Generic PC (Intel Pentium 4 2.60GHz)

ID: PCD06

HISTORY

This is an older computer tower that was given to me by a neighbour for spare parts. The inclusion of a floppy disk drive speaks it's age but as it was complete, I decided to see if it could be made into a usable system instead.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: None (Generic Desktop PC)
Year of Manufacturer: 2003
Motherboard: ASROCK P4VM900-SATA2 (REV G/A 1.01)
Chipset: VIA P4M900
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.60GHz 32-Bit (Socket 478)
RAM: 2GB DDR (2x 1GB 184-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 250GB 3.5" SATA
Optical Drive(s): DVD-ROM 5.25" PATA, CD-RW 5.25" PATA
Graphics: Integrated (VIA)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (100Mbps Ethernet)
USB: 1 Front, 6 Rear
Power Supply: TRUST 420W ATX
Other Features: 1.44MB Floppy Drive
COA: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Added)


INITIAL INSPECTION

It is difficult to accurately age this system, as it has clearly been rebuilt at least once. The optical drives date from 2002, but the current motherboard was not on the market until 2007, and the hard drive is much newer as well. ASRock often keep boards that use legacy sockets in production far longer than any other manufacturer, so are popular for repairs (pcupgrade.co.uk still stocks the classic K7S41GX socket A board originally released in 2003). I suspect the original motherboard failed and was replaced, so at least it's a little more modern than it might have been. A number of minor problems were found during the testing phase, but nothing that couldn't be sorted out without major component replacement.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• The fans in the power supply were lubricated as they were both very noisy at startup.
• Several missing slot covers were replaced.
• A problem with the hard drive activity LED was resolved by re-arranging the master / slave configuration of the optical drives.
• Resistors were installed to reduce loudness of processor and case fans.
• The case speaker wire had broken off and was re-soldered.
• The rubber drive belt in the DVD drive was cleaned and boiled to stop the drawer sticking.
• The rubber drive belt in the CD-RW drive was replaced to stop the drawer sticking.
• The USB ports at the front didn't work, and killed a mouse that I plugged into one of them. I replaced this front panel USB hub with a card reader with a built-in USB port.

PREPARATION

The repairs were completed, and diagnostics run. No problems were found with the hard drive or RAM, so it was now time to go onto configuring the software. 

SETUP

A customer kindly gave me a genuine copy of Office 2003 Professional plus a COA for Windows XP Professional (the disk turned out to be a fake) so as they matched the age of the system I used these to prepare and setup the computer. There were no problems with the setup, and subsequent burn-in and cold start tests ran through easily.

CONCLUSION

This is yet another system that cannot feasibly run anything greater than Windows XP, but for Google (running through Opera), E-Mail, music etc it runs fine. The bundled Microsoft Office 2003 should be of value as well, as this is still a very usable office suite.