Re: replacement AV31 (or AU31) emachine motherboard

"archean1" <archean1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1153365585.537589.10440@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm trying to help out my sister and haven't worked with computers in a
few years. They have an EMachine computer that they took in for repair
and we've been told the m/b is fried. I'm assuming this is correct,
and they didn't give any options for repairing short of essentially
selling a new system. I asked about getting a new m/b, but they said
it is a propietry thing that they didn't deal with, but yes, I could
probably find one online.

So, I've cracked the case and here's the basics:

- model EMACHINES H2885 (part no. 72-10353-12
- m/b is a an AV31 (D33007; CAU3A17485; AV-L)
- single 512 MB DDR PC2700 CL2.5 (PC2700U-25331-Z)
- CPU is an AMD Athlon 2800 (AXDA2800KV4D) - pretty sure this a 166 MHz
FSB

A couple questions...

1. I've found a what "appears" to be nearly an exact replacement for
this motherboard on ebay, but it seems to be a newer version supporting
minimum 200 MHz FSB and PC3200. Am I right on this? Of course
overclocking the CPU might be possible, but I think the RAM would be a
show stopper? And I'm really only interested in a plug and work type
scenario since I'm really not that into building systems anymore,
though I'm not usually an idiot either.
http://cgi.ebay.com/AU31-eMachines-Motherboard-Replacement-for-AMD-CPU_W0QQitemZ140009501109QQcategoryZ99246QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWINQ3aPOST0Q3aRECOQ3aBIDQQcmdZViewItem

2. Is it still possible to find a m/b for this computer? Any pointers
/ places to check out?

3. Assuming I can find one, any major warnings from people before I
drop $70 or $100? Obviously dumping it in the garbage and spending
$500 to buy a new system remains a viable alternative. Always seems
crazy the mark up on parts relative to the cost of an entirely new
system.

thanks for any pointers!
David



I replace emachine boards with aftermarket ones all of the time. I have
discovered that if you use a similar chipset board (via, nvidia, intel
i845), the existing windows install will boot and you will just have to
install a few drivers. In this case, any Nforce2 board will work. Windows
will have to be activated, but I have also found that emachines COA labels
can still be activated while many other brands, like toshiba and sony can't.
That being said, here is a link to a simlar board that is actually an
emachines nforce2 board.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=K7MNF-64-BULK-N&cat=MBB They are out
of stock at the moment, but I seem them in stock most of the time. I had
ordered a couple but once I found out they were actual emachines boards, I
purchased several of them. With this board, you won't have to activate
windows and the nforce2 drivers from nvidia.com are all thats needed for the
board.


.

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