How hard is it to replace the motherboard?

InitialG

Well I just got my tax returns back and am thinking about upgrading my computer to PCI-E

I have an athlon 3200+ that I would like to keep, sadly it's socket 754 so there aren't many motherboards with PCI-E out there.

Does anybody know of any good socket 754 mobos with PCI-E?

Also how much trouble is it replacing the mobo, I'm pretty technically inclined and have changed out quite a bit of my computer, but I have never taken out a CPU or motherboard.

niceguyrichy

won't try and help on the new mobo front

but replacing a mobo isn't that scary a thing to do
static is a killer, so ground yourself

otherwise, all you really need is a manual for the mobo so you know where to plug everything in, and just a little common sense

any specific worries post them here and someone will help you out, but otherwise it shouldn't be a big deal at all
just follow the instructions

william-bacon

It's not too tough.
Take it from a 13 year olds point of view.
A lot of the time, it actually says on the board itself where to plug stuff in.

william-bacon

Sorry I forgot this in my first post, but here is a decent socket 754 PCIe motherboard.


http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...3-F-DT&cat=MBB

mario620

Not hard at all just take your time. Make sure that everything is sitted corretly on it's socket, like the cpu, memory and video card. One thing you might want to upgrade also would be your power supply. Try getting one with at least 400 watts of power. Less head aches down the line.

Dyre Straits

If you've already gotten your fingers dirty working on upgrading and swapping out stuff on the inside of your computer's case, you'll find swapping out the motherboard to be a walk in the park. Honestly, it's not that difficult and I think you'll do a dandy job.

The major consideration is going to be that you should plan to do a complete reformat of your system HD and then a fresh installation of whatever Windows you're using. This is probably the biggest and most important step/s you need to follow. Otherwise, you could end up with conflicts in the Windows Registry that make the swap a bigger headache than you'd wish for.

In my case/s, when I've gone to a new motherboard, I usually just plan on getting a new and bigger HD and use it for the new installation. Once things are up and working, I just add my original HD into the system as a storage drive and delete the Windows directory.

Good luck to you and do post back with any specific questions you might have or problems you may encounter.