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Need to find replacement motherboard for Gateway gt5034


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#1
AngelMomA8

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The motherboard on my Gateway GT5034 has gone out, which really sucks considering the computer is only 2 years old and cost alot of money. I've read some other posts and see that this mobo is obviously a problem for alot of people. The mobo is a C51GU01 and from what I've read, a BTX(???). Where do I find one other than Gateway? Is there another mobo that's compatible? The video card on this mobo is integrated, so what kind of situation does that leave me in? It has an AMD dual processor if that makes a difference too. Any responses please explain in layman terms.
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#2
hfcg

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There is a company here that sells mother boards. I have never used them I do not endorse them and I know nothing about them use at your own risk!

Edited by hfcg, 10 January 2008 - 10:41 AM.

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#3
Samm

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Welcome to G2G

The board your system currently has is a Foxconn C51GU01 which seems incredibly hard to get hold of. Even Ebay only has 3 for sale and none of them work!

If you can't get one from the link hfcg gave you, or if they're really expensive, then you may be better off buying a completely different board.
If so, then please bear the following factors in mind...

Your cpu is (according to Gateway) an Athlon 64x2 4200+ socket 939 so a new board must have an AMD 939 socket be capable of supporting this cpu.

Your current memory is DDR400 (PC3200) so the new board will need to support DDR (not DDR2)

Your system also has integrated video. This means either the new board must also have integrated video or you will have to purchase a video card as well.

According to Gateway, your hard drive is IDE so ideally, the new board should have two IDE sockets (one for the hard drive & one for the optical drive(s), not one.

Your current board is the BTX form factor. Most boards on the market will be either ATX or micro ATX (mATX) form factor so you may need to replace the case & power supply as well.

There's a good chance that your current power supply is a bestec 300W. If so, then you'd be best off replacing this anyway as bestec power supplys often suck. Also, 300W is very low powered, so a 400W ATX power supply or higher would be best.

Finally, you may not have a lot of choice of replacement boards as the 939 socket is being phased out. If you can though, go for one of the following brands - MSI, Asus, Abit, Asrock, Gigabyte. Personally I am not a fan of Foxconn boards & I would also avoid Jetway & PC Chips.

Edited by Samm, 10 January 2008 - 04:05 PM.

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#4
Rimmy

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Well, I too have a Gateway that has had a bad MB. Same one :) Mine was the GT5056. From what I have been reading the chances of getting the same MB is slim to none? I don't know enough to search for an equivalent.

The one I have doesn't display a screen when I use the PCI slot with a Video card. I also have another Gateway that I am sending back to them under warranty for bad MB :) Needless to say I will never buy another.... though I have 3. Just waiting till the newest one I have dies. Very frusterating.

Guess my best bet is to sell this one off as is?
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#5
Samm

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Welcome to G2G Rimmy

You're right - the C51GU01 motherboard is going to be next to impossible to find. Basically, what I said in my last post is relevant to you as well - if the boards gone, then you can either find another 939 socket board and potentially have to replace the case/psu as well or you can junk the whole thing, or sell the working parts on Ebay for example.
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#6
Rimmy

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Thank you Samm, that is what I was afraid of. Sounds to me like it would be better off junking it and selling parts off. I don't have the time or know how to do all that.
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#7
abalone

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Same problem with a friend's son's dead C51GU01 motherboard. The Bestec 300W power supply is the likely culprit. I've seen bad power supplies take out motherboards before, so now I use a cheap Powmax "ATX Power Suppy Tester". When I used it to test this Bestec a bright red LED came to life which meant, in their words, "WARNING!!! If RED LED ligh up. Tested power will Destroy Device. Do not use."

So I'm resigned to buying a new power supply, a new motherboard, and (with the BTX form factor being so hard to find) a new case, too. But what I really don't want to happen when I get everything back together and fire this system up, is for Windows to ask me for its "Authentication" due to the hardware changes. The last time this happened was when I replaced a motherboard on an old E-Machine. Of course I couldn't find the exact same motherboard, but after I found one using the same chipset (so the CPU and memory could be re-used...and so that Windows wouldn't completely freak out finding itself in a different hardware universe), I wound up spending a couple of hours talking to Microsoft techs in India, then a couple more hours talking to E-Machine techs in Pakistan before it was finally decided that since this E-Machine had an OEM version of XP, my only recourse would be to buy a retail version of XP.

Is there a definitive way to tell if the Windows on this machine is OEM or retail?

The "Proof of License Certificate of Authenticity" sticker on the back says:

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Gateway M93-00115-GW
(25 digit Product Key)

Edited by abalone, 12 February 2008 - 06:59 AM.

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#8
shard92

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If it came preinstalled it is oem.

particularly if it is namebrand.
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#9
abalone

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I work during the day with the father of the kid whose computer this is. Today I told him to see if he could locate an install disk that might have come with it. He just called and said he found a disk with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 on it.

Sounds like retail, thank goodness.
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#10
Samm

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Welcome to G2G abalone

Re. oem/retail xp:
You said they've located the XP CD - if the CD has 'Only for distribution with a new PC' written on it, then it's OEM. If it's a branded disc, (ie has the computer manufacturer's name) on it, then it's OEM. It is says 'Upgrade', it's retail. If it doesn't say any of these things, then it's retail.

As for the OEM EULA (I'm saying this mainly for the sake of anyone else reading this in a similar situation) - essentially you're right. If it is the oem version then they'll probably have to buy another copy. However, the OEM EULA does allow for direct hardware replacements. i.e. if the motherboard dies and is replaced by one that's identical, then the original copy of XP is still valid. However, what qualifies as a 'direct' replacement is down to the OEM (i.e the computer builder/manufacturer, in this case eMachine).

Re. Bestec PSUs - I couldn't agree with you more. I've seen so many branded systems in the last few years, including eMachine, Packard Bell etc, with 300W Bestec PSU's & blown motherboards. Coincidence? I think not!
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#11
hfcg

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Hello,
Blue raven sent us 3 bad motherboards, and made good on every one of them!.
I was very impressed because they sent the replacements overnight delivery, and paid the shipping them self.
At this point you should consider the cost of repairing this machine against the cost of buying a new computer.
When parts are hard to find the price jumps up, even for used parts.
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#12
abalone

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Thanks Samm, for the welcome...and thanks to the others for their replies.

Well, the CD turned out to be branded with Gateway and it says on it, "For distribution only with a new Gateway PC".

So it looks like it's an OEM, and with there being no exact replacement motherboard available a new version of XP Media Center will double the repair costs.

Anybody know if installing this version over the OEM will wipe out all the data currently on the hard drive?
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#13
Samm

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You may be able install the new version as a repair installation and retain the data that way. However, as nothing is guaranteed, I strongly recommend that thay back up the data on the drive first, by connecting the drive to another computer, either as a slave or as an external drive.

To attempt the repair installation after replacing the motherboard, they must not let the system boot from the old install of XP. It must boot straight from the XP CD. Do not select 'repair using recovery console'. After that point, the install will search for existing XP installations & give you the chance to select an installation to repair.
After the reboot, do not press any key to boot from CD if prompted. Let the system boot from the hard drive & setup will continue the installation as normal.
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#14
elgreco76

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I am having similar problems as Rimmy. I recently bought a GeForce 8800 GT video card as my Gateway GT5032 fulfilled the min requirements. I upgraded the power supply and installed the video card in the PCI-E slot. After connecting the monitor and booting up...nothing. Switch to the onboard and I get video again. I called the support line for the manufacturer of the card and they said it was probably a problem w/ the Gateway. So I tried Gateway's support and they were unable to help either.

After reading this thread, I believe it is definitely the PC. It seems like my next step is to buy a new case, new mobo and an O/S as my copy is OEM. Got to love Gateway. A $250 video card upgrade is now starting to become much more expensive. That is unless someone has any other suggestions besides replacing everything.
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#15
Samm

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Welcome to G2G elgreco76

I'll reply to your post now but if you wish to post a response can you please start your own topic. Just start a new topic & then copy and paste your original post into it - thanks.

The only suggestion I can make at this stage, is that you may want to test the new video card before going out & buying a new board/case etc. It's unlikely that you have a faulty video card, but not impossible, so if you can, test it in another computer first.
Assuming that the video card is fine, and given that you've already bought the video card & a new power supply, then changing the motherboard/case is probably your best bet - the current motherboard is made by Foxconn & hence has little to recommend it :)
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