Need source for Pentium IV socket 478 motherboard or repair

macx

Posts: 720   +3
I assembled a desktop maybe 8+ years ago, the board finally went South.

It's an ASUS P4C800E motherboard , uses a Pentium IV socket 478 CPU, dual channel DDR400 PC3200 RAM -
has 4 slots, I've got 4 modules for total 3 gb RM.

I'm not a gamer, just fool around with home video & pictures, some online sports, watch an old tv show, surf the net, simple things like that. It's always been plenty fast for everything I do.

When it happened, all the lights flashed rapidly and it beeped rapidly when I tried to start it. Now the switch has no effect - the board powers up as soon as power is supplied to the machine. Can't force quit the machine either.

Nothing on the monitor at all.

A tech shop checked it and said the board is bad. Sounded like they checked it by swapping cpu's, RAM, etc. I had tried a new battery first, had hoped they would test the chipset, etc. but doesn't sound like they did much if any of those kinds of diagnostics.

I do have an ASUS setup disc I got with the board when I bought it that ASUS says I can use to reinstall the BIOS, haven't tried that yet. While I was poking around inside making sure there were no loose cables or other obvious simple problems, I cleaned it. The CPU heat sink came off the CPU so I have to get some of the heat sink grease and reattach it before I try to start it again.

Assuming I do need a new board, I've found that boards that will accept that old Pent IV and my ram are scarce. So far just some real cheapies on Amazon and eBay. Would like to find I.e. a refurbished direct replacement, or at least something basically comparable. Or even a reputable shop that may be able to repair the board if I send it to them.

Would much appreciate any leads or advice. The machine serves my needs and I'd like to avoid the cost of a new CPU and RAM. Thanks!​
 
Well, I don't have any tips on finding a decent socket 478 mobo, but if you're interested, I'm pretty sure I have an upper-end LGA 775 Asus motherboard with a Pentium D 820 and RAM in the closet. I'll have to do a little digging this weekend to be sure, but if still have them I'm willing to let them go for the cost of shipping. You might have to buy a heatsink and fan, but that'd be cheap enough. Let me know if you're interested and we can work things out.
 
Absolutely!

I see I failed to specify, but I need an ATX rather than a micro ATX. I did a quick search on the basic LGA 775 specs and the one I happened to see was a micro ATX, altho I imagine other forms were available?

If yours is an ATX, I'll very gratefully take you up on that.

You wouldn't happen to have a setup manual? I'm far from being very knowledgeable,
more of the typical "know enuf to get myself in trouble" level.

I would imagine I might be able to find and download a manual if you don't have one.

My zip is 89046, Searchlight NV. I'm here temporarily for a 2+ year solar-steam generating plant project, then RETIREMENT!!

Thanks so much!

Address removed for your safety. Note from mailpup: Give address in private "conversation" with Matthew.

I'd prefer FedEx ground, they deliver to me.

Let me know how much, throw in some extra for your packaging and time/trouble.
And how to send the money. If you do PayPal, add extra for their cut of course.
Or I can mail a Postal MO or whatever.
Not a huge rush, I can access my "civilian" email at work if I don't overdo it.
Thanks again!
 
:) You're in luck. I still have the parts. I just hauled the box out and I have the board on my desk. It's an Asus P5WD2 Premium (full-size ATX, you can check out the specs and grab the manual here). Give me a couple hours and I'll benchtest it to make sure it still runs. I'll follow up with a private message and we can exchange details.

*Edit*

Your luck just got even better. I found an old Thermalright Ultra 120 heatsink. I'll throw that in too if it'll fit in your case (check the dimensions on Newegg's product page).
 
This just keeps getting better!

I tried sending you a PM but must have forgotten how, or the work network won't allow it or something.

I looked at the specs on the ASUS website and it looks like everything will work with it. I've got one regular
EIDE drive (C drive) and 2 larger SATA drives, plus the usual video card (can't remember the exact brand/model) so with the manual I should be able to be up and running.

I'll need some of that heat sink thermal stuff, I have some if I can find it - I needed for some ignition control components on some recent repairs I did to my pickup, or there's a Fry's in town.

I saw on the ASUS specs that a cpu fan isn't needed, altho I have one in the case cover (tower) that
blows into the RAM / CPU area, at least on my old board. I also had a fan that clipped to the heat sink
but I don't spose that'll work or be needed with this board? I'll see what it looks like.

Send relevant info in PM and I'll watch for it later this pm before I leave work, else I won't have internet or
email access until Monday AM early Pacific time.

I'll go into my profile and see if I can put in my cell phone number - a text would then work, too, and I could get it at any time. EDIT: Nope, guess not, only email. Which I can only currently get at work.

Sure appreciate this!
 
I'll be sending a decent Scythe fan with the heatsink. It's a high-RPM fan so it might run a little noisy, but I believe you can set speed profiles with the Asus board to crank things down. I sent you a PM earlier as promised (things checked out fine on the bench test). You should be able to read my message and reply here: https://www.techspot.com/community/conversations/
 
Thanks for that bit of info. I wasn't aware of that. I suppose that I'd need to find one to plug in the monitor and to play home video clips and movies? Any recommendations for a decent one? I don't need high end capability for I.e. gaming, etc. I'll have to look, too, to see if it has an HDMI port so I can connect my flat screen tv - or would that be part of the graphics card?

Thanks!

Mark
 
Just did a bit of quick research, refreshed my memory on a few things.

I saw that some I looked at have both HDMI and DVI which I would need, as well as support
for 2 monitors (I imagine most have that.)

Other than that, what should I look for in the way of decent specs? Again, I don't need for gaming, just for watching tv shows / sports, home video, etc.

Thanks!
 
Thanks - I didn't know if I needed to look for any minimum speed, etc.

Have you had a chance to figure out what I owe you yet?
I do believe I gave you my ship address in Searchlight, NV?

Thanks much!
 
The address was removed by mailpup for your privacy so I'm waiting on your reply to my private message (you can do that here). I have the box ready and waiting with your name on it so to speak, just gotta hammer out the details.
 
Mathew

Got the board yesterday, thanks - now I for sure know where you shop! :)
Great job packing!

Of course I had to dig into it and take a look, of course a couple questions -

I figured out basically how that big heat sink mounts, but have found that the
screws with the springs don't screw into the threaded inserts in the board
in the 4 inserts around the CPU, they seem to be too large. Am I missing
something, or - ?

Another one - it would seem that, with heat normally rising, the heat sink fan
would mount on top, and the fan appears to be a puller (?)

Problem is, then the top of the fan would only be about an inch below the
bottom of the power supply, and blow pretty much directly into the power
supply air intake. I probly wouldn't want to blow heat into that, so do you
think I could mount the fan under the heat sink and facing downwards?
That's assuming it's a puller versus a pusher fan. If it is a pusher, it would
work good to mount the fan under the heat sink of course where it would
blow upwards.

BTW this is a tower type case with the m board oriented vertically.

I've got a good sized thermo controlled fan in the top of the case and
another one in the back of the case, and a smaller one blowing in
from the side about in the area across from the RAM.

Thanks for any tips!

Regards
Mark
 
Here's an installation guide for the heatsink. I'm pretty sure I left the backplate attached for you, if that isn't the case, then I apologize. I want to say the fan blows outward and I oriented the heatsink so it blew directly into a rear exhaust fan. You can pop the fan off the brackets you see in the link above and reattach it however you want.
 
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