Bumped 2 year old thread.

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Nick5324
I got in on this deal last week, but just today figured out AT forums weren't down, just needed to delete cookies (sigh).

3 things to note for anyone with this box:

1) After you uninstall Norton (I assume most AT'ers will do this), follow up with the Norton Removal Tool.

I did not do this, and upon installing ZoneAlarm, got a BSOD. Uninstalled ZA in safe mode, ran the removal tool, ran crap cleaner to catch any leftover files, installed ZA, works fine.

2) Get the latest BIOS for it before you upgrade to a C2D E4xxx. I haven't upgraded the CPU, but I've seen a few forum posts when researching this machine, they report BSOD when not using the latest BIOS and a C2D E4xxx.

3) In a typical cost cutting and customer aggravating move, you not only don't get your Windows disk, you get no 'system restore disks'. The first thing I did when I got this computer running was to create recovery discs. It requires two blank DVD's, or one dual layer disc, or 16 (heh) CDs. You can also order a set of recovery disks (you'll need your system's serial number) for $16.

This machine didn't run as bad as I thought it would with Vista and 512MB of RAM. Well it did, but once you uninstall Norton, it improves greatly. I actually timed it, it cut the start up time basically in half by dumping Norton. However, adding ZA and AVG slowed it back up. I added 1GB of RAM and uninstalled all of the bloat HP added, much more reasonable performance. Also, by adding more RAM, it shares more for the integrated graphics, allowing you to run the UI in 'Vista Standard'; with just 512MB, it only ran in 'Vista Basic'. Also worth noting, Vista Home Basic doesn't include the tablet PC stuff, so no snipping tool, which I find very useful.

Just curious, what memory did you buy for it? There was link on the first page of this thread for a 512 stick but previous experience with Compaq machines makes me want to be very sure before I buy it.

 

[foolish501]

oh bummer, what mistake i made. decided to flash bios with the ecs bios, which went thru ok, but was messing with vista, and screwed it up bigtime, would just blue screen on starting windows. because it's no longer using a compaq bios, it won't let me use the restore disk to put everything back like before. downloaded the compaq bios from their website, but looks like it's going to upgrade but then says that no compatible devices were found.

 

[Nick5324]

Originally posted by: Linflas
Just curious, what memory did you buy for it? There was link on the first page of this thread for a 512 stick but previous experience with Compaq machines makes me want to be very sure before I buy it.

I put in 1GB of Kingston. However, when I bought this last week, it was $42 shipped and came with a free 1GB flash drive. Today, I'm surprised to see a price jump to $51 shipped.

The MB in this computer only supports up to DDR2 667, and the existing RAM only runs at DDR2 533, which means the module I just put in only runs at DDR2 533. At the time when I bought it, the price difference between the DDR2 667 and DDR2 800 was $1, so I figured what the hell, why not.

If I was buying today, I'd get this from the Egg: Link. If you get Newegg's email, there is a $5 off code for subscribers, making this RAM $36 shipped, a great price for a quality brand and reputable merchant.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: foolish501
oh bummer, what mistake i made. decided to flash bios with the ecs bios, which went thru ok, but was messing with vista, and screwed it up bigtime, would just blue screen on starting windows. because it's no longer using a compaq bios, it won't let me use the restore disk to put everything back like before. downloaded the compaq bios from their website, but looks like it's going to upgrade but then says that no compatible devices were found.

Would it help if I emailed you a copy of my original Compaq BIOS?

 

[skillyho]

What are you guys using to monitor your CPU temps? The only reading I get is from BIOS....Speedfan/MBM do not recognize the sensors.

 

[R-Type]

Originally posted by: foolish501
oh bummer, what mistake i made. decided to flash bios with the ecs bios, which went thru ok, but was messing with vista, and screwed it up bigtime, would just blue screen on starting windows. because it's no longer using a compaq bios, it won't let me use the restore disk to put everything back like before. downloaded the compaq bios from their website, but looks like it's going to upgrade but then says that no compatible devices were found.

How exactly did you mess up vista? You could always *borrow* someones vista install media and simply use your install key from the side of the case, no need to give up on your superior ecs bios

 

[foolish501]

How exactly did you mess up vista? You could always *borrow* someones vista install media and simply use your install key from the side of the case, no need to give up on your superior ecs bios

the cd key is an oem code. i have retail copies of vista ultimate & vista home premium, but i cannot install vista home basic from the vista ultimate cd, as the cd key is not valid.

 

[imported_wocman]

Originally posted by: BSkip22
What are you guys using to monitor your CPU temps? The only reading I get is from BIOS....Speedfan/MBM do not recognize the sensors.

Yeah i couldnt get Speedfan to work and I knew MBM wouldn't work, i used PC Wizard and minimized it so it would display the readings on my desktop. but again i dont know how accurate those readings are

 

[Karaktu]

1) After you uninstall Norton (I assume most AT'ers will do this), follow up with the Norton Removal Tool.

I did not do this, and upon installing ZoneAlarm, got a BSOD. Uninstalled ZA in safe mode, ran the removal tool, ran crap cleaner to catch any leftover files, installed ZA, works fine.

Dang, I already forgot I removed Norton and when installed NAV, LiveUpdate wouldn't work. Now I know why!

 

[Karaktu]

BTW, BestBuy has an eMachines with a nearly-identical setup for $199.99 right now, and you should be able to use a 10 or 12% off coupon in-store to knock the price down to $180ish.

The chipset appears to be the same, but I'm not sure if it is also the ECS motherboard. If anyone knows, please post.

 

[R-Type]

Originally posted by: Karaktu
BTW, BestBuy has an eMachines with a nearly-identical setup for $199.99 right now, and you should be able to use a 10 or 12% off coupon in-store to knock the price down to $180ish.

The chipset appears to be the same, but I'm not sure if it is also the ECS motherboard. If anyone knows, please post.

Nice, forwarded that to some of my friends that were jealous of this deal. Is it compaq or gateway that owns emachines? Its been like 8 years since i bought a prebuilt other than this peppy little compaq

 

[Nick5324]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Karaktu
BTW, BestBuy has an eMachines with a nearly-identical setup for $199.99 right now, and you should be able to use a 10 or 12% off coupon in-store to knock the price down to $180ish.

The chipset appears to be the same, but I'm not sure if it is also the ECS motherboard. If anyone knows, please post. </end quote></div>

Nice find for those interested but missed the Compaq. Looks to be basically the same, although the DVD burner doesn't do Lightscribe and the HDD is 120GB (the Compaq is a 160GB, listed as 120GB due to the recovery partition). The software difference is the Compaq comes with a Norton trial and Roxio Creator 9, the eMachine comes with a McAfee trial and CyberLink Power2Go.

It looks like the eMachine (owned by Gateway) uses this motherboard.

 

[shinson]

I got one from Staples for $132 A/R and A/PM and put in a E4400 ($139.00) and 2GB RAM ( $35.00 - See HP RAM thread), very nice!
Also, mine came with a Seagate 160GB 7200.9

Just a few questions as I am still a little confused:

Which ECS BIOS are people using to unlock the CPU and Memory adjustments?
Also, can I create a "Vista Recovery disk" from the recovery partition?
If so, can I use this recovery disk to reinstall Vista after an ECS BIOS flash?
If not, where can I get a Vista disk?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!

 

[foolish501]

shinson, don't flash the bios if you want to use the recovery disk, it won't work after, and i've found even after flashing it back (using ecs's flash tool and compaq's bios) it won't recognise it as a compaq anymore

 

[aggressor]

I believe you are overwriting the OEM key stored in the BIOS when you flash to the ECS bios. It's some new thing with Vista that allows activation without connecting to the internet. Obviously, the Compaq BIOS you download doesn't have it, so it's lost forever. I'm guessing the recovery partition also utilizes the key.

 

[foolish501]

i noticed after i flashed with the bios with the ecs bios, and then flashed back, it doesn't display the compaq logo before bringing up the bios screen, so people beware if you want to use your restore disks at some stage don't flash the bios with the ecs bios

 

[Takemaru]

EH, hopefully intel's price cuts will make $200 systems more common, if dell didn't price fix all their units with crap monitors and video cards a few of them would be less then $250 right now.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: aggressor
I believe you are overwriting the OEM key stored in the BIOS when you flash to the ECS bios. It's some new thing with Vista that allows activation without connecting to the internet. Obviously, the Compaq BIOS you download doesn't have it, so it's lost forever. I'm guessing the recovery partition also utilizes the key.

That's not the problem. If he is not seeing the Compaq BIOS screen, then the flash did not take correctly. He should try flashing it again, making sure to load the Compaq BIOS before flashing it to the system.

 

[foolish501]

strange, when i flashed it from the ecs bios to the latest compaq bios, i don't get the compaq logo before the bios screen, i get a hp logo instead !

thankfully timswim78 was generous enough to email me the original compaq bios, and now the system restore disks work.

one thing i did find, if you have a pci-express video card installed, the system restore disks won't work

 

[R-Type]

so what smartfan numbers did you guys end up using after the flash? Above someone said "set to auto". For me I have disabled and then a couple of range values for start temp and pwm value. All I know right now is this thing is being fucking loud....

 

[hodgenutts]

I used to work for the geek squad at best buy. Desktop PC's have a 30 day return policy as long as you have all original materials including packaging. Make sure you have your reciept to make things quic and easy. Also make sure they don't try and charge you a re-stocking fee, only laptops get those not desktops.

 

[rich123]

xxtypersxx said

so what smartfan numbers did you guys end up using after the flash? Above someone said "set to auto". For me I have disabled and then a couple of range values for start temp and pwm value. All I know right now is this thing is being fucking loud....

Just installed an E4500 that I acquired from Newegg.com. Had to use the Compaq HSF as the Intel-provided one uses different fasteners. This CPU does not work with current (May 2007) Compaq BIOS - It gives an error indicating invalid CPU.

Flashed with the latest ECS 945GCT-M (V1.0) BIOS dated 7/24/2007 - It has been upgraded to recognize the E4500.

Note: You must have the Celeron or other Compaq-recognized CPU installed in order to perform the flash. You cannot get past the E4500 Compaq/AMI error message screen to flash the BIOS.

I also swapped out the power supply with a Cooler Master eXtreme Power 500w which I picked up a few weeks ago at CompUSA for $19.99 AR. Other changes I made were: two 1GB sticks of HP RAM that I got for $32 AR, a ChainTech 6600GT that someone gave me, and a 3 1/2" floppy drive that I salvaged from an old Pentium II PC.

This E4500 run is with the BIOS set to 242 yielding 2.662 Ghz. This INTEL tool seems to be a better approach than observing speedfan data as it allows you to nail both CPUs at 100% and capture the results in a log. The system would boot at up to 254 / 2.8 Ghz, but at that speed the temperature would not stabilize with the Compaq/Antec cooler.

Intel® Thermal Analysis Tool: v 2.05.2006.0420
Processor: Pentium® M Processor (6FXh)
Intel® Thermal Analysis Tool: v 2.05.2006.0420Home Edition
OS version: 6.0.6000 (Build 6000)
On Demand Clock Modulation [Processor 0] : Chipset: 0-4 Processor: 0-1
On Demand Clock Modulation [Processor 1] : Chipset: 0-4 Processor: 0-1
Driver Version: v1.0
Power Source: AC
Workload library returns Context: 0x1
Polling Period: 2000 mSec.
On Demand Clock Modulation [Processor 0] : Chipset: 0-4 Processor: 0-1
On Demand Clock Modulation [Processor 1] : Chipset: 0-4 Processor: 0-1
11:13:52: ** Monitor Started **
11:13:52: ACPI\ThermalZone\THRM_0 TMP[ 40°C ]
11:13:52: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 34°C ]
11:13:52: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 34°C ]
11:13:55: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 39°C ]
11:13:55: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 41°C ]
11:13:57: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 42°C ]
11:13:57: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 42°C ]
11:13:59: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 39°C ]
11:13:59: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 39°C ]
11:14:01: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 37°C ]
11:14:04: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 36°C ]
11:14:06: Workload power level: 100%
11:14:06: ** Workload Started (Processor 1) **
11:14:06: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 41°C ]
11:14:08: Workload power level: 100%
11:14:08: ** Workload Started (Processor 0) **
11:14:08: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 54°C ]
11:14:08: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 52°C ]
11:14:15: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 55°C ]
11:14:18: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 56°C ]
11:14:18: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 53°C ]
11:14:27: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 54°C ]
11:14:30: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:14:30: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 55°C ]
11:14:34: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 54°C ]
11:14:47: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:14:47: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 55°C ]
11:15:09: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:15:15: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:15:28: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:15:46: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 55°C ]
11:15:46: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:15:50: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 54°C ]
11:15:50: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 56°C ]
11:15:54: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:15:58: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:16:02: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:16:02: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 55°C ]
11:16:09: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 56°C ]
11:16:14: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:16:18: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:16:23: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:16:28: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:16:36: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:16:36: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 56°C ]
11:16:39: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:16:39: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:16:42: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:16:55: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:16:55: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:17:00: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:17:04: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:17:07: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:17:12: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:17:15: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:17:19: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:17:24: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:17:28: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:17:33: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:17:37: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:17:41: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 59°C ]
11:17:45: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
11:18:02: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:18:07: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 56°C ]
11:18:07: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 58°C ]
11:18:11: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:18:15: Processor 0 : DIGITAL TMP[ 57°C ]
11:18:15: Processor 1 : DIGITAL TMP[ 60°C ]
Writing to C:\Program Files\Intel Corporation\Thermal Analysis Tool\Results.txt

 

[BD2003]

Anyone still have a copy of the original bios?

The ECS bios works fine for the most part - but it wil disable your 2nd PCI slot, which most of you might not have noticed (windows cannot find the resources).

The newest hp bios works, but the front LED light is screwy.

 

[tonynk9]

1.can i use ddr800 in this mobo? im planning to buy ddr2-800 since price is the same as ddr2 667.....

2.anyone know how to oc ram to run at higher speed (e.g; 667 or higher)