Pavilion M7580N MB replacement or upgrade Phone call to tech support very rude and not helpful

[tphillips1978]

My computer's motherboard is gone and it is an Pavilion M7580N and the powerboard's model number is ASUS A8M2N-LA which I cannot find anywhere. I took this to a computer repair shop and they suggested a board but it was a downgrade with only having 2 memory slots and I need one with four because I have four one gig sticks. I called HP support and the person on the phone said that I just needed to buy a new computer because that motherboard would cost more than a new computer would which is very unlikely. I need some suggestions as to which motherboards would fit into this computer that are equilvalent or even a little better? Any help is appreciated because the tech support on the phone was not helpful at all. Thanks.

[cnfrisch]

The advice given by the person you spoke with at HP is correct - it would be more economical to purchase a new computer.  If you were to replace the original HP motherboard, it would cost almost as much as a new computer.  And if you were to install a non-HP motherboard, the HP OEM Windows license that originally came installed on your HP computer would no longer be valid since it is tied specifically to that HP motherboard.  Therefore, you would also need to purchase a new Windows operating system license.

Take a look at the new HP Pavilion Elite HPE-300z series.

[denvertmac]

Well there's 70 on ebay currently. From $5 to $89.99. The $5 is for parts, but may have what you need.

[tphillips1978]

Ok I see what you mean with that, but I am planning on gettings Windows 7 anyways and would like to upgrade the motherboard if possible so that I can have 8 gigs of ram in it instead of the max 4 with the current one. Is there any particular type I need to look for or that you can recommend?

[tphillips1978]

Any advice on what kind of MB to upgrade to?

[DeniseM-Toronto]

At one time HP would replace that motherboard, provided the existing one was returned, but not so any more.

Again, ebay might be a source for an ASUS A8M2N-LA motherboard at reasonable cost.

As for a new motherboard, that depends partly on how much of your other hardware you want to keep.  You'll be looking at one that has an AM2 socket, DDR2 memory, a PCI-E x16 slot, and three PCI slots, and possibly, memory card reader, USB, and Firewire capabilities; in micro ATX format, etc. 

Of course if you end up having to replace a lot of the hardware, then you might as well look at a new computer.  So the ability to re-use as much of that as possible will probably determine your choice of motherboard.