I'm looking to buy a new processor and Asus board to replace the failed HP
setup in a Vectra VL420MT box. Since I have a couple of 1GB 133MHZ ECC SDRAM
DIMMs, I would like a board that will accept these memory modules.
This computer is used mainly to run stock market analysis programs. I do NOT
use this system for anything that is overly graphically intensive (nor
games), but I do run it with two monitors.
I would like to have the processor as current as possible, but am also
interested in keeping my total cost (for board and processor) under $300.
I have another system with an Asus P3B-F board that has served me very well
over the last couple of years, so I am more than happy to continue using
Asus.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/lpv06567/lpv06567.pdf
Your previous board is 845 based and uses a P4 processor. Max memory
is 1.5GB, implying 3 memory slots holding a max of 512MB in each.
A board to reuse SDRAM is going to be hard to find. My solution a
while back, to reusing SDRAM, was an Asus P4B motherboard. I have
3x512MB in it right now - it is my "workstation"
)) But it is
a full size board, not the microATX board you are looking for.
Instead, buy a P4P800-VM. It is $102 at Newegg. Buy two sticks
of cheap DDR RAM ($78 each Crucial). That meets your $300 target.
Reuse the processor from the old machine. Maybe you could even
sell the old memory on Ebay for a few bucks.
Before buying the board, verify it will work with your current
processor, by checking this web page.
http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx
Enter "P4P800-VM" as the motherboard name.
Also, take the numbers off the top of your current processor and
run them through processorfinder.intel.com , to get some info
on what you've got.
The only other gotcha, is going to be the video card. Many modern
motherboards now only allow 1.5V video cards. Cards which are
3.3V only won't work (without destroying the Northbridge).
To distinguish these situations, go to this web page and
scroll to the bottom of the page:
http://www.ati.com/support/faq/agpchart.html
Case (B) is an attempt to use a 3.3V only video card on a
1.5V only motherboard. The slots and keys won't allow the card
to be inserted, so you'll know something is wrong. Case (E)
shows a "universal" type video card, being plugged into a
1.5V only motherboard. Note that the HP manual lists some video
cards that could have keying problems - IOW some cards lie about
their voltage requirements, so you had better post a question with
details on your video card, in order to get advice on whether
the video card shipped with your HP computer is one of the
bad ones. One of these "bad" video cards, will plug into a
new motherboard, and then blow out the Northbridge. While many
Asus boards have an "AGP Warn" circuit on them, to detect these
"bad" video cards, and prevent the power supply from being
switched on, looking at a picture of the P4P800-VM in its
downloadable motherboard manual, shows that the "AGP Warn"
circuitry is not populated on the board. This means Asus
saved $0.05 at the risk of having people with old video cards
blow up the board.
HTH,
Paul
