How to pick the right motherboard? 4

[jetar]

I have an old HP Pavilion desktop whose motherboard recently went bad on me. I am looking to pick up a new one, probably on Ebay (let me know what you think about that as well) and wanted to know how to go about making sure that I pick one that is compatible. I am pretty sure it is just a size issue although are there compatabilty concerns with my peripherals, ie cd burner and dvd drive?

I am looking for a motherboard to use with an AMD processor, probably in the 2000+ range.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[franklin97355]

Get a new MOBO and a new case. It will save you many problems in the long run.

 

[paparazi]

franklin97355 has it right!
The HP Pavilion, I'm pretty sure was a smallish midi case using a mini ATX motherboard, most of them had like AMD K62 500's or similar spec, so you have several problems!

1) You would have to buy a mini ATX socket A motherboard, something like an Asrock K7VM4/K7S41 which are all in one motherboards with mediocre performance and limited upgrade path.

2) The power supply is likely to be on the low side (200/235watts) and not adequate for you newer higher powered replacement parts. At the same time HP PSU's may be proprietory, that is to say the wiring/size of the unit might be unique to HP.

So buy a new midi ATX case with a PSU of 350/400watts and your choises for a replacement motherboard will be vast.

Motherboards with the Via KT600 chipset offer a good blend of performance, modern features at a modest low price point.
Something like: Gigabye's GA7-VT600-L or the Asus A7V600

Martin


Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[ceh4702]

It is like you have to build a new computer. Often the motherboards and power supplies are proprietary. Sometimes the proprietary hardware Costs 2 to 3 times what it should just to replace it. We had an IBM computer with a bad power supply and to replace the power supply, it costs us $200.00. For that much money we could just have bought a new case and motherboard.

This is why a lot of people do not like proprietary mainstream computers.

Sometimes the computer has a Emergency recovery disk and the OS will not load without the original motherboard or something goofey like that.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[MaxPipeline]

I have to agree with all the others are saying. It's not worth it in my opinion to want to save the HP case and PSU. There are alot of really good deals on barebones kits out there. Fry's usually has some pretty good ECS mobo/AMD CPU combo deals. Often for under $100. Then you just buy a generic case and 300+ wt power supply and this will be much better than attempting to salvage the HP case.

 

[jetar]

All excellent advice guys, thanks for all the help.

I think I am planning on taking your warnings and just bagging the idea of rebuilding the HP b/c it is mostly proprietary parts and I think I would end up spending more money and time with less return than if I just went ahead and got a new case.

Thanks again.