[waffle11]

Would it be possible to add some ram and a video card to a compaq with parts just off newegg or would you have to buy parts form compaq. I also dont know if it has AGP or PCI as a video card slot I just know it has a MSI Gamila/Giovani/neon series motherboard I think.

Thanks

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How old is the system?

[sprout]

How old is the system?

[waffle11]

The compaq is about 2 years old

[sprout]

In general Compaq was very proprietary on their hardware...in some cases soldering and/or hard wiring stuff to the board so you couldnt replace it.
Take a look inside the case, if you can remove something, you can replace it.
This does not always apply to RAM though...especially with Compaq.
What model is it? Perhaps we can do a quick search and determine if it takes proprietary memory. When you open the case, to determine if it is an AGP or PCI video card, the AGP is a shorter tan colored slot, while the PCI will be a longer black slot...and in the case of PCI there will be several of them as opposed to only one AGP slot.
You may find that the motherboard has the graphics processor built directly onto the motherboard. This doesnt mean you cant add another graphics card as long as you have the available slots, it just means you will have to disable the onboard graphics.

[waffle11]

I do know its a compaq presario. And i do not understand what you mean by propritary memory

Edited by waffle11, 13 August 2005 - 03:08 PM.

[sprout]

This means you have to use special memory made for that particular system (or manufacturer). Its not as prevelant today, but when the clone PC market hit big and there were a lot of mom and pop shops opening up on every corner building systems, in order to keep these people from upgrading their systems, manufacturers would produce hardware that would only work in their systems and vice versa, no other manufacturers parts would run in theirs. They would also, as stated before, integrate everything so you couldnt replace it...thats much more than you probably wanted or care to know,hehe.
This simply made it so consumers would HAVE to buy their parts from the original manufacturer and not an aftermarket reseller. All this really did was drive consumers away from their product once they found out about it. Hence, Compaq, Packard Bell, and the like soon paid the price for their short sightedness and greed. Packard Bell is no longer around and Compaq is owned by Hewlett Packard.
Whew...now that I have given the entire history of the IBM clone market... lets get back to your question...
Take a look here: http://h10025.www1.h...cname=c00230305

This will give you a basic overview of how to find the RAM in yours and how to replace it. As far as whether it is proprietary, you will need to either contact HP (Compaq) and ask them, or you could experiment and try some memory off the shelf...it very well could work.
In regards to the graphics card, my best guess would be that judging by the age of the system it will have an AGP slot in it, but check to be sure.
As long as you have open slots you should be able to replace the card no problem. As stated in my previous post, you will need to make sure the graphics are not onboard, if so, you will need to disable it.