Rebuilding old PC

[Gretzky]

I have a old compaq and the motherboard is horrible. it has compaq bios and all, so i decided to get another motherboard, but i need a slot motherboard for the cpu. Also what is the difference between slota or slot1. Which do I need?

I salvged acouple things from the compaq:

TNT2
128SDRAM
WesternDigital 14gig 5400rpm HD
DVD drive
CDRW Drive


SO anyone know a place to buy a cheap slot mobo for this PC? I looked at 1 vendor and they are asking for 100+ bucks that is kinda steep for me.

 

[mechBgon]

Slot A is for AMD Athlons (clarification: older SlotA Athlons, not the new SocketA ones), while Slot 1 is for Intel Pentium II, Pentium III and some Celerons. What is your CPU and its MHz rating? What is your intended usage... home-office work, 3D gaming, or ???

If you're not sure of the CPU type, look for the model number on the Compaq and we can help look up the details. It may have a proprietary motherboard that can't be replaced except with another Compaq board, too. The news is not all bad, you can build a fresh budget system quite affordably and free yourself from proprietary stuff at the same time, so you can upgrade when you want to.

 

[videobruce]

I hope you are figuring to replace the case/PS also!

Most boxed systems have proprietary MB form factors and the PS I'm sure is way too small.

AMD Duron processors are under $40. Decent MB's can be had for about $70. Both cases & PS's can be had for $70.

The "slot" MB's are harder to find since they are older technology! Spend a few dollars more and get a MB with a PS that you can upgrade later! The days of the 200-250W PS's are gone!

 

[lycurgus]

Unless you have an 'inside' contact for a free / cheap supply of old parts, forget about the upgrade idea. You could end up spending too much for what you'll end up with. As suggested, you can probably put together a system based on a 1GHz Duron and socket A board that will out perform any old system by a huge margin.

 

[Evadman]

TNT2
128SDRAM
WesternDigital 14gig 5400rpm HD
DVD drive
CDRW Drive

Using those parts, I would get:


$69 case with 400 watt ps
$88 Iwill 333 mainboard or the K7S5A for $50
$56 Duron 1.2 so you can use your pc100 ram
$7 gc 68 cooling fan

And your set. Persoanally, I would go with a 1600+ XP but you would have to buy new memory too. That hard drive is also extreamly small.

So for $220 you get a system that will easily be 20-40 times faster, and easy to upgrade in the future when you get more money.

 

[Gretzky]

thanks guys, this is for my dad not me. He only reads news and listens to a few mp3s on his comp. Im guessing to go with a amd mobo and a duron chip.

Also should i use the sdram that i got with the compaq on this new mobo? Or should i buy some new ram?

Thanks.

 

[drogue]

you'll probably want to go with some newer name brand memory just for stability and reliability. try crucial, kingston, corsair, or samsung for starters

edit: also, depending on the OS you use (i'm assuming you use 98SE from the components you listed) you should probably look at gettin 256 mb of memory just to handle the OS and be able to play mp3s at the same time. you'll notice a HUGE difference in win 98 or anything newer

edit 2: try www.tufshop.com....look at motherboard + cpu combos, go to Microstar, and then select Athlon XP. They list the MSI KT3 Ultra motherboard (one of the best around) with an AMD Athlon XP 1600+ (newer and much faster than the Duron) for 114. You can add 256mb PC2700 DDR memory with a cooling solution and bring the total to ~250 shipped. of course, i didnt list PS and Case, but that is one of the best deals i've found for a reliable Athlon XP combo.

 

[Gretzky]

i really dont wanna spend 100 on this. I want to spend max 80 dollars, my dad doesnt need a MSI Ultra lol, he just needs something that works and doesnt crash a lot ( unlike the compaq ).

 

[mechBgon]

The crashing might simply be a tired old Windows installation, or have you tried reinstalling Windows already? Also, can you tell us the model name/number off the case?

 

[yayoiz]

Gretzky,
It's great of you trying to continue using old PCs because disposing them already is problem. You haven't given us details of the Compaq, model, CPU speed,etc. I suggest you try Compaq website if BIOS upgrade or Specifications are available, these will help decide how to go from there.
I'd to give you my case how I UPGRADE my secretary IBM PII266 for her word processor and office printing jobs. I got detailed SPECIFICATONs of my 6561 Model from IBM that the M/B is an INTEL LX type with only handle 66MHz data BUS , and BIOS upgrade would let the M/B to know newer CPU such as Celeron366 or even the Coppermine. So I decided the 366 MHz celeron would be a vast improvement and on top of that I pluged-in my old PCI Matrox Mystique VGA card. I ended up having a decent PC for the works before the softwares I am using are outdate. I agree with the idea of fresh installing Windows.
Hope these will help.

 

[Buz2b]

Just a thought I haven't seem really discussed much. Do you have a different case/PS for this? If not, your budget of $80 just went in the toilet. As videobruce mentioned, you may not be able to use the old Compaq case/PS. The older Compaq's had quite an assortment of proprietary components but I am not sure about the case/PS so you'd better check it out.
Even if you do have a case (or can use the Compaq one), your budget of $80 might still be a sticking point. Just doing a quick check on NewEgg, I couldn't get under $100 for both a MB and CPU. Those were a KT133A board and Duron 800 CPU. Came to $105. Maybe you can find better deals on PriceWatch.com, but you also have to sometimes deal with "shakey" retailers. I did a quick check there and yes, you can find some for ~$75+, but again, you will "takes your chances."
One option might be to "hang out" on the FS/FT Forum here on AT. Sometimes good combos can come up. Another option that I could not get the Pricewatch site to search for is the PC Chips M810L v7.1C based board/processor combo's. It is a MB with a "built on" Duron CPU. If I remember correctly, these are pretty inexpensive. Considering the planned usage for this system, that might be the way to go.
You can check out the specs for it on the PC Chips site. Just click on Socket A ant then the first one in the list is that board.
EDIT:Upon further review, I'm thinking that board is a mATX form factor; not ATX. It "says" ATX on the site but it sure looks like the other. In fact the dimensions are that of a mATX. So, if that is not what you want, ignore the suggestion.

 

[Gretzky]

ok i formated the compaq multiple times using different o/s ( win98, winxp and win2k ). I did flash the bios of the mobo and the problem is that when you try to shut down the computer would freeze, when you go into bios to load from cd ( you cant cause there is no option for that ). When the bios detects newer hardware it takes forever because once it finds a new hard drive it reboots acouple times until it load to further. SO i got fed up. Now i want to upgrade this computer a little. And yes i cant use the compaq psu and case so now i know im going 100 dollars.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, brace yourself, buddy... I'm gonna suggest a special barebone computer :Q. Make sure to pick up a USB keyboard and mouse, and grab a $15-20 used Celeron from the For Sale & Trade forum. Chances are good you can use your 128Mb module on this one. Note that it doesn't have any PCI slots, so you cannot install a PCI network card in it (a USB NIC or modem would be an option if you got a USB hub). It does have an onboard modem.

 

[Buz2b]

Man, I gotta give you credit mechBgon, that's a heck of a "find". LOL! Actually, aside from the pink handle, what the heck? It might just fit the bill.

 

[Buz2b]

BTW, there is someone in the FS/FT forum with a MB/CPU combo that includes an Abit BH6 MB with a 633Mhz Celeron running at 950Mhz for $70. That might fit the bill. Worth a peek anyway. The name is Dean_Jen.

 

[Gretzky]

wow thanks guys.

 

[Gretzky]

i did some shopping around and i like the prices at googlegear.com

AMD Athlon 950MHz Socket A 200MHz Processor (OEM) = 46.00
ECS K7S5A SiS735 Athlon/Duron Skt A SDR/DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN Retail = 62.99
Googlegear 601FP-300P4 ATX Mid Tower P4 Case (Beige) Retail = 44.99

total = 153

what you guys think?