My son in law gave me a AMD desktop computer.
It was missing a hard drive and graphics card.
I have a 160 Gb IDE drive.
I would like to put on Linux and a Windows version.
I am looking for recommendations for a graphics card to get for it that would work well with Windows.
I realize that it is a little old.
Chipset support
NVIDIA: Nforce Series chipsets
ATI: Radeon Xpress Series chipsets
VIA: K8 Series chipsets
SiS: 75x Series chipsets or greater
Intel: 975, 965, 963, 946
NVIDIA: Nforce Series chipsets
tell us about the CPU ?
no need to put a corvette engine on a lawn-mower
AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processors
Without being able to get it booting up yet, I won't know the speed or which of the 3 models the chip is.
Clockrate: 2000 - 2400 MHz
256 KB L2-Cache:
3600+: 2000 MHz
512 KB L2-Cache:
3800+: 2000 MHz
4200+: 2200 MHz
4600+: 2400 MHz (110 Watt TDP)
it looks like AMD paired it with an ATI radeon 3000 (i think ATI is partially owned by AMD, now)
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/chipsets/7-series-integrated/pages/amd-760g-chipset.aspx (http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/chipsets/7-series-integrated/pages/amd-760g-chipset.aspx)
you could probably find a suitable nvidia card of the same "era" (2007-2009)
Thanks. It has a PCI express slot.
Sticker on the bottom of case has GC660AA-ABA for system number.
Compaq SR5000
Sticker on case has NVidia graphics.
Motherboard has ATA 133 and HT 2000 on it.
There is no hard drive cable but I see a connector for the old style "ribbon cable."
Power connector for hard drive fits O.K.
Andy
Can I power it up without a graphics card, hard drive, or cpu ?
In case it has integrated video which I think it has.
The cpu is disconnected but I have some paste to attach the cpu.
i wouldn't power it up unless it's complete - although, probably no harm
Quote from: Magnum on October 22, 2013, 07:57:43 AM
Sticker on the bottom of case has GC660AA-ABA for system number.
Is this (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01077676&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=3443290#N223) it?
Quote
Can I power it up without a graphics card, hard drive, or cpu ?
The cpu is disconnected but I have some paste to attach the cpu.
If you mean that there is no heat sink on the CPU, if it lacks some sort of internal temperature control, the safe assumption, under power it will fry in a matter of seconds.
Bingo, that's the motherboard.
Does the next statement mean that without a video card, I can use the DE-15 connector (Socket) to plug in my monitor and see if the integrated graphics will be sufficient ?
Integrated graphics using nVidia GeForce 6150SE
*Integrated video is not available if a graphics card is installed.
Integrated graphics using nVidia GeForce 6150SE
It currently has only 2 Gbs of RAM, but is upgradeable to 8 Gbs.
Andy
Quote from: Magnum on October 22, 2013, 02:39:12 PM
Does the next statement mean that without a video card, I can use the DE-15 connector (Socket) to plug in my monitor and see if the integrated graphics will be sufficient ?
Yes. I once had such a MB - with the very same NVidia chipset.
The only thing to take care of: some X2 cpus need more than 89 W - avoid anything beyond 5600+.
Computer has a 250 W power supply.
I have an additional 400 W power supply.
Would that work better ?
Andy
bigger isn't always better - but if it fits the same foot print, go for it - it may also have better cooling
it sounds like a decent little machine
Hi,
If you are supplying 250 watts (or 400) into something that
looks rather small, make sure your fans are adequate, cleaned,
up and working.
Regards,
Steve
250W is OK for one hard drive, one dvd and using the internal graphics.
A lot of PCI-E video cards need more power, via a 6-pin connector, so 250W won't be enough.
I just worked on a PC with two GTX-780 cards, each card needs an 8-pin and a 6-pin power connector and uses 250W.
Cards at $850 each and a PSU (1200W gold) for $500. Crazy little rich kid with a $7000 computer. Plays games nicely though :biggrin: three monitors.
Steve,
You are right about getting good cooling.
The cooling fan for the cpu had a lot of dust in the heat sink.
I used some heat sink paste leftover from a previous job and threw the rest away.
Despite being thoroughly sealed with the tip and tape, I think it dried out a little.
Andy
Sinsi,
I will keep your advice in mind in case I decide to use a PCI card.
It does not have a DVD burner.
It has 2 unused SATA cables.
Andy
if it has SATA cables, it may require a SATA drive to boot up on
the PATA (IDE) cables are then typically used for optical drives
you can probably use them to connect an IDE drive, but you may not be able to boot on it
you might try it - tell the BIOS to boot on a CD :P
perhaps just as well
it sounds like a reasonably decent machine
you may want a 500 GB to 2 TB drive - something larger than 160 GB
it's likely a little faster than the one i use - and i'm quite happy with it
I am currently using 36 Gb on a 250 Gb hard drive on a laptop.
So far, I found this with a starting bid of $ 30 for a new Western Digital 160 GB,Internal,5400 RPM,2.5" (WD1600BEVT-22ZCT0) Hard Drive.
Andy
I am wondering about the benefits of a SATA versus IDE drive.
i haven't had the best of luck with WD, in recent years
i try to buy hitachi, nowdays
but - it changes like seasons
one year, mfg A will be better - the next year it will be mfg B
i think there are groups of engineers that move from company to company - lol
one group makes good stuff
then, another group fills the hole they leave
they make it cheaper
so, it's hard to know what the best brand is
You are right.
Companies buy others out but retain the name because they don't want to lose customers who were loyal to the former brand name.
And then there are some companies that have what I call the "big head" syndrome.
They are so big, they can afford to lose customers.
And there are there are good companies like an El Lago Coffee shop that I went into for the 1st time yesterday.
The owner and his wife are pleasant and humble folks.
The owner sails once a year to South America in a sailboat to pick up 18,000 lbs. of coffee.
He roasts his own coffee using a barrel type roaster that rotates inside a gas grill.
Their coffee and antiques are very reasonably priced.
Take care,
Andy
I got a keyboard and power cord.
It has internal graphics, so I hooked up an external monitor.
I thought I should be able to see the BIOS screens. ?
When booting up there is no beep and nothing on the monitor.
I haven't got the SATA drive yet.
All the fans are working O.K.
??
Learning experience fer sure. :t
Andy
Might still be ok.
The BIOS may have given a previous installed external graphics adapter a higher priority - and it's a bit sluggish at learning.
The speaker might be simply missing - or is not attached to the MB.
What are the keyboard LEDs doing?
If the keyboard LEDs show no signs of living, and the speaker is ensured to be attached properly, the first thing I would try is another power supply.
1. Clear the CMOS RAM, this might make the onboard graphics the first choice
2. If the speaker is connected, remove all RAM and it should beep endlessly
3. As japheth said, change the PSU
not so sure i'd jump on the power supply
they may have had another graphics card plugged in there for a reason
it could be the one on the mother board is dead
it may also be disabled with a jumper
what about the fans ?
if the power supply is dead, there won't be any sign of life at all, usually
I had one cable not attached.
It is telling me "boot disk failure, insert system disk."
Someone told me they would give me a SATA hard drive.
Andy
F1, F2, Esc keys are common to get into the bios setup
sometimes - with the Shft key
Hi,
The most common key to get into the BIOS is the delete key in
my experience. Others were F2, F12, and F10(?). Unfortunately,
what most of the more complicated actions actually do is not
documented with the help key.
Regards,
Steve N.
ah yes - Del - and i have even seen Ins
I got into the BIOS.
It's Phoenix dated 2007.
Did not see any option to boot from USB drive, so I guess a pen drive is out.
I reset it to use on board video.
It has no CD/DVD burner.
I will work on getting the SATA hard drive.
So far, everything I have gotten for it has been Pro Bono.
Andy
newer than the machine i am using :P
the hard part may be getting a validated OS on there
That should be easier, since I will be installing Puppy Linux.
I will have to increase the small 2 Gb of RAM that it has now.
Andy