I found 3 semi gaming towers in the trash. Was wondering since I can't power them up how do I tell if I need to buy a processor? Can a processor be replaced?
The best way to tell is to simply open the case and look. Also, if the power doesn't come on at all for any of them you may need a new power supply. I would say, however, that chances are that if they are in the trash you probably have a bad power supply and a bad motherboard. If they are old enough, finding new parts for them might end up costing as much as buying a new computer. This is because older parts tend to be more expensive than the newer ones and most of the new computer parts are not backward compatible.
To find out, you will need to figure out exactly what the brand name of motherboard you have and then you should be able to find a manual by searching on google. That should give you an idea of what kind of processor that motherboard takes. You will also need to look closely at the motherboard itself to make sure it's not cracked or has any blown capacitors, broken resistors or burnt pathways.
Either way attempting to resurrect these systems could end up costing more than buying a new one.
Open the case and look to see if the processor socket on the motherboard is empty. It looks a bit like a square plastic waffle with a hole in the middle on more recent computers. So far as i can remember, all CPUs up to the 486 are still manufactured and those introduced over the last couple of years too. Motherboards can usually take a variety of CPUs ranging from a few years before they were manufactured to a few years after. In some cases you can also get piggyback boards which let you use newer processors on older boards but that's usually pointless unless you have no other options but to use that processor. You can also replace the motherboard with a newer one. Generally, motherboards are designed either for Intel or AMD processors but not both.
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The best way to tell is to simply open the case and look. Also, if the power doesn't come on at all for any of them you may need a new power supply. I would say, however, that chances are that if they are in the trash you probably have a bad power supply and a bad motherboard. If they are old enough, finding new parts for them might end up costing as much as buying a new computer. This is because older parts tend to be more expensive than the newer ones and most of the new computer parts are not backward compatible.
To find out, you will need to figure out exactly what the brand name of motherboard you have and then you should be able to find a manual by searching on google. That should give you an idea of what kind of processor that motherboard takes. You will also need to look closely at the motherboard itself to make sure it's not cracked or has any blown capacitors, broken resistors or burnt pathways.
Either way attempting to resurrect these systems could end up costing more than buying a new one.
Open the case and look to see if the processor socket on the motherboard is empty. It looks a bit like a square plastic waffle with a hole in the middle on more recent computers. So far as i can remember, all CPUs up to the 486 are still manufactured and those introduced over the last couple of years too. Motherboards can usually take a variety of CPUs ranging from a few years before they were manufactured to a few years after. In some cases you can also get piggyback boards which let you use newer processors on older boards but that's usually pointless unless you have no other options but to use that processor. You can also replace the motherboard with a newer one. Generally, motherboards are designed either for Intel or AMD processors but not both.
Open it up and see if there's a big circuit board, that everything runs into. That sir.. Is your Central Processing Unit (cpu)