Recently I had a little GPU upgrading fiasco and I am now looking for a new motherboard. I have never upgraded my mother board (or anything else besides RAM for that matter)and I am wondering if it is a semi-simple job I could complete myself or if I should have someone else do it. Also I don't know what socket my CPU uses and I really need this information. Is there a way I can get it? Lastly, any particular motherboards I should be looking for? I'm upgrading to a Nvidia GeForce 6800GT and have an Intel Pentium4 3.0 GHz. I would love to keep my RAM as well but I cant remember what it is. Thanks in advance for any help.
The forum will need a few more details about your current components. There are two ways to get the info. 1. You know the make and model of your current mobo 2. You run a program like CPU-Z or Everest to find exactly what you have. CPU-Z will give you instant results about your CPU and RAM where as Everst (I think used to be called AIDA32) is a program which needs to be installed but will give you a 'better look under the skirt'.... Try CPU-Z first as it is a tiny application and once you have the results you can chuck it. If it is not enough try Everest.
Never uesd CPU-Z, but Everest will undoubtedly tell you eveything you need to know about your hardware. Lovely little app that. If you have your current system in use then its easy! If not, then you might hafta open her up. I think I could safely asy your MoBo is likely a Skt478 with that processor. Anywho. As for upgrading your MoBo. I, persoanlly, would not suggest you do it yourself unless your fairly confident and have a nice place to do it (unlike me, built my rig while wearing a big jumper, wooly socks and on a dusty carpet. STATIC HEAVEN!) A clean table will do, lots of light. Let us know if you want to upgrade yourself, somone can give you a little guide to print out. Key things to remember: Its ALWAYS a lot cheaper to get a friend if you cant do it. Pc repair shops are dark, evil, geek breeding grounds often run by a big fat Alpha geek who will overcharge you and tell you that you need better things at a higher price. Read the manuals Hardware can be surprisngly resiliant stuff. Dont go all shaky at the thought of giving your mobo a slight knock on the case while lowering etc. ESPECIALLY heatsink removal (P4 a mildly easy to remove). Often I have winced at the stabbings I have given my MoBo with a screwdriver while mounting/dismounting CPU heatsinks. Still worked fine tho for 3 whole years strong. Read the manuals STATIC IS YOUR WORST ENEMY! Read the manuals. Sorry no reccomends for a board. Not a P4 man.
Ok, thanks for the tips so far. I downloaded Eerest and it gave me the following info Motherboard: CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 3000 MHz (15 x 200) Motherboard Name Asus P4SD-LA (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN) Motherboard Chipset Intel Springdale-G i865G System Memory 1024 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM) BIOS Type AMI (10/06/03) and Motherboard Physical Info: CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 478 Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN Form Factor Micro ATX Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm Motherboard Chipset i865G Is that "1 Socket 478" the socket I am looking for? If thats right I will be looking for a socket 487 micro ATX mobo that supports DDR ram right? Is this all you need to know? EDIT: this is al because i really need a PCI-express slot
Yep, thats a Socket 478 alright If you want a new motherboard with socket 478 and PCIe, there are only a few optios available to you as PCIe is most commonly found on Athlon 64 and Pentium Socket 775 rigs as this is what PCIe is targeted at. Now i haven't heard of many PCIe boards utilising both s478 and PCIe except the Albatron PX915P4 Pro, you might want to check it out. Tip: Don't look for a motherboard that has a Micro ATX form factor, look for Full ATX boards as mATX boards are generally stripped down in features
Maybe you are better off selling your current CPU and going foa new socket board and CPU? That is if you want to move int PCIe....
Thanks for all the feedback so far. I tried to find the Albatron PX915P4 Pro but after a few minutes of searching online I'm not too sure they even sell it anymore. If can't find it I'm gonna have to just wait for a new computer i guess. Did you see anyplace online where it is sold?
The other thing to consider is that nearly all motherboards with PCIe slots featuring an AGP or pseudo-AGP slot (XGP, etc) don't have a native AGP slot on them. Rather these slots are tacked onto the PCI bus with a cap of 133MB/s vs. the 8GB/s of AGP 8x...not to mention it needs to share with other devices which may include hard drive controllers, depending on the chipset. I'd try to find the Abit IS7-G/IS7-E/IS7 or the Asus P4P800 for the easiest drop in replacement. You'll probably have to look on eBay or other message boards to find them, but those would be your best bet. Otherwise, make the jump to a PCIe-based system. S478 is dead in the water, so if you're looking to upgrade your motherboard, either don't invest too much in one of them or hang loose until you can upgrade the entire lot.
