Originally posted by jfesler
Although I haven't had this specific problem on a HP, I have had it a lot with 3rd party computers (more so with AMD MB) Replacing the motherboard always took care of it.
Not really an option here...custom mobo, proprietary PSU...he will probably be getting a barebones and scavenging what he can. It's got an 80gb HD, cdrw, dvd, 512mb ddr266...so it will have a little to contribute to its offspring.