GrayStrickland
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Motherboard Recommendation to re-board Compaq Presario 5000 w/ Micro-ATX (8.5x9") board & 145 watt P/S
I need to do an inexpensive upgrade on my daughter's Compaq Presario 5000 (5BW130) Mini-Tower. The existing system has a 145 watt power supply. The existing motherboard is 9" along the spine which runs against the back of the pc (call this the "Y" axis) and 8.5" from the back to the front (call this the "X" axis). The case might be able to accomodate a board which is longer than the 8.5" along the X Axis, but I'd rather not chance it.
I want to replace the board with the best I can find which will not require replacing the power supply or case. I'd also prefer to re-use the existing PC 100 SDRAM (128 + 256 = 320 mb). I'm open to AMD cpus, although I always buy Intel around the office. My daughter's needs are word processing, web surfing, email, burning MP3s. We're not editing Spielburg's next movie or playing any games here. A 1 ghz would be plenty. I'll install Win 2000 or XP on it.
Lastly, she's away at school and is not technical. When something has to be fixed, I do it remotely with Timbuktu, so DEPENDABILITY is worth more to me than performance.
I want to replace the board with the best I can find which will not require replacing the power supply or case. I'd also prefer to re-use the existing PC 100 SDRAM (128 + 256 = 320 mb). I'm open to AMD cpus, although I always buy Intel around the office. My daughter's needs are word processing, web surfing, email, burning MP3s. We're not editing Spielburg's next movie or playing any games here. A 1 ghz would be plenty. I'll install Win 2000 or XP on it.
Lastly, she's away at school and is not technical. When something has to be fixed, I do it remotely with Timbuktu, so DEPENDABILITY is worth more to me than performance.
old moment here... forgot to mention, you can use your monitor, it comes with speakers, keyboard, and mouse. delivered, these things are around 433 with california state tax (freight is free right now)
Gray, I know this is not what you want to hear, but I must agree with oldgreyguy. The major companies Dell, Gateway, Compaq, et al; have a habit of making their pc's difficul to impossible to upgrade. The mobo's are often specially made, many chipsets and BIOS are custom made. I know Compaq in particular made replacing RAM and even IDE cables a nightmare in the past. I think these companies stay afloat for the the same reason that microsoft does, "Ease" of use. Many consumers, (including myself)could do without the trouble of building their own system. Unfortunately, that "convienience comes with a price...
LOL dont even think about upgrading your HP Hp and compaq are poor canidates for upgrades.
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I'll call this the answer and let it go. I know that Compaqs are horribly proprietary -- which is why I never buy them -- but I am still surprised that more people havne't found ways to salvage and build on one.
I gave up before reading waffleironhead's answer and just bought a cheap case and power supply, which made motherboard selection easy. I was able to salvage drives -- all but the floppy drive which mysteriously contained seventeen cents in pennies and no longer works.
Anyone want a good deal on a 17 year old daughter with low mileage? I'll make you a heckuva deal.
I gave up before reading waffleironhead's answer and just bought a cheap case and power supply, which made motherboard selection easy. I was able to salvage drives -- all but the floppy drive which mysteriously contained seventeen cents in pennies and no longer works.
Anyone want a good deal on a 17 year old daughter with low mileage? I'll make you a heckuva deal.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpdirect/shopping/scripts/generic_store/generic_subcategory_view.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1873258278.1048640937@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadchlikigikcfngcfkmdfondfgg.0&category=refurb_desktops&subcat1=pavilion&cat_level=2&browse_link=true
I have purchase about 6 of the cheapo for some elderly folks.... they are fine for Internet, games, word processing....
bill