upgrade motherboard?

I ordered a cheap dc jack replacement for my compaq presario r3000. When I opened the case, it looks like the motherboard has taken some heat. Does anyone know if I can replace the motherboard with a different one, as in an upgrade? I have been reading on the subject. I can't figure it out. I am having trouble finding laptop motherboards in general. I found the replacement for the existing motherboard, but at $3-4 hundred bucks, no way!

 

Motherboards for laptops are very specific to that model. Nothing outside of that R3000 series of notebooks will work, and you have to make absolutely sure a board from another R3000 has the same exact measurements and port layouts before using it.

The stickies in the HP forum detail an HP repair program you might qualify for and get a free one-time repair of your notebook. No guarantees, but it might save you a few hundred.

 

You mentioned in your other thread, that the system still worked, so I dont think you should worry about it much even if it has overheated in the past. The new power jack will make it work again, so just button her back up and keep her as a backup system. From my understanding, you purchased a new laptop, so just keep the compaq as a backup
You generally cannot upgrade any laptop motherboard, because each motherbaord is different and ports will not match up with the casing if you decide to swap motherboards.
Actually come to think of it, I think the only time someone could every upgrade their motherboard was with the clevo d900t and d900k laptops. I know a few friends who successfully upgraded their intel based d900t intel single core systems to the d900k amd dual core based system. This was only possible because both shared identical components other than the processor motherboard and memory. The shells were the same for both, so the upgrade was possible. Other than that your out of luck
The Compal CL-50 was also upgradeable to the CL-56, but very minor internal mods had to be done to do this.

K-TRON

 

I found several replacement boards for my R3247 for under $200. But I didn't need one as I used a friend's soldering station to get the solder hot enough to flow over the pins into the board correctly. Find your exact model board number and search around especially ebay. Several legit companies offer refurbished, used, or new boards. As to the heat, yes the boards have to take a lot of heat to get the solder down in the PCB. I was working with over 800 degrees to get it flowing down correctly so it may look a little heated(you would too lol). Put it back together and try it out. Let us know how it turned out. Here's a deal that works with the 20% cash back option.

 

I have to agree with K-Tron, If your laptop powers up and looks and sound fine, then save your money and don't change the mobo.

Edit:
I was wrong... my memory failed me.

 

They have similar but not the same chassis. I just went to HP's site and downloaded the manual for the R4000 and it won't work unless you get the lower chassis. You may be able to use the monitor from the 3000 but that's it. And you would have to upgrade your adapter to the new style, etc. Buy a new laptop in that case.

 

My mistake as I assumed that R3000/R4000 series are the same. Below is the manual for the R3000 series and as you can see it supports both intel and AMD mobos.
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00212209.pdf

RedBeardedDevil what type of mods have you planned for your laptop?

 

Well I have some upgrades first. Like 2gb of ram, new wireless(b/g/n card), hard drive, dvd burner. Then I will be painting the palm rest area and around the screen. I also plan on next year taking the monitor cover and cutting out a design and using the backlight to make it glow. I actually like the black casing so I will kepp that. I may upgrade the board but not likely. I want to reroute one of the usb plugs into the area above the dvd drive and place a hub in there. I want to put my BT plug and wireless mouse plug inside. That way I can keep everything neat and tidy.

 

What type (a name if you have one in mind) of undercote will you be using for the paint job?

What type of board do you have in mid if you ever decide to upgrade your motherboard?

Any interesting links of people who done similar mod on laptops similar to yours?

Thanks

 

I will have to dig up that info for you but i know WalMart started carrying the brand I used to have to order online. It is just for plastics and is great with wetsanding. That brings to mind, I also need to lap my heatsink. A good lapping will bring it down a few degrees C. Basically just look on the net for case modding and you will find many things you can apply to laptops. Here are a couple of ones offhand: http://www.mnpctech.com/case-mod-paint-computer-pc-case-mod-how-to.html , http://www.modthebox.com/ , http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/ , http://www.pcmech.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=39 . These are good sites for learning and getting ideas. Some take more money and or time than others.

 

thanks for the links

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/350821-001-Syst...3758190QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116. You could upgrade to that motherboard like i did in my zv5000. That motherboard has an ati radeon 9600 card with 64mb much better then the 9000IGP. On top of that it will fix your DC jack problem.