[swrobbie]

I have a Compaq Presario 5838 desktop (purchased new in 1998). It came with a AMD Athlon K7 500MHz processor. I would like to upgrade the CPU to make it faster. I don't want to buy a new system. I spoke with HP and the mother board will only handle up to 1GHz speed. Would it be best to change the CPU to the AMD 1GHz "Thunderbird" or replace the mother board and faster CPU? I am currently running Win98 but will upgrade to XP in the near future.

 

[rmay635703]

That sounds like a slot A motherboard the fastest you can get REASONABLY priced is probably a k7-800mhz CPU.

Remember though vintage K7 motherboards sometimes cannot handle the Tbird type of slot a processors limiting you to the classic Athlon cpus.

I have a Tbird 750mhz CPU if you want one.
Good luck finding a 1ghz chip last one I saw sold for over $100 which means its best to buy a new motherboard/case/cpu combo than to upgrade what you have (depending on your level of PC skill)

This is the fastest I can find currently on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15919&item=6735143176&rd=1

Their finally going down in price a little

Good Luck

 

[Couriant]

I don't know if it is possible to replace the mobo. Compaq were notorious about changing the hardware. I couldn't tell what form factor it is but I think it's ATX by the dimensions (19.0" x 20.9" x 8.38") It will cost about $200 for cpu, mobo and memory. You will need to upgrade your hard drive if you haven't so already, because Win XP takes up some space. And with the factory drive in (I'm guessing 20Gb) you'll see your space go PDQ.

As for your machine now, you will need to have at least 256Mb RAM. Your machine can only go up to 384Mb (3x 128Mb). I actually checked Compaqs site and that board in your machine only supports up to K7 700Mhz. There are cpus available that can run faster than the maximum speed (evergreen technologies I think).

So really it's up to you. Personally I could make a new one for $500 total including delivery with the components you need. If you are power user (not on it that much, only internet, email and word processing etc) then it will be lower.

HTH

 

[luke24.5]

Upgrading's not worth the headache if you're going to XP. You may also have problems with periphials not working with XP and they're not even updating drivers for some older parts. Check your periphials against the approved list at MS for XP.

You got 6-7 years out of your old PC, now use it for target practice. Build or buy a new one. You're going to have to buy a new psu also if you haven't replaced it already. There are already some programs out there that recommend 1 gig cpu or greater. I highly recommend 512 mb of memory if you multitask.

 

[rmay635703]

I don't know if it is possible to replace the mobo. Compaq were notorious about changing the hardware. I couldn't tell what form factor it is but I think it's ATX by the dimensions (19.0" x 20.9" x 8.38") It will cost about $200 for cpu, mobo and memory. You will need to upgrade your hard drive if you haven't so already, because Win XP takes up some space. And with the factory drive in (I'm guessing 20Gb) you'll see your space go PDQ.

As for your machine now, you will need to have at least 256Mb RAM. Your machine can only go up to 384Mb (3x 128Mb). I actually checked Compaqs site and that board in your machine only supports up to K7 700Mhz. There are cpus available that can run faster than the maximum speed (evergreen technologies I think).

So really it's up to you. Personally I could make a new one for $500 total including delivery with the components you need. If you are power user (not on it that much, only internet, email and word processing etc) then it will be lower.

HTH

Your information is outdated, any system that will take a 700mhz Slot a will also take a 1ghz CLASSIC k7a and maybe a Tbird if he's real lucky. (most will post with a tbird but may not be stable, the irongate is not a good match to a tbird though sometimes it works)

The info you are looking at on compaqs site was made when 700mhz was the top speed, hence why they say up to 700mhz, there was nothing faster back then

Also it seems that the 128mb limitation is not a real one I have read on other sites that people have successfully installed LD 256mb modules LOW DENSITY 16 chip in the older slot a compaqs.
Though it would be a case of he would have to try it and see and have a place that he could return the memory to. The AMD Irongate DEFINATELY supports greater than 128mb modules which makes it seem odd that they would list 128 as the largest module.

Also I agree he is better off with a different case as EVEN if the compaq has standard ATX mounting his PSU is probably not big enough to fire up a newer XP cpu and it isn't reasonably replacable as Compaq is notorious for making ODD shapes of power supplies.

Though I will say this, iff his psu is at least 250 REAL watts he can install a mobile Athlon XP and motherboard and it should work OK if it physically fits inside his case. But he won't be able to use the highest clocking of the chip or a normal desktop variety without possible problems.

Good Luck to the original poster

 

[Couriant]

Your information is outdated, ...

Well that's Compaq for ya But really it's not worth going to the maximum speeds on the original machine or trying to upgrade the mobo and cpu like we said, Compaq made it clear about trying to change the hardware on their machines

As for the 256Mb, I have read somewhere on the Compaq site that it can take 256Mb, but the mobo supposely won't read more than 384Mb.

 

[chavez]

I have a Compaq Presario 5838 desktop (purchased new in 1998). It came with a AMD Athlon K7 500MHz processor. I would like to upgrade the CPU to make it faster. I don't want to buy a new system. I spoke with HP and the mother board will only handle up to 1GHz speed. Would it be best to change the CPU to the AMD 1GHz "Thunderbird" or replace the mother board and faster CPU? I am currently running Win98 but will upgrade to XP in the near future.

You can purchase a 1000 MHz (1GHz) Processor from:
lacc.com/product.asp?pf_id=K7100MNR53B

Also for your information the motherboard will take and recoginze 256 RAM PC 100 or PC 133. purchase quality RAM from Crucial:
crucial.com
Cruial also has a scanner that you may use to scan your system and let you know what the max is (768). But if you look it up by make and model it will state 384. Iv'e tried and it works and system verifies. I'm running at 640 right now (256, 256, 128).
I have thought about trying 512, but I have not tried, no real reason or need for it.

DMS also has memory that works well and is less expensive:
datamem.com/viewcat.asp_Q_C_E_756

256MB 168 Pin PC100 32X64-8 CL2 Unregisterd SDRAM DIMM (16 Chip)

Just make sure you use low density chips (16 chips).

 

[brite750]

I have a Compaq Presario 5838 desktop (purchased new in 1998). It came with a AMD Athlon K7 500MHz processor. I would like to upgrade the CPU to make it faster. I don't want to buy a new system. I spoke with HP and the mother board will only handle up to 1GHz speed. Would it be best to change the CPU to the AMD 1GHz "Thunderbird" or replace the mother board and faster CPU? I am currently running Win98 but will upgrade to XP in the near future.

I've got a 750T-bird socket 7 variety, I cant even give it away, if you spend $175 on a old cpu youre nuts, I'm afraid with a old pc like that youre stuck with it the way it is, upgrades are just too expensive for what you get out of them. Your pc is just old, for $299 you can get a pc that would blow the friggin doors off of yours, its just a fact, some machines like fine automobiles can be thought of as classics when they age....computers just get old, period, you dont have wine, you got vinegar.

 

[dustyjay]

Another problem with a compaq that age is the power supply will not work on a newer ATX board period. THey have a proprietary power supply that has a different power plug than an atx power supply even though they indeed call thier motherboard an ATX motherboard it is not standard atx. So that case/power supply would be worthless with a new Mobo.

 

[brite750]

Another problem with a compaq that age is the power supply will not work on a newer ATX board period. THey have a proprietary power supply that has a different power plug than an atx power supply even though they indeed call thier motherboard an ATX motherboard it is not standard atx. So that case/power supply would be worthless with a new Mobo.

exactly, so now youre talking new case, new psu, new mobo/cpu/ram a current gfx card, so basically a whole new pc, youre not goinging to want to run your old drives, a 5400rpm hdd, a 24x cd-rom etc. so either be happy with your "classic" Compaq pc or get a new one. Upgrading is one of those things that the window of oppertunity doesnt stay open forever, the technolgy is changing way too fast for that, and also a Compaq is the last pc I would buy if upgrading was even in my mind when I bought the darn thing. If you want to upgrade you have to buy clone, either build it yourself or have someone do it for you.