Noisy tower

If the internals are relatively clean I would venture a guess to say Windows 7 might require more horsepower than that computer has to offer. Windows 7 requires much more power than XP, and while you can probably get by with what you have now, it could be why everything is running wide open.

I personally wouldn't put any money into that at all with any high expectations.........not with Windows 7 on it. Recently, my aunts old Dell Optiplex got replaced with a nice HP refurb and it was 100x the computer, and no amount of upgrades I could have made would have done that. It also sounded like a snow-blower sitting right next to you!

Update re the heatsink and cooler fan: HP has a replacement cooler fan for $64.95, a lotta colada for such an old system. Not sure about that investment yet. In removing the fan to take a look at the chip and any problems with the old thermal compound, the latter was indeed dried out and barely evident, so I had purchased a new blister pack of the compound to redo what would be between the fan base and the chip. In examining the Celeron chip a little more closely to remove the old compound, I also noticed that the "bed" on which the processor lays when secure appeared to have some of the minutely small prongs missing. If that spells disaster for system stability and operability, why bother replacing the fan assembly and maybe even the chip (for a P4, for example)? Can anyone please tell me if a few prongs missing from the "bed" on which the chip lays spells doom for this dinosaur, or for that matter, for any system?

Thank you.

sbuxman said:

Can anyone please tell me if a few prongs missing

Do you know that some pins have broken off?

Or is it possible some pins are missing by design and nothing is broken?

You need to compare to a known good instance. I know nothing about that particular processor.

bobafetthotmail said:

Are the "missing" prongs under a contact point (golden dot) in the processor? That socket does not have a full series of prongs in some places if I remember well.

Usually if one of those $%&$%%&%$%%$ prongs is bent or damaged, the machine won't even boot. I'm quite mad at them because they are top reason why I have to trash used mobos.

As for the cooler, the mobo has standard fan connectors (as seen from HP site, see below the link) so you can use any cooler that fits on socket 775 (the CPU socket), which have more manageable costs, between 10 and 30 bucks (although there are premium ones for much more) and finding some that claim low noise isn't that hard.

Something you should try regardless is upgrading RAM (look at the "memory upgrade info to know what kinds of banks it can use), the thing can get up to 2 GB and they're pretty cheap but that make a lot of difference, as Win 7 needs around 700 mb for its stuff, on 1 GB even light tasks will require paging, thus more CPU load and sluggishness.

Also, that mobo does support up to pentium Ds which will make it a pretty nice old machine (if you buy used ones that's around 20-30 bucks for a respectable dualcore 3.4 Ghz pentium D 945 which with modern multi-threaded programs leaves the celeron in the dust), better than mine (the one in my specs) as you have a PCIe-x16 (it's a PCIE 1.0, so it won't be a gaming rig, but hell, you can still find good cheap cards to turn it in a good HTPC or play light games)

Thank you!

I know what you mean by missing "by design." I think maybe some are b/c I was able to boot the system after removing/replacing the Celeron chip. Sometimes they can bend and "disappear," but they're still there -- I'll double-check... And yes, I thought there was a gold dot under each prong, save for those missing...

A quickie about the compound...I had quite a few "leftovers" after my first application and have labored to remove all traces of extra compound -- how much of this stuff is actually needed? The directions have the familiar ring of, "a thin coating." I had used a plastic collar stay the first time to try to spread it evenly, obviously with limited success.

Right on re the cooling fans -- I went to Frys, but became discouraged b/c all their socket 775 models seemed so huge, with what looked like brass tubing...very different from what I have, but I'll check again.

I meant to mention the memory: I have lots of experience buying/installing it, and I can upgrade this system to 2GB max -- IF I have no problem after installing the new fan.

Finally, with a chip change, I was reading offhandedly about how the BIOS settings have to be "reset?" when something that fundamental is changed. Am I needing to do something with settings if I get to that point...and how?

sbuxman

BIOS settings can be set to "default" within the BIOS. I'd revert to default settings before changing a processor.

I think the approved method of thermal compound installation on a socket 775 processor is a single BB size dot in the middle, and then let the pressure of the mounting mechanism spread it out. If you apply the dot, mount the heastsink and then remove it, you can easily see the pattern left behind--typically an oval. You don't need to get it onto all 4 corners.

Take a look at arcticsilver.com for application instructions for each processor type.

Just use alcohol and a clean cloth and fingernails to get the old compound off. I wouldn't agonize over it at the microscopic level.

Being a tinkerer too, I set out this morning to use a perfectly good HP a1640n Pavilion socket-775 CPU, missing its long-gone XP HDD.. I took the Seagate Barracuda 160 GB drive from the "noisy-tower" Compaq and installed it into the HP Pavilion. The connection cables on the HP fit perfectly into the Seagate HDD, but I notice a 4-prong socket all the way on the right of the back of the Seagate empty. I'm pretty sure the same socket was empty on the noisy Compaq. I nevertheless mention it because, upon trying to boot the HP using the noisy Compaq Seagate HDD loaded with a fresh copy of Windows 7 HP, I get a 3-second beep, followed by a longer, maybe 5-second beep, but nothing else, as if the system's alerting me to something (missing)?

Does the above give you enough info to maybe hazard a guess or opinion what might be wrong? FWIW, I checked the chip under the heatsink and there's no damage to the "bed" on which the chip lays when clamped over.

Also, the HP originally came with a secondary, smaller bay for installation of a storage or misc flash drive, but since I never used it, I removed the "cable to nowhere," though one end was plugged into the mobo...the other end is a USB cable female end which was not connected to anything, but laying inside the bay.

Thanks.

bobafetthotmail said:

I thought there was a gold dot under each prong, save for those missing...

If it's like this it's oK. the prongs are supposed to be in contact with such gold dots so the current can flow. If there is no dot, there is no need for a prong in that place. All socket-775 CPUs have the same dot scheme underside, so if the celeron works, all other will (as long as the mobo supports them anyway)

A quickie about the compound

Stop a second. Look at this video to learn how to do it right.

Also, always buy a thermal compound that is non-conductive and non-capacitive (it should be clearly stated). This way if some of it oozes around it won't short out contacts.

I went to Frys, but became discouraged b/c all their socket 775 models seemed so huge, with what looked like brass tubing

The "brass tubing" you see is actually a far more high-tech heat pipe. It carries around heat (much) more effectively than a solid lump of metal like the current one you have and allows them to design heat rejection systems that are far more effective without going to full watercooling.
What matters is the bottom part and the connection brackets. If that is the right size and locks in place, even if it looks funky it will do its job.
Just make sure it fits in the case, as some are designed for far bigger gaming cases.

Finally, with a chip change, I was reading offhandedly about how the BIOS settings have to be "reset?"

It's more a precaution though, in case someone was overclocking things or enabled whatever feature the other one doesn't have (although the BIOS should usually detect and auto-adjust).
Anyway, the board has a jumper to do it fast and easy, look at the page I linked above, the last entry called "clearing BIOS settings", and then "clearing CMOS"