Motherboard bundles

duckie360

Hi all,
I'm planning on buying and installing a motherboard bundle and replacing my current setup, which includes a very sluggish Pentium 4.
Has anyone tried this and how did they find it?
I have no pc maintenance experience.

Thanks in advance

yoyo

duckie360 wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm planning on buying and installing a motherboard bundle and replacing my current setup, which includes a very sluggish Pentium 4.
Has anyone tried this and how did they find it?
I have no pc maintenance experience.

Thanks in advance

If you have a P4 machine, you may need to buy more new components than just a mobo bundle to see the performance. If your DVD drive/Hard drive are IDE, the new mobo may not support them, the hard drive will probably be very slow as well depending on it's age (drives tend to slow down after a while).
Your power supply would also need to be up to par, depending on the CPU you go for also, although I wouldn't imagine this being too much of an issue. I assume the mobo bundle would come with new RAM? As your old modules wouldn't be compatible

Nick

uncle_sam_ie

Also, is this a standard ATX case it's going into?

unkel

Also the graphics card is probably AGP, which is not compatible with modern motherboards.

Why don't you post exactly what components you have, what you want to do with your PC and what your budget is in the building / upgrading forum and the lads over there will give you the best options

duckie360

@yoyo...i'm also getting a new hard drive so that shouldn't be a prob. Not sure about the dvd drive tho. It's also coming with RAM too.
@uncle Sam...i'm not sure. It's a slim line case if that helps?
@unkel...it'll be coming with a built in graphics card too, so that shouldn't matter...I hope. I'll literally be taking everything out, bar the power supply and dvd drive, and replacing it with new stuff.

Hopefully that helps a bit lads.
Cheers.

mordeith

duckie360 wrote: »

@unkel...it'll be coming with a built in graphics card too, so that shouldn't matter...I hope.

With an actual card or do you mean integrated graphics? They are usually pretty poor when it comes to gaming although if that's something you don't do then it should be grand. One thing you might want to check is the graphics port on the mobo. Is it VGA, DVI or HDMI? It might only be one of those and the latter two may not be compatible with your monitor if it's also an older model.

uncle_sam_ie

duckie360 wrote: »

@uncle Sam...i'm not sure. It's a slim line case if that helps?

I'm presuming the case is from the likes of HP or Dell? If it is, then it will most likely not allow a standard ATX motherboard . That's the problem with buying a pre built PC. You're locked into their proprietary hardware. What's the PC model you're wanting to upgrade?

yoyo

Your onboard video option will be fine provided you have no interest in gaming, as others have pointed out. Make sure the case you have and also power supply conform to the ATX standard

Nick

duckie360

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

I'm presuming the case is from the likes of HP or Dell? If it is, then it will most likely not allow a standard ATX motherboard . That's the problem with buying a pre built PC. You're locked into their proprietary hardware. What's the PC model you're wanting to upgrade?

It's a Philips freeline.

uncle_sam_ie

I think this is your MB, http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=472&MenuID=24&LanID=0
Yes?
If it is then your case will fit an ATX MB.
But, to be honest, I think you'd be better off not using that case or power supply. Like you said, you have no pc maintenance experience so, it might be a lot easier for you to start fresh. What's your budget? Go over to the PC Building & Upgrading forum and fill this out. See what the lads can put together for you.

1. What is your budget? [€xxx]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]

If you have a sample build yourself, use Fluffy's script to format it nicely.

duckie360

Hey uncle Sam thanks for all that.
I might try heading over to that foram so to check out a from scratch build.

Thanks for all the help people, much appreciated.

Neil.