My Son's Pavilion 4363: A slow & painful death

I'm wondering what to do with my 4 year old son's PC. It's 6+ years
old with an AMD K6-2, and used for educational games and online
entertainment. It's very buggy (due to frequent visits to
cartoonnetwork.com) and slower than Christmas. Over the last year I've
replaced/upgraded the CD-R, power supply and floppy drive. The CPU fan
is now dying. Because it's used by my destructive little angel, I
don't want to sink much more money into it. However, I need to keep it
running for another 2 or 3 years until we get a new machine and our old
one gets passed down.

So....

Do I replace the motherboard? What would be the cost, hardware
recommendation, difficulty level?

OR

Just replace the CPU cooler / heatsink? What is your replacement
recommendation? (I think I need a socket 7, but I'm not sure if they
vary)

OR

Any other solution?

Thanks in advance...

Socket 7 CPU cooling fans are cheap and easy replacements. I've used AVC brand
and some marked "CPU Cooler" in a green and black box. Maybe $10 in a local
computer store???

Get a can of compressed air and blast out all the dirt from inside. An artist's
brush with soft bristles can also dislodge dirt from nooks and crannies.

Download and run a free program from ToniArts in Finland called EasyClean. Have
it clean up the registry and identify all un-necessary files. It does a better
job than most commercial products.

After cleaning out the system, both hardware and software dust and dirt, you'll
be amazed at how well the computer runs.

How much memory is in the computer? These were usually sold with 64MB, barely
enough to pass gas comfortably. Kick the memory up a notch... Ben Myers

On 1 Jan 2005 09:43:23 -0800, "kimberwing" <> wrote:

>I'm wondering what to do with my 4 year old son's PC. It's 6+ years
>old with an AMD K6-2, and used for educational games and online
>entertainment. It's very buggy (due to frequent visits to
>cartoonnetwork.com) and slower than Christmas. Over the last year I've
>replaced/upgraded the CD-R, power supply and floppy drive. The CPU fan
>is now dying. Because it's used by my destructive little angel, I
>don't want to sink much more money into it. However, I need to keep it
>running for another 2 or 3 years until we get a new machine and our old
>one gets passed down.
>
>So....
>
>Do I replace the motherboard? What would be the cost, hardware
>recommendation, difficulty level?
>
>OR
>
>Just replace the CPU cooler / heatsink? What is your replacement
>recommendation? (I think I need a socket 7, but I'm not sure if they
>vary)
>
>OR
>
>Any other solution?
>
>Thanks in advance...
>

Are all socket 7 CPU coolers the same size, etc?

I've upgraded the memory over the years (as recently as last year) so
that aspect of the PC is decent.
I truly appreciate the advice and hints!

Yes, Socket 7 heat sink/cooling fans all have the same dimensions and very
similar clips to attach to the socket. Some have 3-pin connectors to the
motherboard, while others use a 5v12v power connector. Check the type of power
connector on the fan in your system. It is probably the 3-pin variety.

Some Socket 7 heat sink/cooling fans require more head room than others. The
better quality ones have larger heat sinks and fans. You do NOT want a dinky
old fan used back in the Socket 5 days. Socket 5, Socket 7, and the newer
Socket 370 all occupy the same footprint... Ben Myers

On 1 Jan 2005 10:34:26 -0800, "kimberwing" <> wrote:

>Are all socket 7 CPU coolers the same size, etc?
>
>I've upgraded the memory over the years (as recently as last year) so
>that aspect of the PC is decent.
>I truly appreciate the advice and hints!
>

P.S. I could not find information for a Pavilion 4363 on the HP web site. Is
the model number correct? Maybe it was a Wal*Mart, BestBuy or other special?
... Ben Myers

On 1 Jan 2005 09:43:23 -0800, "kimberwing" <> wrote:

>I'm wondering what to do with my 4 year old son's PC. It's 6+ years
>old with an AMD K6-2, and used for educational games and online
>entertainment. It's very buggy (due to frequent visits to
>cartoonnetwork.com) and slower than Christmas. Over the last year I've
>replaced/upgraded the CD-R, power supply and floppy drive. The CPU fan
>is now dying. Because it's used by my destructive little angel, I
>don't want to sink much more money into it. However, I need to keep it
>running for another 2 or 3 years until we get a new machine and our old
>one gets passed down.
>
>So....
>
>Do I replace the motherboard? What would be the cost, hardware
>recommendation, difficulty level?
>
>OR
>
>Just replace the CPU cooler / heatsink? What is your replacement
>recommendation? (I think I need a socket 7, but I'm not sure if they
>vary)
>
>OR
>
>Any other solution?
>
>Thanks in advance...
>

On 1 Jan 2005 09:43:23 -0800, "kimberwing" <> wrote:

>I'm wondering what to do with my 4 year old son's PC. It's 6+ years
>old with an AMD K6-2, and used for educational games and online
>entertainment. It's very buggy (due to frequent visits to
>cartoonnetwork.com) and slower than Christmas. Over the last year I've
>replaced/upgraded the CD-R, power supply and floppy drive. The CPU fan
>is now dying. Because it's used by my destructive little angel, I
>don't want to sink much more money into it. However, I need to keep it
>running for another 2 or 3 years until we get a new machine and our old
>one gets passed down.
>
>So....
>
>Do I replace the motherboard? What would be the cost, hardware
>recommendation, difficulty level?
>
>OR
>
>Just replace the CPU cooler / heatsink? What is your replacement
>recommendation? (I think I need a socket 7, but I'm not sure if they
>vary)
>
>OR
>
>Any other solution?
>
>Thanks in advance...
Fan replacement is easy.

Look at it, and I think you will see 4 screws holding it to the heatsink,
and a 4 wire connector. If so, I can get one to you pretty cheaply.
Measure the fan dimensions to be sure. Replaced lots.

Easier and better to replace the entire heat sink/fan assembly, especially for
an aging computer. Finding a fan to fit the current heat sink may be a
challenge, and cost as much as an entire heat sink/fan. The whole assembly
attaches to the socket with a clip, which can be removed carefully.

..... Ben Myers

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:16:21 -0500, Salvatore <>
wrote:

>On 1 Jan 2005 09:43:23 -0800, "kimberwing" <> wrote:
>
>>I'm wondering what to do with my 4 year old son's PC. It's 6+ years
>>old with an AMD K6-2, and used for educational games and online
>>entertainment. It's very buggy (due to frequent visits to
>>cartoonnetwork.com) and slower than Christmas. Over the last year I've
>>replaced/upgraded the CD-R, power supply and floppy drive. The CPU fan
>>is now dying. Because it's used by my destructive little angel, I
>>don't want to sink much more money into it. However, I need to keep it
>>running for another 2 or 3 years until we get a new machine and our old
>>one gets passed down.
>>
>>So....
>>
>>Do I replace the motherboard? What would be the cost, hardware
>>recommendation, difficulty level?
>>
>>OR
>>
>>Just replace the CPU cooler / heatsink? What is your replacement
>>recommendation? (I think I need a socket 7, but I'm not sure if they
>>vary)
>>
>>OR
>>
>>Any other solution?
>>
>>Thanks in advance...
>Fan replacement is easy.
>
>Look at it, and I think you will see 4 screws holding it to the heatsink,
>and a 4 wire connector. If so, I can get one to you pretty cheaply.
>Measure the fan dimensions to be sure. Replaced lots.

Thanks for all the help - I have a fan/heatsink on order.

I was walking down the street, minding my own business, when on 1 Jan
2005 10:34:26 -0800, "kimberwing" <> screamed from
behind the mulberry bush:

>Are all socket 7 CPU coolers the same size, etc?

They come in various sizes and shapes but as long as you can find one
that works, that's waht counts. Get some heat sink compound to put
between the CPU and heat sink, it improves heat dissipation.

>I've upgraded the memory over the years (as recently as last year) so
>that aspect of the PC is decent.
>I truly appreciate the advice and hints!

Here's the cheapest way to resolve the OS sluggishness: Wipe the hard
drive and reinstall the OS.