Old PC I Found Diggin'

[PCGal]

So I was going through my closet and I found an old Compaq Presario. I know nothing about it and if anyone could help that would be apriciated.

 

Specs:

CPU: AMD Sempron, believed to be clocked at 1.8ghz (unsure)

Ram: 250mb

Mobo: Unknown 

HDD: 80gb

PSU: Unknown 

GPU: None 

Expansions: a network card of some kind.

OS: Win XP (assuming 32-bit)

 

(only 2 pics I currently have, I didn't think to take pics of the internals. I am also currently away from the system)

[UmaruChan]

Run linux on it by adding some ram and turn it into a server.

[Bananasplit_00]

case looks pretty nice atleast

[mrgooglegeek]

2 minutes ago, UmaruChan said:

Run linux on it by adding some ram and turn it into a server.

or even a media center/classic games emulator. Linux is definitely the way to go.

[PCGal]

2 minutes ago, UmaruChan said:

Run linux on it by adding some ram and turn it into a server.

Well where can I get the RAM. I have several different sticks of ddr-400/sdram and none of them would fit. I checked the ram and it says ddr-400 on it.

[UmaruChan]

1 minute ago, PCGal said:

Well where can I get the RAM. I have several different sticks of ddr-400/sdram and none of them would fit. I checked the ram and it says ddr-400 on it.

Ebay has all kinds of old stuff on it.

[PCGal]

Just now, UmaruChan said:

Ebay has all kinds of old stuff on it.

Well I guess I'm only upgrading 512megs. (only 2 dimm slots)

[PCGal]

9 hours ago, mrgooglegeek said:

or even a media center/classic games emulator. Linux is definitely the way to go.

Good idea, what operating systems allow me to turn this into a server.

[mrgooglegeek]

Start with ubuntu, because its easy

[PCGal]

2 hours ago, mrgooglegeek said:

Start with ubuntu, because its easy

How do I use Ubuntu as a "cloud" server though.

[mrgooglegeek]

FreeNAS might be better for that, Its pretty easy to get started and there is documentation available

[SilicateWielder]

23 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

case looks pretty nice atleast

It does, I had a PC from the same product line. I took the case and built my current rig in it. It's not too bad to work with either.

I had a higher end model from the same product line; I believe the specs were 1 GB DDR2, Nvidia Onboard graphics, 250 GB Samsung SATA HDD@ 5400 RPM, SATA CD-ROM Drive, AMD Athlon x2 64 @ 3.6 Ghz. I still have the CPU too.

 

That PC was actually not a bad rig to have when it was first introduced into the market. It's designed for multimedia purposes and features an AC '97 Chipset with connections for 7.1 channel audio (The front panel connector is also compatible with modern motherboards) as for graphics it uses on board Via Unichrome Graphics. (With which you can share up to 125mb of memory with) the RAM can be upgraded to 1 GB but some sites are saying it can handle 2GB. I'm assuming you already know this but the processor is an AMD Sempron 64 3000+ clocked at 2 Ghz, it uses the 754 socket.

 

If you want to salvage anything for parts from the rig, definitely keep the case around, it's quite nice for small, simple builds.

I'm using it for my current rig because my gaming case is finally starting to show it's age.

 

It is capable of mounting a single full sized HDD, but if you should be able to mount an SSD in there just above the HDD mount. To replace or remove the HDD remove the front bezel because HDDs mount through the front of the case.

The front panel audio is compatible with modern motherboards and it uses USB 2.0 connectors, so that's a plus.

 

If you insist on using it as is, I'd recommend using it for some retro gaming

 

[SilicateWielder]

23 hours ago, PCGal said:

Well where can I get the RAM. I have several different sticks of ddr-400/sdram and none of them would fit. I checked the ram and it says ddr-400 on it.

I have a feeling Linux will not run on it anyway, apparently the rig is using a Via Unichrome graphics chipset. the only way I see linux running on it is if you have an old Nvidia AGP graphics card on hand.

[Dr_Pleeper]

256mb of ram. SUCH POWER.

[FullTank1337]

With some RAM upgrades LXDE or XFCE Linux distros should work pretty well for it, but if you don't feel like upgrading anything, or if it's just too slow for you, give Damn Small Linux a try. 

Very gutted and stripped down, but fast af even with 256MB ram. 

 

This would make a decent server or movie box (for 720p and below)

 

Also, that CPU isn't very good for emulation. You might get something like ZSNES or SNES9x running but for anything good like Higan, you need an actual gaming PC.

[PCGal]

On April 21, 2016 at 11:40 AM, UnbrokenMotion said:

I have a feeling Linux will not run on it anyway, apparently the rig is using a Via Unichrome graphics chipset. the only way I see linux running on it is if you have an old Nvidia AGP graphics card on hand.

Well how about my nvidia GeForce 2 that I have. Would you suggest using that.

[PCGal]

On April 21, 2016 at 1:09 PM, Dr_Pleeper said:

256mb of ram. SUCH POWER.

That's so much power that it out performs my regular rig

[SilicateWielder]

2 hours ago, PCGal said:

Well how about my nvidia GeForce 2 that I have. Would you suggest using that.

That should work just fine.