Re: Upgrade the motherboard?


"Richard" <nothing@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Surfer!" <surfer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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In message <70889kFne62uU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Richard
<nothing@xxxxxxxxx> writes

"Richard" <nothing@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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I've got a tower PC and I like the case. I'm wondering whether I can
just
change the motherboard.

http://global.msi.eu/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&prod_no=332#

The original board is MSI 6119. Pentium II at 350Mhz. Bought 1998.

Speed will only go up to 700Mhz with this board.

Dimensions: 30.0 cm(L) x 18.6 cm(W) ATX Form Factor

USB sockets at back. (I've got a special front part that allows
backward-facing USB and audio to be made available from the PC front).

Is it easy to just get another board and put it in the tower?

I'd be wanting a second-hand board I think. Speed, I don't know,
about 1.5Ghz I suppose. That's 6 times as fast as my current
board. Not sure what the difference would be, applications
run 6 times quicker I guess.

Any board suggestions? Will I need a new PSU? Presumably. TIA.

Thinking about it:

I think the board needs to be ATX Form Factor. Okay got that.

I'm not into games.

My two HDD's are IDE.

On the board:

AGP Slot (Video to Monitor). I think it's Display Adaptor 3D Rage Pro AGP
2X.

At the moment I've got 4 PCI slots:

PC1: USB Card - Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
PC2: Ethernet Card - Realtek RTL8139
PC3: Modem Card: Rockwell HCF 56K
PC4: Sound Card: Aureal Vortex 8820

At the moment I've got 3 ISA Slots - nothing connected.

PSU: Just fits onto board with one connector. Old fashioned connection.

Memory: I think my memory will *not* work in a modern board. Old
fashioned.

Problem is, so many things are old. Looks like only my HDD are good, and
perhaps the USB card and mabne the Ethernet card.

But the PCI slots might be too old eh?

I cannot just change the motherboard. At least the PSU.


A new motherboard will probably have a lot more USB ports than the old
one. You will also need a new CPU and new memory, and possibly a new
graphics card - my gigabyte motherboard has built-in graphics which are
fine for a non-gamer. New motherboards also all seem to come with
built-in Gigabyte ethernet and a great many have built-in sound as well.

New boards are also tending to come with SATA rather than IDE for the
HDDs, plus your old 1998 HDDs will be very small and slow by modern
standards. And the case fans might not be as quiet as they used to
be....

However the DVD reader will be fine! And do you use a modem these days?

No, don't use the modem. But my system is really outdated. :c)

I really could do with a recommendation for some boards that might be
just kind of okay in today's world. Maybe something from 2 or 3 years ago.

I'm not a gamer, but would like my PC to handle Google Earth reasonably
well.

I can see that I'd need a new graphics card as well as all the rest. HDD's
are quire new.


Budget??

All your pci cards will be surplus, almost all new mobos come with oodles of
usb, onboard sound and an ethernet port. Memory will be useless too, infact
i cant think of anything that will be useful, exceot the case maybe (if it
is an ATX and not an AT, how does the power button work? click in for on
click out for off, or an electronic push switch?)

anyway pc parts are extrememly cheap atm, rather than hamper yourself with
old kit a new mobo with graphics, a reasonably fast processor and 4 gig of
ram costs less than £150, your hdd will be a small 5400 version and yes need
upgrading too (250 gig sata for about £40), pop in a decent psu (£40) and
you are good to go.

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