help with new motherboard please

iggyman

as you have probably read in my other thread im stuck wit no agp slot on my motherboard im thinkin about gettin this [HTML]http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=309462&cks=PRL[/HTML] ..this is the computer i bought a few days ago [HTML]http://uk.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=eMachines_4260[/HTML] will this board work alri with this computer..?as you can see theres ports for memory sticks on the front will i need a board that supports that or what?....and will it be easy to take the processor out of the socket on my motherboard ?please any replys are helpful

angelofdeath

the mother board supports the intel celeron d and ddr-sdram that you have, but it's a micro-atx board, so make sure the case you have is either m-atx or atx 2.1 compatible for backwards compatibility with m-atx

the ports for memory sticks at the front is usb that will connect to the new board, so i wouldn't worry bout that

duridian

Based on what you have told us I would say yes that this motherboard would work. however if you have a few euro more to spare it would make more sense, looking towards the long term, to spend an extra €32 and invest in the likes of this Abit board . Why? Because the first board had AGP graphics whereas the Abit has the newer PCI-Express graphics slot, therefore offering more prospect for improvement in the future. In my opinion, it should be a far better performer than the Epox as well as it has the Intel 915 chipset while the Epox has some cheapo VIA chipset. (Mind you I am biased, I wouldn't touch VIA with a 50 foot pole personally after the problems I had with a VIA based Athlon board some years ago). The Integrated gfx of the Abit board may be good enough to tide you over for a bit as well if you don't want to fork out for a gfx card immediately. (you may need to get a new power supply as well depending on what graphics card you eventually wanna use, original Emachines psu will likely be the minimal they can get away with, and not allow for much extra)
I would however recommend that you do not attempt this upgrade by yourself. You surely must know someone that can give some 'hands on' help with this project, as there may be need of some experience in a job such as this. Also I would expect that the media card/memory reader in the front of the Emachines pc will be easy enough to get working with any board which has internal USB headers (connection pins) but again any experienced pc builder should be able to solve this for you. If you are in Dublin perhaps one of the regulars on here can assist you. If you are anywhere near mid Kerry I could but I guess the odds are you are not near here. anyhow good luck with it and remember - ask questions!

Edit: By the way a micro atx motherboard is the safest choice, we can't be certain from the pictures whether or not the case you have is Full ATX or micro ATX. To judge this, count the slots at the lower rear of the case, if it has 3 or 4 then you have no choice but micro ATX, if it has about 7,then you have a full ATX case. One advantage tha micro has over Fullsize ATX is that micro ATX boards usually have integrated graphics, it is rarer to find this in a full size motherboard. The fact that you already have integrated vga in the Emachine pc would make me think that it is already Micro ATX so you should get the same as a Fullsize board simply won't fit.

Edited edit: Just noticed that this is my 666th post, spooky eh

iggyman

yeah i have a micro atx case ..(i only have four slots on the back of it)..but the abit motherboard says it doesnt support celeron d processors..unless it does and it just doesnt say it there?i wouldnt say ill need any help except for how to take the processor out of this board and into the new one i dont have a clue how to do that can anyone tell me how to do it?

duridian

See here . The Abit board does support Celeron D, just komplett haven't mentioned this (they don't explicitly say it doesn't support Celeron D).
The LGA775 socket that your cpu uses is a trickier socket to work with than most because the pins are in the board and the holes are in the chip. this is the reverse of practically every other pc cpu socket at present. Be careful not to bend the pins as this could have disastrous effects. I found a step by step guide here on MSI's website that may be of help to you.

iggyman

im a bit confused now...so will the abit board already have the pins in the socket on the motherboard already or do i get the cpu with the socket as well and i have to stick it in on the motherboard..how can the abit board support the pentium 4 cpu as well if the pins are the opposite way around?

duridian

Apologies Iggyman, I just reread the specs of your Emachines pc, not that it tells very much on that site. The link you provided to the Epox board (an LGA775 board) confused me, as I then thought that you have the LGA 775 version of the Celeron D 3.06 (known as the 345J). Looking at the specs listed on Emachines website, it seems you instead have the older Socket 478 version of the Celeron D 345 (without the J), so if Emachines site is correct then neither of the boards discussed so far is suitable as you do not have a Socket 775 cpu. I would however suggest having a look at your present motherboard's cpu socket before ordering just to make certain that it is a Socket 478.
Komplett do not seem to have any Socket 478 boards available anymore (478 is on the way out) so I'd suggest that you try elsewhere, perhaps something like this Gigabyte board from Aria or maybe this MSI board . Both of these boards are based on the Sis 661FX chipset which has support for all Socket 478 cpus including yours.

iggyman

thanks anyway duridian ,,ur a good help..i think ill just leave it and probably get a whole new computer after christmas or something...i might go out and buy this for now [HTML]http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304713&cks=PLS[/HTML] is it worth it...

angelofdeath

no, horrible card

iggyman

eh well i dont have much choice do i ..its the best pci card out isnt it?and its better than my intel graphics i think

duridian

To be honest it really is not worth spending €100 on that card. For that price you would do so much better to hold on to your money and put up with the Intel integrated graphics, limited as they are for now. The FX5200 in its AGP form is a very weak 3D card so the PCI version will be worse performing. It does have Shader 2 support, but no power in its processor to really make any use of this.
If you cannot resist the urge to buy something then this Radeon 9250 PCI, although it too is a pretty weak card, would be a slightly better option. Although really, I still think you are better off to as you said wait, and get something better together after Xmas, by then some of the current hardware will have dropped in price, as newer stuff arrives on the scene, and should open up some better options to you.

iggyman

is the radeon 9250 better than the fx 5200 or are you thinkin price wise ...i dont mind payin the money i just want the better card..

duridian

Radeon 9250 would be a bit better, but please realise neither of them are a very good card and the carriage by Komplett or Aria would make the expense even more (it might cost an additional €30 just to get the card delivered). Either FX5200 or Radeon 9250 would be useless for most games released in the past 2 years, which would put you best capabilties around the time of the original Call of Duty game which the Intel graphics will play because I have seen it run on a Dell 2400 with a 2.6Celly and Intel 'Extreme' gfx (though it was at the lowest settings).
To sum up I would say don't bother with a PCI gfx card, especially if you intend getting something better in 4 or 5 months.

iggyman

well it probably aint gonna be until after christmas like march or even later so i just want something to do for now..its only ten euro delivery off komplett..there the games i want to play im gonna use it for call of duty and the expansion..will the 5200 work on high setting wit this game.

duridian

No the FX5200 won't allow high settings on COD either, the AGP version can just about handle medium settings on Return to Castle wolfenstein, a game from 2001.
I sold an AGP version of that XFX card to KMB on here about four or five months back for €30 including postage
I point this out for 2 reasons:
1. I have seen hands on a better model of the card in action, and even that is a disaster of a card performancewise.
2. I am trying to point out how royally screwed you would get by paying €110 for a FX5200.
I'm telling you man, that when the time eventually does come that you will be planning for a better machine, be it January or March or whenever, you would be sorry that you hadn't spared the extra €110, which you'd squandered on a pci FX5200, which was hardly any improvement over the Intel graphics. If you were to look at buying right this minute for example, that €110 is the difference between a 6600GT and a 6800GT. Look at how much graphics power the €110 can get you in this context. I know that it is p***ing off at present having to wait but you are in a position where putting more money into your present machine is pointless. Better to save a bit towards a future machine and not make more mistakes in purchasing is what I'd say.

iggyman

alri.. im gonna go wit you and wait ..i might just wait till christmas if i save my money till then id be able to get a nice pc ..its just them four months till then there gonna be a pure melters...thanks for your help and ill get in touch wit ya nearer ta christmas for help to see what things to buy...

duridian

Ok, no worries, always glad to help.