Which mobo/CPU to upgrade to?

[Taz]

I have a 3-year old home-built AMD Athlon 64 (S939) system that I want to upgrade (as the motherboard is faulty and reports a CPU failure - I believe that there is a faulty connection or broken track on the PCB). I'm thinking of a motherboard/CPU change as I want to re-use the following:

- Thermaltak Tsunami case
- nVidia GeForce 7800GT PCI-E graphics card
- 2 x 74GB WD Raptor 10K-rpm SATA HDDs
- 2 x LG DVD-writers
- 2 x 1GB Corsair PC320 DDR DIMMs
- an assortment of PCI cards (eg. 4-port USB, D-Link DWL-G520 wireless card)

Considering that these are fairly old components, will a new motherboard/CPU be able to make use of these components? The HDDs are NTFS-formatted.

Also, I have Win XP Home OEM installed so i'll probably need a new OS - should I get XP again or 'upgrade' to Vista (again, OEM edition). On that point, would the upgrade edition of Vista work if I changed the motherboard and CPU on the existing system?

Finally, I use the system for mainly for Web surfing, email, a little bit of graphics editting (still pictures, not video). Hence, i'm after recommendations for a motherboard and CPU (probably Intel) that would do the job and make use of my existing hardware.

[Rishi]

Most of the stuff you have would work in a new mobo but its another questions as to how well it would work. It sounds like it should be fine for your needs. Although I would probably reccomend sticking to XP as it will be cheaper for you to have a more rapid system.

One thing which you havent mentioned is your budget?

After your budget is known reccomendations can be given To be honest I would think a mid range Core2Duo setup would be ample enough for your needs

[aidanjt]

You'll be hard pressed to find a DDR1 motherboard these days without resorting to fleabay. But everything else wont give you any bother. Your XP OEM license should be transferable as your old motherboard is dead and the new one will be a replacement, if you want to hold off going for Vista.

As for motherboard, an Abit IP35 series (whichever suits your budget/tastes). And probably a Q6600 CPU if your budget can streach that far.

[Rishi]

You'll be hard pressed to find a DDR1 motherboard these days without resorting to fleabay.

I automatically assumed it was DDR2!

Maybe it would be a plan to buy a bundle then: Mobo, CPU and RAM in one package

[aidanjt]

I automatically assumed it was DDR2!

S939 and PC3200 should have been the give-away

It's not much of a problem anyway, DDR2 is so obsurdly cheap these days, 4GB can be had for less than a score. So it's not all bad news

[Taz]

Thanks for the replies so far. Some answers to questions raised and some further questions:

1. Budget for mobo/CPU: up to around £300

2. CPU-Z reports my memory part number as Corsair CMX1024-3200C2. Is this DDR or DDR2? If if its DDR then I take it that it won't work with current motherboards?

3. How do I transfer my XP Home OEM license to the new motherboard?

4. I've been reading the Hexus review of the Intel Core 2 Duo E6750. It's a pretty good review. This can be had for around £115 from Scan so is well within my budget. Which would be a good motherboard for this CPU?

I'm hoping for Scan to do a mobo/CPU/RAM combo in a Today Only offer soon. I hope someone from Scan read this!

By the way, it'll be an interim upgrade just to see me into next year when i'll be buying a new iMac to replace my PC.

TIA...

[aidanjt]

1) Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £165
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £76
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £45
Total: £286
Everything you need + under budget, and will kill your future iMac in performance, you could even chuck in another 2GB of RAM if you think you need it and not go much over. (Note to Scan staff, think you could add the name of items viewed in the <title> tags? )

2) It's definately DDR1. And accounted for above

3) Just install XP, try the internet activation, if it prompts you to phone the activation service just do that, you may have to talk to a rep, just tell them that your old motherboard is in silicon heaven and this is a 'motherboard' replacement.

4) Q6600 has 4x2.4Ghz cores and 8MB of cache, nuff said.

[s_kinton]

I would sell the DDR1 you have now, as they fetch a good price second hand (Id say ~&#163;42 for what you have). Enough to cover the equivalent purchase of DDR2 and just buy an intel based system.

With the budget you provided above, a Q6600 and a nice Abit board would be easily within reach and make your old system look very slow indeed.

Edit: aidanjt's suggestions are exactly what I was thinking above.

[Taz]

1) Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £165
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £76
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK - £45
Total: £286
Everything you need + under budget, and will kill your future iMac in performance, you could even chuck in another 2GB of RAM if you think you need it and not go much over. (Note to Scan staff, think you could add the name of items viewed in the <title> tags? )

2) It's definately DDR1. And accounted for above

3) Just install XP, try the internet activation, if it prompts you to phone the activation service just do that, you may have to talk to a rep, just tell them that your old motherboard is in silicon heaven and this is a 'motherboard' replacement.

4) Q6600 has 4x2.4Ghz cores and 8MB of cache, nuff said.

Thanks for that! That sounds like the way to go.

As for XP, I already have that installed on one of my Raptors. Would that still work just by plugging it into the new motherboard? I assume that the WGA would kick in and detect the hardware change and I would have to call MS to resolve the situation, but I want to avoid having to reinstall the OS if I can.

[Rishi]

Could sell of your existing gear, buy the setup shown by aidanjt and use the extra money to get a nice CPU cooler and push the Q6600 even further

[aidanjt]

As for XP, I already have that installed on one of my Raptors. Would that still work just by plugging it into the new motherboard? I assume that the WGA would kick in and detect the hardware change and I would have to call MS to resolve the situation, but I want to avoid having to reinstall the OS if I can.

You could try, but I doubt it would even boot in safe mode, and WGA will definately kick in even if it did, and it would be a crazy critical mass of driver removals and installation. Generally after a motherboard swap a reinstall is the only way to go, a Windows reality unfortunately.

[Taz]

^ Yes, I didn't consider the drivers. I still have the original CD so I guess I would have to reinstall it. Thanks for that advice, it could have saved me a lot of frustration!

[aidanjt]

No problem at all

[freddie]

i see, you might be able to sell your ram if you live near a store like computer exchange or the like. At least you'll get some money for it, might even be able to swap it for some ddr2!

the other stuff seem alright for a cheap upgrade. its not going to be a big performer, but maybe consider amd energy efficient range, or a e2000 series intel. for both you can get a motherboard and cpu combo for less than &#163;100.

if this upgrade is short term than stick with your current operating system, unless your going for 4gb ram when you'll need 64bit to recognise it.

[Taz]

if this upgrade is short term than stick with your current operating system, unless your going for 4gb ram when you'll need 64bit to recognise it.

It's a forced upgrade due to a failed/failing motherboard (it doesn't detect the CPU on power-up most of the time). I just need the PC to tide me over into next year and I don't really want to spend a great deal at this time of the year, what with Christmas approaching it's going to be heavy on the wallet.

If I can keep the PC going for another six months or so then I can plan for a proper upgrade later next year.

[aidanjt]

You'll probably find the Q6600 will give you years of good computing anyway