Any suggestions?

[RoConno]

I have an Intel Pentium P 4 531 cpu and after 5 or 6 years, the mobo crapped out. It was an ECS RS-400a and I can't find another. Does anyone have any suggestions of a replacement board that has on-board video, USB 2.0 SATA 1 or 2 at least 1 PATA and 2 ddr2 DIMM slots, OR is this just not worth trying to work with and I should try to up-grade to something newer and more recent?

 

[lupi]

hard to say spend money on something that old unless it really does what you need, but you do have some options.

http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GF9300--...126766&sr=8-50

http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-.../ref=de_a_smtd

if you drop the need for the board to have video and pickup a cheap card it does open up several more choices.

 

[tcsenter]

Careful...many newer (as in anything produced in the last couple years) LGA775 boards do not support older Pentium 4 (Netburst) processors like P4 531, especially a lot of Micro ATX boards. Be sure to check the detailed CPU support chart from the manufacturer/product website.

I would expand my search to any suitable mobo replacement with PCI Express slot at the cheapest price, with or without onboard graphics. If the mobo has no onboard graphics, then just buy a really cheap PCI Express graphics card (pretty much any budget/economy PCI Express card is going to be far superior to any onboard graphics that were offered on LGA775 boards).

OK, I just noticed Lupi covered that. 2nded.

 

[Vette73]

I would go to microcenter and get a $99 amd board/cpu deal.
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/...ndlePROMO.html

ATX with onboard video that uses DDR2
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0332148

mATX with onboard video and DDR2 memory
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0334113


Newwer and faster but still uses your old ram and drives.

 

[DesiPower]

I had the exact same problem, I have Pentium D 945. I bought a mobo off of ebay, wanted to reuse my RAM which was DDR2 667. Only place I could find a 945-975 mobo with DDR2 667 ram was ebay. I got it for ~$30. Everything checked out well but the system is unstable, intermittent BSODs.. I am planning to upgrade to sandy bridge soon... Planning to but just mobo CPU and RAM, everything else in my 6 year old comp is still running!!!

 

[lupi]

That's why I'd suggest looking at the cheapest SB chip with video and a cheap H67 board now. With the current sales, some cheap ddr3 mem is a non factor. For what would be just a little more than being able to keep that cpu going, could have a much happier setup.

 

[RoConno]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I had a feeling that I really needed to Upgrade my system rather than just worry about using the old CPU and memory. Some of the suggested upgrades are well within what I had planned on spending to get my system back on the air.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[tcsenter]

Here's an option:

Albatron PX945P LGA775 ATX - $35.00 plus shipping (and CA tax)

Does not have onboard graphics but does have PCI Express slot for any cheap PCI-E graphics card.

Product support page from manufacturer: PX945P V3.0


Here's a better deal (free shipping and no sales tax for CA residents) - $40.00 shipped