Upgrades

[kishen]

Hi,

im new and not great with computers so please take it easy with me.

Last year my friend built me a shuttle computer (soltek Qbic), and i now want to upgrade it. I want a motherboard which takes the new AMD x 2's and has PCI-X. Is this possible? i saw this site in america that has something, but dont know if its right, the link is http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...=S451-3204%20E.

Do can you suggest anything else? or any other boards? anything?

Please help!!! I really need to upgrade. my machine is running so slow. I dont want to change case as i love it too much.

Thank you so much

kishen

Thread is old and locked - MidiMoto

[Jason]

Hi,

I looked at that board on another site. From what I can see it has an AGP 8X slot for graphics not a PCI Express slot. So you'll have to look around if you want PCI Express. Also, have you tried other ways to speed up your existing system rather than going for an expensive upgrade?
I had a PC a few months back that had practically gound to a halt. I was considering getting rid of it but instead I added some RAM and cleaned the massive Spyware infection on it. I've upgraded since but the old PC still runs perfectly today. Just an idea.

[kishen]

i ve already got 1.5gb ram so dont really want to put more in.

the main problem with a site a linked before is it does no give to motherboard model, and they dont sell it seperatly as i already have a case and stuff, really only want a new mobo, processor and a 35gb 15krpm hdd to load windows onto.

do you know where i can get the small mobo for the dual core processors from?

cheers

[Jason]

I've seen a few on www.kingli.com. Have a look around there and you might find one that suits you. Other than that I wouldn't know any off hand.

[kishen]

hey, what do you think of this motherboard?

http://www.directron.com/tforce6100939.html

[syphus]

Biostar is the subsidiary company of MSI, and have very low quality hardware.

The combination of things you’re looking for:

• Micro ATX (µATX)
• Socket 939 with Athlon X2 support
• PCI Express

Are not difficult to find at all.

These products stand out in my mind:

• ASUS A8N-VM
• ASUS A8N-VM CSM
• Gigabyte K8MNF-9

Avoid companies like Biostar, Axper, Foxconn, ECS etc, for micro ATX motherboards, as they usually clean up in this category by manufacturing ultra-low quality parts.

Your 1536MB of RAM is a side concern. If you have this in the shape of three 512MB modules, you will not be able to use the Dual Channel feature of socket 939 Athlon processors, which will halve your memory bandwidth and impact performance significantly. Dual Channel only works in pairs, so to have 1.5GB of RAM you’d need two 512MB modules and two 256MB modules, or an additional 512MB module to make 2048MB/2GB.

[kishen]

the problem is most of the motherboard you listed are 25cm by 25cm, but the my cas needs a motherboard which is 25cm by 20cm. i've seen these cases with really good motherboards:

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605026
and
http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=604664

but do u know where i can get the motherboards from this system?

do you think i will have to buy a new case to get the motherboard?

thanks

kishen

[kishen]

hi once again, i promise this will the last time on this topic i bother you good folk...but i have one more question. do you think this will work?...
i have a case like this - http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=1720 and i love it to bits, but i want to upgrade it.

I want to buy this case - http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=605026 and swap the motherboards around.

I will then build a new machine on the new motherboard but in my old machine, and put the old systiem in the new case and sell to help pay for the new system.

The main problem i can see is if the new motherboard will have the same screw holes as my old case. also do i need a better power supply as i will have a dual core and better gfx card or will the power supply from my old system be fine?

i really appreciate your input. thank you

kishen