Upgrading a Compaq PII-450

An out-of-town family member has a Compaq Presario purchased in
December 1998. It's a tower and includes a Pentium II 450 processor.
It has the standard 128 meg of RAM the system came with. Everything is
standard as it was installed by Compaq at the factory. I don't have
the exact system model number, but maybe someone here can nail it down
with that info.

First off, they are not wanting to buy a new system. But they asked me
to help them with a couple upgrades.

1. I'm going to increase the RAM from 128 meg to 384 meg (the max the
system can hold). Since you all are Compaq experts, what type of RAM
do you recommend for this system? I don't have it in front of me, but
I'm hoping the system includes 1-128 stick and not 2-64 meg sticks of
RAM. Does anyone have this system that can confirm what came with
yours?

2. I'm also going to add an internal CD burner. Will any CD burner do
the job or is there something special I should look for? Will I need
any special cables, racks, etc. to install it?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

Take care,
Tracy

 

We'd need to know the model number to know about upgrade possibilities.
Several 5600 series models came with PII 450s. Possibly one of them?
HH

 

If it is a 5600x, then it likely has one 128MB stick of PC100 and has three
total slots. With the latest BIOS, it will accept three 256MB
single-density DIMMS (SINGLE-DENSITY!).

The burner will work fine. Jumper it Cable Select.

Tom

 

If it is a 5600x, then it likely has one 128MB stick of PC100 and has three

The computer is a 5660. Where is the best place to download drivers
and the latest bios for this machine? I plan on upgrading the machine
to Windows XP.

If I was to buy the memory from Newegg.com, what 128 mb modules do you
recommend. Please provide direct links if possible. I just want to get
what will work properly with this system at the cheapest price.

Thanks,
Tracy

 

Tracy,

www.hpq.com

Personally, I'd buy it from www.crucial.com Their configurator will ensure
you get the right memory.

XP will run, but not very well. I run it on mine, but only for the kids and
even they hate it.

Tom

 

Tom, you sound knowledgeable about the PResario 5600. I have the 5600
and would like to upgrade more than just the memory. Am I able t
upgrade the processor or clock speed as well.

Thanks in advance.

Taylo

 

The Presario 5600i motherboard accepts Slot 1 processors operating at 2.0v with
a 100MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). The fastest 2.0v Slot 1 processor is a Pentium
III operating at 600MHz. Intel made several models of Slot 1 P3 processors
operating at 600MHz. You do not want one with 133MHz FSB or 1.6v.

The other choice would be a pricey PowerLeap kit which would allow installation
of a 1.4GHz Celeron processor. There are less expensive adapters similar to the
PowerLeap, but I can't comment on how well they work with low voltage
processors. With any of these fast processors, there is the possibility that
the motherboard BIOS will not allow the system to boot... Ben Myers

 

I can't imagine spending the money to go to a 600. It wouldn't be enough
difference.

The 5600i will support, with the latest BIOS, 3 256MB Single Density DIMMs
for a total of 768MB.

That does make a difference. I run XP on my two (450 and 500) and it runs
OK. Not speedy, but OK.

Tom

 

Agreed. A colleague of mine way back when in the trade press said that if the
speed increase is not double, you won't notice the difference. I guess I would
put in a 600 if I could get it for ten dollars or so.

For most users, a memory upgrade would give more bang for the buck than a bump
from 450 to 600... Ben Myers

 

På Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:58:05 +0000, skrev VinFriend

At Compaq Customer Communities(gone by now) there was a detailed
instruction (and discussion) on how to upgrade a PII/450MHz CPU(mobo
440BX) with an ordinary Pentium III CPU 1Ghz Slot1 SECC2 for FSB 100MHz.
It was a bit technical, but not too hard even for someone not too
tech-savvy. Had to do with some adjustments to the Processor Goal Post.
(I remember this well because I was in the process of upgrading my
Presario 5686(440BX; Slot1 CPU450MHz; PentiumIII; FSB100MHz) to Slot1
CPU1000MHz. Has worked great for some years now in spite of the claims
from Compaq that 600MHz was the maximum.)

May be the instructions have survived somewhere else? You could try
googling.
Good luck.