compaq upgrade query

[scrumpy]

hi all
first post for me
my pc compaq 5000 series old now (no laffin i know compaq not everyones fave pc but was new ta pcs when i bought it )
win 98se
600mhz
196 ram
liteon dvd rom
liteon cdrw
15 gig hd

? is has anyone upgraded a compaq without any hassle read that they can be a pain.
would i need ta change motherboard for eg+ how can i find out what mother board i have at the moment.

thanx
for lookin
scrumpy

[M&M Blues]

Older Compaqs (and probably newer ones too) use proprietary motherboards and power supply connections. That makes it impossible to use some aftermarket components to upgrade your machine.

The first thing you need to do is download SiSoft Sandra http://www.sisoftware.net/ . Sandra will tell you tons if information about your computer. After you collect the details of what is in your box, post back here with the results and I'm sure you'll get all the help you need to determine what you can do to upgrade your cpu, memory, audio, video,etc.

[Neo]

Most likely, that case uses a proprietary mobo. You would be better off building a new comp, and using the old floppy, cd-roms...

[Zac]

Heard the same thing about Compaqs being a pain, but we use them at my current job and my experience has been that they aren't as bad as some of the PCs i've worked on ie Gateway. It really depends on what sort of an upgrade you want to attempt if you just want to add ram and possibly a CPU you will probably get away with it but if you want to add a new VideoCard or something you would probably be better off building a new PC