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With help from these boards I've determined I need a new motherboard for my HP Pavilion 531w, product #: P7515A.
I've searched a few sites for motherboards, but have no clue what exactly to look for. It would be nice to have a better board than the manufactures one. One that can handle more upgrades (or has it all ready) than the old one as I couldn't even get more ram for it.
Is there someplace that I can look to determine what would work or someone that can help me out?
It would also be best to find a board, (if possible) that all I have to do is put it in my HP case and re-plug in all hardware, start it up, and it all works again. I know that's wishing for a lot. :)
'Re-boot to the head'
First...what os are you using? If you use windows xp ur wish may actualy come true. The cheapest MB can do almost everything you need. Check what type of prossesor you have. Check that it is compatible witht the new bord. You will probaly need to but new ram but try and get one that is cmpatible with ur old ram to save money. I recomend www.tigerdirect.com to get cheap Bords. Your system is of warenty right?
Duct Tape is like the Force, It has a light side and a dark side and it holds the world together!
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No warranty as it's 2 years old. The OS is Win XP. That's good huh?
Processor brand: Intel
Processor socket type: Socket 370
Processor family: PIII, Celeron, Tualain
Processor front side bus frequency: 133/100/66 MHz
Chipset name: Intel i810E
Flash BIOS Device: FWH 4Mbit
Memory type: SDRAM
Memory speed: PC100
Memory sockets: 2 DIMM
Maximum memory: 512MB
would be nice to be able to have double the memory or more.Graphics supplier: Intel
Graphics configuration: Down, in chipset
Onboard graphics memory: UMA (Intel DVT)
Graphics connector (AGP): None
Ethernet 10/100 LAN supplier: Realtek RTL8100
Ethernet configuration: PCI, Down
IDE UDMA modes: ATA-66/33
Expansion slots (AGP/PCI/Exten): 3 PCI
USB front/back options: 2F + 2 B
Serial, parallel, floppy, PS2 Kbd and mouse: 2S, 1P, !F, PS2 K+M
All this info I found here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?product=77623&lang=en&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07028I don't mind buying new ram. That's not a big problem, as my wife works at Office Max and gets a small discount. :)
With a new board do I take the old prosessor and put it on the new board?
I don't really know anything about all this, just trying to do it to be cheap. LOL
I've upgraded computers over the years, but this is 1st time dealing with motherboards.'Re-boot to the head'
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I just found a site that sells the Trigem Lomita Socket 370 ATX Motherboard (same as the one in my HP for $40), but I wonder if there is one I can use that is better?
'Re-boot to the head'
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bobthecomputer,
I once had a pavilion XE736, the motherboard is usually that Trigem POC. Nonetheless it is a UATX board so forget ATX boards because your case is too small for them.
That limits your choices to a few boards.
Check out these boards:
Shuttle MN31N Nforce2 mATX board.
Chaintech 7NIL1 Summit NForce2 board.
Get a mobile XP2500+ and some PC3200 RAM.____________________________
The greatest risk is not taking one
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Sabertooth -
Can it go from Pentium to AMD with no problems? As the boards you told me to check out looks great, and can do much more than my dead one, but can I just buy one and install it and plug my hardware to it and have no problems?
Also I just remembered - the HP computer has a partition for the auto back-up feature on the hard drive, & it came with no start-up disk. Will that be a problem?
'Re-boot to the head'
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Yes! indeed, plus you get a more bang for your buck. All you need is an AMD based board and CPU. You might want to look into getting a newer video card and powersupply too.
Once you change the motherboard, there is no use for the HP disc nor the restore partition again. I recommend you backup whatever data is critical, wipe the drive and install windows using a retail copy of XP.
____________________________
The greatest risk is not taking one
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Back-up the drive? LOL :)
I can't... computer didn't start. :(
I need the hard-drive to work as it has Gig's of needed info that's not backed up.
On another help board someone suggested I just get a new case with power supply and mother board that can support my processor and ram. Didn't quite understand him about needing to move my processor over to new board.
I need a sollution that allows me to still use my hard drive with the info still on it.
'Re-boot to the head'
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Hard drives are not that expensive these days, get a new hard drive and slave your HP drive to the new one (if there is enough room in the case to allow that) after you upgrade the PC.
"someone suggested I just get a new case with power supply and mother board that can support my processor and ram"...that is a total waste of money.
____________________________
The greatest risk is not taking one
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I don't recall any posts about your problem...could you give a brief description about what happened & why you feel the motherboard is bad?
I think throwing a lot of money at this is a bad move...go with the cheapest option you can find, probably the Trigem replacement. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the HP PSUs are proprietary? Hopefully someone can verify this one way or another. If it is, you'll have to get an HP board...either that, or you'd have to get a new PSU to go with the new board.
Otherwise, you might as well either start from scratch, or buy a new system altogether.
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Wow!!! LOL Thanks for all your help peeps.
The problem started with; 'my computer won't start'. Period. I checked the power supply, cords, board connections, etc... & still nothing. It just wouldn't turn on. Even the HP site tried with little help and said it must be the motherboard.
After chatting with you all here and other boards, I think just replacing the board with the same thing except new, would just end up over time having the same problem again; as I've found the board is & was a piece of junk from the start and HP should have never used it.
So after much help & brain being fried about this, I think I might just get a new cpu that has better hardware & can be upgraded if needed and just stick my hard-drive into it as a slave. Seems about the same as far as cost goes. Yes the HP board would only cost me $40+, but in time the board will fail again (so I'm told). Since I want more ram and processing speed and USB2 (not just old USB), I might as well just get something a tad newer & better.
Unless someone has a better idea here?
'Re-boot to the head'
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Chances are the power supply will have to go as well. Most OEM systems use a propritary PS that cannot just be plugged into a regular uATX or ATX board. That leaves you with a case, floppy and CDROM that reuseable.
Perhaps you should consider a whole new system?
Jimi_l
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I'm in the sam boat as you pal. But do not fret, check out ebay for a new board, use the same processor you have, make sure the board is compatible with your processor i.e. same socket/slot bus speed chipset. The info on you rold drive can be accessed but the os won't run on a new board without a new install. Unfortunatley hp os is proprietary to hp, it does a checksum with the bios and if it detects it's not hp it won't work. Invest in a retail version of xp, get yourself a new hd install xp on it , transfer files from old hd to new hd , if old hd is larger than new one then you can reformat it , and install xp on that and use your new one for slave. I agree that hp is junk, I have a xe736 and it is maxed out in memory 512mb, but i upgraded my bios, added a usb 2.0 card, i have a 200gb maxtor hd, win xp pro, and it works ok. I am building an intel 478 p4 3.0 ghz system with 800 mhz fsb and ht. That will make this hp seem like a turtle. But you can still find a board with capabilities for under 40 bucks on ebay, you will have to get an atx case, and maybe a powersupply. If you have any questions email me and i will try to help you in any way i can including building you a decent system for low cost.
If no one has told you they love you today , GOD does
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Hey Bob, I got my motherboard on ebay for $30. It is an HP pulled after a guy upgraded. It suits me just fine, so snoop around on ebay, you will find a deal :)
Oh by the way, it is an ATX, I guess this is unusual for an HP
^(',')]}~~~:]>
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