Form factor of Compaq Presario mobo

[Oceanb0rn]

Do Compaq -- for the Presario 7585, this would be about 5-6 years ago -- use the standard ATX form factor, microATX, or something else (or proprietary)?

It's a long story as to how I got where I am, but I'm gonna be sitting on an old (566MHz Celeron-256MB RAM-32MB Voodoo3) Compaq, and was thinking of ripping out the mobo and dropping a Sempron mobo/CPU and some slightly better RAM (100MHz PC100 RAM is rather dated).

If the case's mobo form factor is something custom (wouldn't surprise me) I just might have to get a whole new case. I'm trying to make a midlevel PC on the cheap for displaying video... No special needs for this box.

 

[cajun33]

If I remember right, A full size ATX board is 12" wide by 9.6" deep (305mm x 244mm). This allows many ATX form factor
chassis to accept microATX boards as well.

Here's a handy guide.

Style Width Depth Where Found Match to Case and PSU

Full AT 12" 11-13" Very Old PCs Full AT, Full Tower

Baby AT 8.5" 10-13" Older PCs All but Slimline, ATX

ATX 12" 9.6" Newer PCs ATX

Mini ATX 11.2" 8.2" Newer PCs ATX

LPX 9" 11-13" Older Retail PCs Slimline

Mini LPX 8-9" 10-11" Older Retail PCs Slimline

NLX 8-9" 10-13.6" Newer Retail PCs Slimline

 

[Oceanb0rn]

Thanks for the reply cajun33. I may just have to pull the PSU out (it's right smack in the middle) and try to guesstimate measurements for that mobo.

The case is rather a pain to work with, but at the same time, it's really solid. It weighs a ton. So if I were to build a PC to be used as a light media center, this one would be good, just because it would stand up to abuse from stray feet and dogs and toys and other such hazards.

 

[pc_boy]

I built my PC (below) for under $500*, you should build one. If you wanna upgrade your old one, all you will end up with would be the case, you can get a nice case with side pannel window for $25 on newegg.

* $500 does not include monitor, mouse, or any accessories. Just the case and the stuff inside.

 

[pc_boy]

... the point is, you can't mix good parts with old parts, so adding new stuff to old stuff wouldn't make it much faster, since all the parts in a computer work togheder

 

[Oceanb0rn]

Yeah, you got a good point there. And I love Newegg... Every now and then I browse their pages and think about building a cheap but good system. I think I could do a P4-2.8GHz system for about $525.

Hmm... Case, around $30, mobo around $50, AMD Sempron around $60, RAM around $40 (PC3200 256MB), 64MB nVidia card with composite TV out (yellow plug) for about $50, 40GB 7200RPM hard drive, around $40, CDRW/DVD combo for about $30.... Assuming the case comes with a PSU, 400W or so, figure $250 for a basic box.

Basically this thing's gonna be a pretty DVD player to play Divx/Xvid AVIs burned to CD, as well as some other misc. tasks. It might get online at some point, or play simple games, but nothing fancy at all. It's gonna be hooked up to a TV.