2 P4 based rigs (which to choose?)

[topslop1]

Okay, so I've stumbled across a few older computer rigs that my friend gave to me for about $30.

One is a home built based off of an ECS 4M800 Pro motherboard with a Cooler master 350 watt PSU, Geforce 2 MX400, Soundblaster Live Audigy 2 soundcard, and a 160 gig sata drive. It has a gigantic copper based heatsink with heatpipes coming off of it that I'm quite sure is made by Thermal right.

The other is a dell built Pentium 4 based build with a Geforce 6200, Sound blaster live 24 bit, DVD-Rom, CDRW, and a sata based drive that I haven't taken a look at yet.

I don't know what's kind of motherboard is in the Dell and I don't know what kind of P4 chips are under the hoods since I haven't looked at the dell one yet and I haven't a damn clue as to how to take off the giant thermalright on the other one.

However, I'm thinking that the ECS build is a newer computer with generally better components (after swapping the videocard out of the Dell)

Could the Dell built have a better motherboard and processor underneath ?



Right now I can't get the ECS to boot and I've tried changing ram, pulling all the ram out, connecting the Power switch flipping it around, clearing the bios, and exchanging videocards.

I have not tried to boot the dell yet. I am very turned off by the dell as to how much dust and crap and how incredibly dell based the 95 pound case is with all the add ons and doo dads.

So here come the questions:

Should I bother taking the heatsinks off of the computers to see what chip is underneath (granted it's probably smeared with thermal paste)?

How in the hell can I see if the ECS motherboard is even functioning (there's no lights to indicate that its even getting power.. damn ECS boards)?

If I should bother taking the heatsinks off - how the hell can I get the giant thermalright off considering i cant even get a screwdriver into position where the screws are that are holding it in?

What do you think the best combination of components would be overall?

What's the very least that I can strip the ECS motherboard down to see if it even functions? How will I know if It's functioning (just the fan spinning for the cpu?)

And finally is there anything else I should know when trying to work on these dinosaurs?

Thank you for all your help

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: topslop1
Okay, so I've stumbled across a few older computer rigs that my friend gave to me for about $30.

And finally is there anything else I should know when trying to work on these dinosaurs?

Tell your friend the ECS unit doesn't work and you want your $30 back.
Get your $$ and give him back the rigs. :laugh:

 

[topslop1]

Funny but at the same time I'm sure I could part these systems out and make more than $30 on them even at the worst and for $30 it ain't bad to have a rig that'll play me some Cs 1.6 and the old classics.

 

[topslop1]

Update: The Dell fires right up and works.

New plan of action is to transplant the motherboard from the 95 lbs dell case into the light case and use it with the best of the components in there. In taking the motherboard out it is strapped to a metal board that then locked in nice and easy on the dell case. Dell decided to use non grooved screws to attach the motherboard to the metal board. I took pliers to them and turned them just like a screwdriver would. No problems here. After that I noticed that there are 4 plastic nubs that are at the corners of the heatsink. These nubs come through the motherboard and into the metal board again. The motherboard is now locked into the metal board through these 4 plastic nubs. I've tried pulling the nubs apart by plier work and then cutting them out surgically but with no progress. What could I possibly use to get these nubs out of the way?

Also: I've heard rumors that the ATX power supply could be wired differently / backwards? Is this true with the Dimension generation (3?) desktops?

The Dell features a Northwood 2.8ghz P4