Fender Bender wrote:Hey guys, as some of you may remember, I've been having troubles with my Gateway Desktop since late last year. I've tried several routes to find out what the problem was, and how to fix it. The search was to no avail.....until now.
Many of you suggested it could be the power supply or the motherboard. Turns out, it's the motherboard, and I'm not the only one. Look at everyone elses struggles with this piece of ****:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t354655...88_motherboardhttp://www.techsupportforum.com/hard...c51g-mobo.htmlhttp://www.techsupportforum.com/hard...c51g-mobo.htmlhttp://www.fatwallet.com/forums/computers/794739/Now that's all fine and dandy. A person should be able to replace a motherboard pretty easily, right? WRONG! As it turns out, my Gateway model uses a very unique motherboard. So unique, I would call it the Beta Max of PC's. To just replace the motherboard, I'm looking at $200.00. To hell with that I say!
So with some patience and a screwdriver, I completely disassembled my PC tower. (Was bored and pissed). So now I have several parts that I would like to recycle when I buy a new PC. I have the RAM, the hard drive, a multimedia docking station, the CD/DVD burner, and a USB docking port. Not sure if those are all the correct names for each item, but that's what I'm calling them.
Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions on what to do essentially. I just need a new Tower + Motherboard/CPU, but I am open to a whole new unit. I want something that's combatible with the parts I stripped from the old junker. If I can't work everything into the new one, that' ok. I just hate seeing things that still work go to waste.
Keep the tower, the power supply, ram, drives, everything. Except the mother board. (You can even salvage the processor if you find a board that will accommodate it.)
At most, you'll be out the cost of a motherboard and processor. No reason to let the rest of it go to waste when it's perfectly fine and dandy.
Motherboards (BTX) on eBay:
http://computers.search.ebay.com/BTX_PC ... fmtsZinsifUsed, new, refurbs.
NOTE: You have an AMD processor, these motherboards are Intel based. So you'll need a new processor that will fit them.
Also, because you're changing the motherboard and processor, you're changing the BIOS so you'll have to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows from the ground up. XP and Vista read the BIOS and if they don't match, it automatically prohibits loading to the desktop.
One more thing, the recovery discs (or partition) will not work for the new mobo and processor. They're made specifically for your computer as it is from the factory. So you'd need to borrow a friend's XP or Vista disc. (If you're going Vista, you can download it legally from Microsoft's website.)
I'll update this as I find more info for you.
A motherboard:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BOXDQ965COEKR-Intel ... dZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-DESKTOP-BOARD ... dZViewItemA processor that might work with them:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819116052 (NOTE: I didn't check the full specs to see if it would work with the above mentioned board, I'm just throwing some prices out there.)
If you just get rid of the motherboard and processor, keep the rest, you should be back in business (and perhaps even faster) in a couple of days.
Some people can get their PCs up and running by the end of the day if they start early enough.
Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to PM 24/7.
EDIT:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/05/0 ... load-link/Here are the directions to get Vista (32 and 64 bit) and yes, it's all legal. You have to provide your product license and activate it via the internet or phone when it's all said and done.
I know it seems like an insurmountable task, but fixing the physical part of a computer is far easier than one might think.
NOTE: Realize that I am not a perfect Christian, nor do I profess to be. I apologize if anyone's ever offended by me, I'm not perfect. Don't hold my posts and opinions against other Christians.
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