hello guys, a friend of mine recently gave me an old Presario 5000, with a 250W power supply. As i would like to use it as a secondary pc, i would like to upgrade it, as it is only 750 Mhz fast. So my question is: Would you know the form factor of this case (ATX, Micro ATX...)? Because if would like to switch the motherboard (ATX or MicroATX, if it fits) and the CPU. I will probably buy an INTEL Celeron D 325 (2.53GHz), 133MHz FSB, 256kB Cache (actually the cheapest for a decent speed :-)). So, do you think it will fit on a socket 478 Mobo? And do you think that a powersupply of 250W will be enough for such a cpu? Thks in advance for your reply. Best regards Nikkow

You have to be careful with comcraps. Some of them use special power supplies, many use non standard form factors for the motherboards, and still others use special RAM. I'd leave it alone, get what use you can out of it, and invest in something else. I just don't understand why people keep buying this crap, and I'm VERY upset ever since HP got envolved with them. HP at one time made some of the VERY BEST in electronics test equipment, bar none. Some of the computers "they" sell are, well, the worst.

Well, HP may have made some of the best laserjet printers, but their PC's and servers were no better than Compaq's or Dells or most any other brand name. It's not the equipment itself that's the real problem with HP/Compaq, it's trying to get service out of them that really hurts. Since the merger they're support system has gone completely to pot. Even trying to get a real live technician on the phone is worse than pulling teeth. And, half the time you end up talking to a support person in the wrong country and then when they try to reroute you to the right place, you get dropped and have to go through the whole painful process of dealing with their retarded voice menu system. To make matters worse, once you do get a "technician" on the phone, you quickly discover it's some minimum wage idiot with a Q&A database and NO experience whatsoever on the actual equipment. No biggy right.....just request second level support and talk to someone who actually has worked on the equipment you say.......NOT.......second level support like this IS available with companies like IBM but not with HP/Compaq.....their "support" people "all get the same training and we have no second level support" (quoted from a convo I personally had with an HP "support" tech not so long ago). I have to agree though that you're better off to not try to upgrade this machine in any way, shape or form. It's not worth what it would cost you. Use it as-is and when it breaks, toss it out.

You may also have to buy an XP CD. Compaq's XP software may not work with change of motherboard. How PC Power Supplies Work That has a chart showing how much output needed for various computer parts.

nikkow If I were you, I would heed Curt R's advice Use it as-is and when it breaks, toss it out Write this off as a lesson that OEM PCs are designed mostly to be used as Curt R described. BTW the only time you can upgrade the OEM PC is when you add more RAM, and change HD. For the latter it means that you either buy the XP CD as Chuck 2 mentioned, or call HP Sales Dept to buy their set of 14 disc Recovery CDs for the particular type of PC you have. i_XpUser

nikkow After reading this you may want to abandon using the Compaq case for a newer mboard. As XpUser said, you are better off just using it as is. Compaqs have a general model number and a specific model number. Look on the case for a label that shows the specific model number - e.g. 5000xxx where xxx is usually letters. You can also look for the system product number - often on the same label - 9 numbers like so: xxxxxx-xxx That label often has bar codes on it as well. Tell me what you find. If you can't find that label, open up the case and look for a label on the mboard that has bar codes and 9 numbers like so: xxxxxx-xxx - the Compaq Spare part number if you can identify it, or there may be two numbers. Once I have that info I may be able to figure which size of mboard it has. A 250 watt power supply is not enough capacity for a socket 478 mboard. It is just barely enough for a socket A mboard however - but not many are available new, and the cpu's for them are getting hard to find - a used socket A mboard and cpu would be fine. For newer mboards a good size to get is minimum 350 watts if it does not have enhanced PCI slots, or a minimum of 400 watts if it does have them. Name brand computers sometimes used to use proprietary power supplies, but for many years since they haven't bothered to do that in almost all cases, except for some server mboards. Once I have the specific model number I can check that out. The Compaq case may be able to take several sizes of mboard. Some Compaq cases have a fixed I/O shield - the plate the ports on the mboard stick out through - if it cannot be removed, a newer mboard likely will not fit all the holes in the shield. Compaq cases often have no Reset button/switch. They may or may not have a two color led for power/standby. One problem you are probably going to encounter is most Compaq cases use a one piece "button board" connector to connect to the led's and switches (usually only 1 - the power switch) on the front panel - the front of the case - the mboards they used conform to the pinouts for this connector, as well as to those on some other mboards made around the same time, but there's a good possibility the one piece connector will not be wired properly for a new socket 478 mboard, or other newer mboards. This means you would have to obtain individual or pair or quad (for the speaker) wiring connectors, cut off the one piece connector, and splice the other connectors onto the wires so you could connect to the front panel led's, switch(es), and possibly your case speaker. Another thing is Compaq manuals almost always do not tell you what the wiring of the one piece connector connects to - but if you supply the mboard number(s), I may be able to dig that up.

Hello everyone, thank you so much for your fast, numerous and detailled answers. As i mentionned before, this pc was given to me and i just wanted to upgrade. But as most of you where saying, it will probabely be easier to just get another computer. I saw used Optiplex (1.6-1.8 Ghz)on ebay for about 200$, that might be a good option, as they seemed to be pretty small and light. Actually i need this computer because i am moving from switzerland to spain, and will be staying there with a minimum of luggage for at least 6 month. So my first computer is to big and too heavy to be brought there before 6 month. Tubesandwires: Thks alot for your answer. Actually i won't be home before the beginning of next week, so i can't pick up the 9 last digits, and furthermore i'm seriously considering the bought of a small and light optiplex on ebay. THks again to all and best regards :-) Nikkow