PC Tech: Motherboards and Such

Factual Questions
1
      • I have a 3.5 yr old Acer PII 350. I have updated the BIOS and everything else to no avail. The motherboard will not operate current gaming videocards properly, and so I want to replace it with something newer (a name-brand board) that will also have/include a faster CPU -I’m planning on buying a -tested- combo. (I can’t seem to locate any replacements for the current board.) I don’t know right off if it’s socket 7, A, 1 or whatever-else, just that it’s an ATX. I also know it don’t got no SCSI or DDR and it does have AGP. It has on-board sound but I don’t want or need that now. I only need PCI slots. I do need USB (most now have it anyway).
  • Can I get just any Athlon/T-Bird board with the right specs on an ATX style? Will any ATX fit in the case I have? -I am assuming everything else I have now will just switch over. - MC
2

check out http://www.tomshardware.com or http://www.anandtech.com for some of the tech questions.

ATX is ATX (as far as form factors and power supplys go). Unless you plan on getting a P4 (dont) your ATX case should be peachy enough. If your planing on swaping out the MB along with the CPU then you dont need to worry about the socket/slot number. Try http://www.pricewatch.com to get MB/CPU combos.

All of this is considering that you have a NORMAL ATX case. I’ve heard of times where major OEMS will sell non-standerd cases as a way of making you stick to their products, but for all I know it could be a UL. On anynote,good luck.

3

I know the first generation of Athlons required a larger power supply (at least 300W) so make sure you check that. I’m not sure about the thunderbirds or any Intel but I’d guess they should have the extra power too.
dead0man

4

OK, your current board is a Slot-1 most likely running on an Intel BX chipset, not that it matters. Most likely the case is proprietary, or somehow “squeezes” the ATX spec so as to be incompatible with an upgrade. At a minimum, you are looking at a new ATX case /w 300W (minimum) power supply, which is around $50, a new motherboard ($100 or so), CPU cooler ($15-$20) and system fans($10), a new CPU (AMD Athlon Socket-A at around 1.4Ghz, $100), and new RAM (256 MB Crucial PC2100 DDR, $30 or so shipped from http://www.crucial.com/evguide/ ) Not to mention the cost of an additional soundcard, if you purchase a motherboard without onboard sound. Needless to say, this is about an entire system replacement.

Any devices that use ISA slots (The big black ones) must be replaced, which probably means your modem and/or network card.

Please E-Mail me at fdiskslashmbr@qwest.net if you would like any additional information, ideas on where to purchase components, or help choosing which components to purchase.

FDISK

5
      • Thanks so much…
  • If I find that the Acer case won’t accept a real ATX, then I’ll chuck the Acer case. It has the Acer DVD and floppy drive, but I have an added CD-R to start with anyway. -The Acer DVD drive is overpriced now anyway (~$89?), the floppy probably is too, and mine are about 4 yrs old…
  • I am looking at Athlons in the 750-900 Mhz range. The PII 350 runs everything fast enough for me, it’s just that I can’t find any “new” boards that I know will support it. I have found one tested combo with a Slot A 200Mhz FSB T-Bird 800 Mhz/heatsink/fan with 256 DIMM for about $200. At this point in time, I am hesitant to pay another $100 for a 1.4 Ghz that will cost $100 cheaper in six months.
  • I don’t need any ISA slots, or onboard sound.
  • The Intel AGP chip didn’t seem to be upgradable: that is, there were no driver files to update, so I am trying to avoid another Intel AGP chipset. Everything on the PC works fine except the video card in hardware mode and I have updated all the files I can. - MC
6

wwww.ubid.com and other auction sites like ebay will have a flood of these motherboards (PII 350 compatible) available at inexpensive prices. You are still better off getting a new case and upgrading. Cost is $ 50-$60 and upgrading is much less painless. Regardless of whether it fits or not your Acer PS will not be adequate for an Athlon CPU.

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I’m not connected with them, only a happy customer – check out Multiwave, at http://www.mwave.com. They’ve always had very reasonable prices on motherboards an motherbaord/CPU combinations, and their customer service is outstanding.

Personally, I’d go with the 1.4 gig processor, only because the price is low as it is - $133. For motherbaords, I’d look at the Epox EP-8KTA3 (RAID, extremely fast and stable, 4 DIMM slots, integrates sound and a legacy ISA card slot instead of a useless AMR slot), or the MSI K7T Turbo-R limited (Red mobo with RAID, integrated sound, 3 DIMM slots, very stable). Don’t believe the myth that a good motherbaord brand always has to start with the letter “A”. Count on spending at least $250 for a good motherboard/CPU combo.

8

I just bought an Asus A7A266 motherboard and a AMD 1.4Ghz processor. The machine smokes. The best thing about the motherboard is that it handle either PC133 SDRAM or PC1600/2100 DDR RAM.

If you have that mentality you will never buy anything. The price is always going to go down in the future. At some point you will have to take the plunge. Just don’t look at prices for the first 6 months after you buy.

9

Make sure the board & chip you buy have a manf name on them so you can talk to other people who have them.

ALso, buy some more ram, its dirt cheap right now.

10

Before you decide on a vendor, check out http://www.resellerratings.com - a very useful site, especially in combination with pricewatch, mentioned above. http://www.techbargains.com is also good. Also, some Athlon heatsink/fan combos require a case or bracket with extra mounting points - they’re too heavy for the CPU to support directly, so this takes the weight off the CPU and puts it on the case. So make sure your case is compatible with your fan.

11
      • RAM: I already got 320 megs, and the combo I’m looking at has another 256 included for $25 or so…
  • Re: 300W- I can find a few cases that have 300W “AMD Approved” power supplies. I can’t find anything much said about the specifics of heatsinks - but I do have an expansion slot fan for the video card. Lots of cheap cases seem to have 250 watts with a few at 300, but there’s a* big* price jump to get a 350W or a 400W power supply. Seems like a lot of the 400’s seem to be back ordered. - MC
12

You should definately get a socket-A tbird. its just silly to go for a slot-a system thats already antiquated and unupgradeable. My personal preference for a place to shop would be mwave.com or newegg.com, I’ve purchased from both and found them reliable.As for the system, my reccommendation would be the Enlight EN-7237 ATX case /w 300W power supply (and an 80mm case fan to put in the front), an ECS K7S5A Sis-735chipset based board, that RAM I mentioned from crucial.com/evguide/ (Crucial is about the most reliable manufacturer, and with the shipping being free its about the best deal you’ll find), and an Athlon 1.4Ghz (or at least 1Ghz). Newegg is probably the best place to get this stuff, as they tend to have the best deals, and the case is cheap.

As for cooling, you can go with the included heatsink/fan, but I’d reccommend purchasing an additional one because the included is usually insufficient. TIP: Never believe the “approved up to 1.5Ghz” that they say. The Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu (not at newegg, look around on the web) is good enough, but avoid the Cu+ as it has a very loud fan.

Remember, no matter what heatsink you get, you MUST remove the included thermal pad/gunk from the bottom of the heatsink before you install it, and replace it with thermal paste. otherwise your CPU will overheat and possibly be damaged.

FDISK