Potentially looking at a new motherboard - Advice needed
My mobo is now ancient and considering replacing it.
How do I work out what motherboards work well with what processors? As my understanding is, if replacing mobo then processor follows suit? Or have I got that wrong?
If anyone has a link to any handy guides, would be much appreciated.
Depends on what processor & RAM you currently have, and whether there are any suitable motherboards on the market for those parts. If your motherboard is genuinely "ancient" then it's unlikely you'll be able to buy a new motherboard that will work with your existing CPU and RAM, and there's a good chance you'll have to replace all three components - essentially performing a complete rebuild of your computer.
At that point you simply need to make sure that you choose a CPU and motherboard based on the same socket, then get the RAM that the chosen motherboard supports. Most motherboard manufacturers will publish lists of the CPUs that have been tested with their motherboards if you want to have an extra reassurance that your choices are compatible.
Best thing is to tell us what you already have, then prepare to be swamped with recommendations of what to replace it with
Macman (07-01-2016)
Thanks Jim I'll have that info for you later when I get home but I'm sure my mobo was manufactured in 2007. As for the RAM I don't think that will be an issue as I only bought new RAM last year or the year before. Will post the info soon.Originally Posted by scaryjim
Depends on what processor & RAM you currently have, and whether there are any suitable motherboards on the market for those parts. If your motherboard is genuinely "ancient" then it's unlikely you'll be able to buy a new motherboard that will work with your existing CPU and RAM, and there's a good chance you'll have to replace all three components - essentially performing a complete rebuild of your computer.
At that point you simply need to make sure that you choose a CPU and motherboard based on the same socket, then get the RAM that the chosen motherboard supports. Most motherboard manufacturers will publish lists of the CPUs that have been tested with their motherboards if you want to have an extra reassurance that your choices are compatible.
Best thing is to tell us what you already have, then prepare to be swamped with recommendations of what to replace it with
Also worth posting your budget, intended use and what size case you have.
Chances are with something that old that just about any modern desktop would be faster, but how much faster you need is worth some effort working out.
It's not the age of your RAM I'm worried about, it's whether you'll be able to get a motherboard that will support it! A 2007 motherboard will likely be on DDR2 RAM, whereas new motherboards/CPUs tend to use DDR3 RAM. If you can't get a motherboard to take your existing CPU then you might need to upgrade everything, I'm afraid...
The RAM I'm using I'm sure is DDR3.
As above, I was under the impression, new mobo means new PCU. When I get home I'll post the details as I can't remember the parts exactly.
Cool, that'd give you a lot more options. A new mobo doesn't necessarily mean a new CPU; there are new AMD motherboards out there that support CPUs released as far back as 2009! OTOH when you're swapping a motherboard is often a good time to upgrade your CPU anyway.
It's possible, the first DDR3 motherboard chipsets came out in 2007, but they were unusual at that point.
Motherboards have gotten more closely tied to CPUs as time has gone on, these days it's generally one range of CPUs and it's revision. They change every two or three years. If you're looking for a low power system then many of those are no longer socketed at all and motherboard and CPU are bought as a single unit.
Compatibility is generally determined with matching sockets. Intel has recently replaced their LGA 1150 socket with LGA 1151 while AMD have three ranges, AM3+ for their high end processors (which are fairly old these days), FM2+ for the mid-range models and AM1 for the low power models.
AMD are expected to replace FM2+ and AM3+ with AM4 some time this year.
Intel finally moved the memory controller to the CPU. LGA 1151 CPUs support DDR3L (1.35V DDR3) and DDR4. AM4 should support DDR4 and will likely support DDR3 as well, although whether it'll also prefer 1.35V or fully accept the older 1.5V is unknown. All other platforms support DDR3.
Common motherboard from factors these days are ATX, Micro ATX and Mini-ITX. They share mounting points but ATX has seven expansion slots, Micro ATX has four and Mini-ITX just one.
OS Name - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
System Model - GJ312AA-ABU m8170.uk
System Type - x64-based PC
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2394 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date - American Megatrends Inc. 5.04, 23/06/2007
SMBIOS - Version 2.5
And according to a system scan on memory I have:- 4x DDR PC2-5300 (So DDR2 right?)
Yep DDR2, so new motherboard, CPU & ram potentially.
I don't need a high-spec, just need it sufficiently running to allow the likes of Counterstrike, EVE online, Elite Dangerous, Web Browing and streaming i.e. Netflix, NFL Gamepass etc
How much do you want to spend?
Are you looking to re-use the existing case etc?
Do you have a retail or OEM copy of Windows? If it is OEM, then you are supposed to buy a new copy given your existing motherboard isn't actually broken so this is an upgrade not a repair.
Is the machine a pre built one like a DELL?
What power supply does the machine have?
Do you have a graphics card in that machine?
How much do you want to spend? Approx no more than £300 but as less as possible lol.
Are you looking to re-use the existing case etc? - Yes (SST-PS07B USB 3.0 - Silverstone Precision PS07B USB 3.0 Tower Micro-ATX Case with USB 3.0 w/o PSU)
Do you have a retail or OEM copy of Windows? If it is OEM, then you are supposed to buy a new copy given your existing motherboard isn't actually broken so this is an upgrade not a repair. - Windows 7 (Home Premium) 32bit or 64bit versions included?
Is the machine a pre built one like a DELL? - The machine was prebuilt but I've now shoved some of the components into a new case and put in new parts such as ram, GPU etc
What power supply does the machine have? - 500W CM SilentProM RS500AMBAD3
Do you have a graphics card in that machine? - AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
Sounds promising so far...
I'm thinking an i3 in a cheapish motherboard with 8GB of ram should be possible. You may get away with using your existing Windows key, but it sounds like it is OEM and you should budget for a new copy.
If you have an R9 video card then whichever model that is it should be up to the job.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...54w-cpu-retail
How does this look?
What graphics card do you have??
Use GPU-Z as it could be an R9 285,R9 290 or R9 290X!!
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