Need for Speed Motherboard Repair Help

neopolss

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I've already had one of these games go down due to a crap motherboard. I eventually sourced a similar Intel board and swapped it, although loading all the drivers was the biggest PITA I've ever dealt with. Now I have another one that is down. Same issue. No video output, doesn't boot, definitely motherboard since the game never loads and no errors show. Anyone know what goes wrong with these things? I used my ESR meter and replaced 4 caps that read bad, but still no boot. Anyone experienced with these or know of someone who repairs them? Global VR is just too costly of an option.
 
I've already had one of these games go down due to a crap motherboard. I eventually sourced a similar Intel board and swapped it, although loading all the drivers was the biggest PITA I've ever dealt with. Now I have another one that is down. Same issue. No video output, doesn't boot, definitely motherboard since the game never loads and no errors show. Anyone know what goes wrong with these things? I used my ESR meter and replaced 4 caps that read bad, but still no boot. Anyone experienced with these or know of someone who repairs them? Global VR is just too costly of an option.

Let me check at work tomorrow. I found a usable mobo that works on the NFSU
machines.

JD
 
You've probably already thought of this, but is there a battery on board, and if so, is it dead? There are "RamBatts" which look like a big IC, with the legs hidden under the top deck, instead of sticking out the sides. They are kind of "incognito" battery packs that may not be obvious.

You have probably already tested the power supply as well, and made sure that it is operating properly, right?

It would help if you could outline what you have tried to date.
 
This is the mobo I am using for NFSU (will probably work with any other
game that uses the P35-BL boards):

FIC P4M-865G MAX II Intel 865G Socket 478 mATX Motherboard

You can still find these new for $40 or so online.

You need to download the drivers, extract them to a CD. When you
install the NFSU system restore, you will be asked for certain drivers.
There will be a bunch of dialog boxes that pop up, just click OK and
eventually it will work.

Global VR games are much more forgiving than Raw Thrills when it comes
to drivers and motherboards.

JD
 
Thanks for the info. I know I can switch out motherboards and load the drivers (which is a PITA without windows indexing function), I was just curious if anyone really knew what causes these boards to die? I've changed out the cmos battery, although I knew it was the mobo right off the bat having seen it happen before. PS is steady with good voltage, there's simply no post, no startup of any kind even though the pc is powered. Usually its caps, was hoping someone might know what ones specifically go bad. I'll probably end up swapping mobo's.
 
Open the PS and look for cracked caps or caps with poor ESR.

Bad power will kill boards... and can cause boards to not boot.

Fans on CPUs going south kills CPUs... Power surges kill motherboards. Heat kills motherboards. Also, bad caps and static electricity. I fixed more than one gun game that had fried inputs because the metal gun cables weren't grounded. Metal things such as shifters should be grounded on drivers.
 
Just reviving this post to see if there's another motherboard option that will work as a direct replacement. Thanks in advance
 
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