What's involved in a motherboard swap?

b318isp

My PC is really getting in (Gateway Athlon 650) and I would like to improve it on a budget. I am happy with the HDD, CD/CDRW, Graphics (GeForce 4), sound (SB Live), etc. and cannot justify a new PC yet.

The idea of swapping in a new motherboard/chip sounds attractive. It seems that all that is required is:

1. Motherboard
2. Chip
3. Memory

However, I'm sure there is more. Here are some concerns I have - are they valid?:

1. PSU connections & rating (it's 200W)
2. Position of rear connections (e.g. keyb, usb)
3. Position of on/off & leds on front panel
4. HDD/CD connectons on motherboard
5. Fan connecting to chip
6. Any software/bios issues?

I would not be looking for out and out performance, even a 1.6-2GHz system would suffice.

Any help I can get would be appreciated.

Saruman

You might need a more powerful PSU (300watt min) if you get a nice new chip

Apart from that,, OS is the prob.. if you are using 9x you can get away with it but any NT based os like win2k or XP you will have to reinstall or you will get a blue screen (if you are lucky) or just a simple reboot loop Then again you might get away with it. If you can get into safe mode, removing all system drivers and restaring in normal mode might do the trick.

moridin

If you're ripping out your motherboard and installing a new one you're practically getting a new pc.

From your current system you can prob salvage your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive, HDD, Floppy Drive, possibly the graphics card (if the one you have is an AGP one), KB, mouse, and Monitor.

New motherboard = new cpu, PSU (those gateway 200w ones suck), RAM, and possibly Graphics card. New CPU = new heatsink I'd prob recommend getting a new case, as some gateway ones might be non-standard, and new fans.

There's lots of threads on here recently about buying new stuff, you should have a look through 'em

Oh and reinstall your OS, don't bother with trying to make it work, even if it does you'll end up with a load of redundant drivers installed.

joePC

If you only want to upgrade your MB, processor and mem, then you will need,

1. New PSU min 300Watt

2. Make sure the connectors for the leds and on off switch are standard & not Gateway ones. ( Dell are a B*#tard for that )

3. Make sure your case is ATX standard, so it will fit your new MB & PSU

4. (Only if you dont want to reinstall your OS) before you take out your old MB install the drivers off the new MB CD e.g. NForce2 drivers if an NForce2 board, when it asks to restart shut down the PC, install your new MB and when you start your PC it should boot without coruption.

Well thats about it......

recommendations: XP2500 + ASUS A7N8X Deluxe

Thanks joePC

b318isp

I've been looking at the Komplett bundles (http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10300).

How do you know if a case is ATX and what standard connections are for the on/off & leds. I can solder if necessary!

What do peeps think of:

1. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=120751&cks=PRL
2. http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=115453&cks=PRL

The first seems good value but I'd have to add a PSU too.

Tnx for all replies.

astrofool

u will need a chip/motherboard/ram/case/psu

Mutant_Fruit

i recently upgraded my Gateway with athlon 850mhz to a new mobo equiped with Athlon 1800+. It works fine with the supplied power supply. Unfortunately i don;t know what wattage it is, but i presume its the same as yours.

My complete specs:
Athlon 1800+
Eqpox 8k9ai mobo
256mb ram (soon to be 512)
2 hd's
1 cdrom, 1 cd-rw
Geforce3
ethernet card
onboard sound+ethernet (meaning i have 2 running ethernet cards)

It works grand.

b318isp

Thanks Mutant_Fruit. Where did you get the components and how many beans?

Mutant_Fruit

Well, a friend was selling off his old mobo and cpu and ram, and i got the whole lot for EUR140 a few months back.

As for where to get good, cheap stuff online, try komplett.ie

Generally, i've found them to be the best. Ignoring the recent problems (which seem to be fixed now), they are by far the best supplier. Check around the recent threads for other suppliers. There was a german one that kept being mentioned that was quite cheap.