Replacing board in Gateway Essential

Chris Chan

Chris Chan

New Member
Yes, my grandfathers gateway essential has fallen victim to the capacitor plague, so I need to replace the mobo. I was thinking about getting a cheap mini-itx C3 board because that doesnt produce much heat. (it only takes Flex-atx at maximum, and it's a case with crappy airflow) But how are those boards with regards to driver support in Winblows ME? Buying a new Windows version is out of the question, as is Linux (needs AOL and WIndows software) Is my idea good, or just really 'out there' and never ggoing to work?
 
Chris Chan

Chris Chan

New Member
Can I build a good, maintenance-free SFF for $400 including XP? (I'm *not* giving him Vista - it sucks big time.)
 
I

INTELCRAZY

banned
He won't need Vista, but it isn't as bad as ppl make it sound. Here's what I compiled, check it out.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135048
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116213
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144148
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822135106
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151133
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170015

Pretty budgeted build here, Total comes to $393.43USD. No dual channel memory, 40Gb HDD. He justs uses this for surfing, email, etc., right? This will get the job done. Hope this helps
 
PohTayToez

PohTayToez

Active Member
I don't know that any computer is 100% maintenance free, but for $400 you can get him something that will blow his mind compared to that old Gateway.
 
The_Other_One

The_Other_One

VIP Member
INTELCRAZY said:
He won't need Vista, but it isn't as bad as ppl make it sound. Here's what I compiled, check it out.
Click to expand...

Perhaps it's way too early, but I see dual channel RAM and a micro ATX power supply for a mid-tower that comes with a PSU...

If I were you, I'd get an Athlon based system.
 
ceewi1

ceewi1

VIP Member
Looks OK. The Hipro PSU included with the case is at least as good as the third party Logisys you've listed, though. May as well save some money and stick with the Hipro.

May want to go with 1x512MB as well, such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141474. Not only is it cheaper, but it will also allow for more upgrade headroom since that board has only 2 RAM slots. The lack of Dual Channel with the single stick wouldn't really be a problem for a system like that.

If you need to fit a copy of Windows XP into that budget, you may even want to downgrade to a Celeron or Sempron CPU.
 
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PohTayToez

PohTayToez

Active Member
Foxconn TLM436-CN300C-01 Black/Silver Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Rosewill Stallion Series RD400-2-DB ATX V2.2 400W Power Supply - Retail
Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model KVR667D2N5/512 - Retail
ECS P4M800PRO-M2 V2.0 LGA 775 VIA P4M800 PRO Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E4300 - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP Home Sp2b 1pk - OEM
LG CD Burner Black E-IDE / ATAPI Model GCE-8527B BLK - OEM

80GB HDD
32x CD Burner
512MB RAM
ECS Mobo (Doesn't look too bad)
Rosewill 400w PSU
Foxconn MiniATX Case (Used it before, great case)
Windows XP Home
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300

Comes to $409.93 before shipping, but if you bought Windows off of eBay, you could get it down to around $410 shipped.
 
PohTayToez

PohTayToez

Active Member
You would be losing a LOT of power there, and you would have to get some sort of converter to use the 2.5" HDD...
 
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