
So maybe it's the power supply. The dust in there looks pretty thick. Think I'll crack it open and look it over and give it a good clean. (After I discharge the caps. Duh)

 

[defl8or]

Okay, so I cracked open the PSU. First thing: turns out to be an Alpine Silence 600 watt. I remember it was an emergency purchase from my local computer shop when I had a previous PSU failure. I also remember balking at the price and thinking they were charging double what it should cost. Having already looked at PSUs earlier today, I see the 750 watt model is actually a THIRD of what they charge. I knew they were expensive when they wanted £20 for a USB headphone adapter, but that just...ugh
Anyways, it was thick with dust as expected, and the board is discoloured. In fact, near the transformer, it has what looks like burned enamel varnish on it. Even if it's not the problem (And I'm strongly suspecting it is) I'm gonna replace it. I got no huge complaint about the model; it lasted 5 years, and has only had it's guts cleaned out once in that time.

So...assuming the problem is such an easy fix, I'm thinking my best bet will be to upgrade the processor first. I'm thinking of the FX-5380 seems a really good bang-for-buck model,especially seeing as how overclockable it is.I might as well get it bundled with a mobo for better value. Anything with SATA 6, USB 3.0 and more than 2 RAM slots will be a big improvement. I'm not looking for high end or a strictly gaming Pc.

 

[defl8or]

Well, I spent 2 hours on a train to get a PSU. Got a Corsair cx500 AND the train ticket for the price my local shop charges for random no-brand PSUs. Even slept through the whole journey..both ways.

Anyways, plugged it in and had the same problem. Gfx card spinning up and down over and over and no signal to the screen or activity from the drive.
So, I decided it was deffo the CPU. On a whim i tried resetting Bios again, but this time I pulled the CMOS battery too, and left the reset jumper in place for a full minute.
Bingo! We have lift-off

Anyways, the question I began this thread with...

I'm gonna upgrade the CPU because I can carry that forward to my next build. My current mobo only supports 1333mhz RAM, so if I added more, I'd only be upgrading yet again next build. I think i'll definitely go with the FX-8350. It's the best my current mobo can support and I hear of some crazy overclocks, albeit with liquid cooling (Something I think I'll venture into next build)

So...not much of a thread. I asked a question and answered it myself, and interrupted myself with a fault that I fixed by just re-trying the first thing I'd already tried. Spent 2 hours on a train and bought a new PSU to fix a problem that I ended up fixing by....effectively, turning it off and on again. Is it just me, or is that the way it always seems to go with computers?