Specifications
- CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+
- Mobo: Asus K8S-LA
- GPU: ATi Radeon 9200 SE 128MB AGP from HP (5187-4903)
- RAM: 1GB DDR PC3200 (most likely 512MB originally)
- HDD: 250GB Seagate/Samsung Spinpoint ST250DM001 SATA (OG: 160GB Samsung SP1614C SATA)
Story
I got this computer new from CompUSA in July or August of 2005! It was manufacted on 7/8/05, and I know for certain I had it by late-August. I remember this because of packing the computer before evacuating for Hurricane Katrina – thankfully all went well for me, but I wanted to be safe!
This is the oldest of my originally-owned systems, I had it since I was little. In December of 2008, it also became the first computer I fixed! It simply needed a power supply and the OS reinstalled. Originally it had a Sempron 3100+ (SDA3100AIP3AX), on which I bent the pins to heck since the processor came out while also stuck to the heatsink that I was trying to clean. As a clueless 12 year old, I didn’t understand what was going on or why. Oops! I replaced it with a cheap used part from eBay, a newer stepping of that same CPU (SDA3100AIO3BX).
Later, I actually managed to break the CR2032 clock holder! It’s crazy to think about today, but this truly was very early foray for me. I really didn’t know what I was doing. So in 2010, this computer functioned with no battery backup, and I’d soon buy a replacement ASUS K8S-LA motherboard on eBay for a whopping $80.
But in 2015, things got very interesting! I picked up soldering as a skill that year, and so I went into my drawers and found the original motherboard! And after years of sitting aside, I replaced the holder, and eventually resold the replacement board I bought! And around this time, I also treated my precious Compaq to an inexpensive Athlon 64 from eBay as an upgrade.
Although it’s a typical system of its era, it’s very much a special computer to me, being a milestone in my computing history!
June 30th, 2023 – HDD Failure
After all this time, I pulled out the system again to do some hard drive cloning. Aside having to reseat the RAM as well as the IDE cables, now the original hard drive is finally biting the dust!
Curiously, when I had originally gotten the system back up and running in 2009, I had found the hard drive sitting in a box with that same hard drive failure message written on it. Throughout my usage of the system from then to up about 2012, and then again around 2015 to 2016, I never saw that message. But now, finally it’s going out! So, I’ve transferred everything over to a newer Samsung 250GB SATA hard drive.
