Im planning on upgrading my mobo in a couple months and i just need to know if theres anything that has to be done before making the switch or can i just change them and run the system smoothly.
2006-10-14 05:06:08 · 10 answers · asked by sportsboy1713 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Compatibility is going to be one of your main issues here, one of the first things you should look at is your RAM, if you intend to buy new RAM with your new motherboard that is going to be the best idea, however if you try to get away with using the old stuff you can have some costly setbacks. Along with making sure that the RAM is of the same design type, make sure that the bus speed on the RAM is at least as fast as the bus speed of the motherboard. If not than it will slow your whole system down. You will of course want to check other components such as your video card and sound cards to make sure that the new system will support them.
Second you need to look at your case dynamics and make sure that your new motherboard will fit. Some older/proprietary cases won't support newer mb designs. Same with your power supply, you are going to want to make sure that it has the proper connectors for your new mb.
Finally and probably most important is to do a thorough backup of all information on your hard disk. Though nowadays Windows is much better about making hardware changes without reinstalling there can still be many problems. When you finally make the switch make sure that you boot into safe mode and install the new mb drivers from there. Once that is done you can go ahead and boot into windows but make sure that you give the system plenty of time on that first boot to recognize and install all the new hardware. And of course once all that is done you will likely need to re-activate windows, yet another anti-piracy thing that Microsoft does now. By using these steps to make the switch you can hopefully avoid a lengthy and painstaking re-install of windows.
2006-10-14 05:35:35 · answer #1 · answered by Missing_Link 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The most important thing is to make sure that each piece of hardware will be compatible with the new motherboard. This includes processor, video card, memory modules, and any extra cards you may have. Check whether your harddisk is SATA or PATA. PATA interface will have a ribbon cable about two inches wide, while SATA will have small cable, approximately 3/8 inch. Or just get a mobo that supports both. Optical drives (CD/DVD) are pretty much generic, as are the majority of power supplies.
Some hardware/mobo combinations can tend to be buggy. Do some research on your specific parts and the mobo you're looking to buy.
I'll tell you right now, though, that if you have a Dell, you're SOL. Their parts are proprietary and are designed so that you can only replace it with another Dell board.
2006-10-14 05:23:57 · answer #2 · answered by awatts30 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are just switching, make a plan of those other components that need to be transferred to the new motherboard. It's almost always easier to do that outside the case - are you thinking about a new case too ? Anyway, bear in mind if you add video cards etc. to the new motherboard, before installing it, that it must clear all protuding objects on the inside of the case (PSU etc).
Also, if you haven't already upgraded, changing your HD from ribbons to cables makes life MUCH easier & it improves airflow, which helps keep the machine cool.
Once the hardware change has been completed successfully (e.g. no beep codes), expect to have to take time confirming BIOS & O/S settings. It might help to take screen shots of BIOS & System screens to show what your settings were on the old mother board.
And finally, if your heat control is marginal, you might want to monitor that problem after the install & see if there's an issue (I had a problem with a new video card, that affected airflow & I got major problems in zone 2. I moved it to another expansion slot & installed extra cooling & it was just fine.
2006-10-14 05:14:43 · answer #3 · answered by dryheatdave 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The other answers are all good things to do. Defintely make sure you BACKUP YOUR DATA first. It's also very important to make sure that your new motherboard works with all your old hardware. For example, if your new MB has a different kind of memory, then you'd have to buy new memory as well. Once you install the new MB Windows is probably going to want you to install a bunch of new drivers, so be patient and keep the Windows CD handy.
2006-10-14 05:27:46 · answer #4 · answered by themanno5 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a AT form factor motherboard you will need to stay with an AT motherboard. Easiest way to tell is to check the power connection from the power supply to the motherboard. AT motherboards have two power connections, P8 and P9.
An ATX motherboard only has one, P1. Be sure all your expansion cards will fit the board you have in mind as well as your Ram, if you have an older board it may have simms, newer boards support dimms. Also need to be sure the processer socket on the new board supports your current cpu.
Do your research and you should be okay.
Good luck!
2006-10-14 05:23:28 · answer #5 · answered by Frank A 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well before you get a motherboard make sure all of the hardware yo u currently have will be compatible with the motherboard. Other than that, I don't know what you could do because I've never changed a motherboard.
2006-10-14 05:09:21 · answer #6 · answered by earlsquareling 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you have a small amount of RAM, i suggest you upgrade that to at least 1 gig/ maybe 2 if u can afford it. secondly, the more applications you have running the slower your system will be. running intense games that require a lot of ram and then running music and then adding something like MSN to it will slow your system dramatically. Doing this is like asking someone to play table tennis while eating their dinner. which is kinda hard to do. So your system will attempt it and go very slow. Hope this helps
2016-05-22 01:30:24 · answer #7 · answered by Carly 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
obviously check for compatibility of the new MB you wanna buy with your existing hardware
check your HDD partitions..where the OS is installed...
if you have 2 HDDs, check for master and secondary drives
remember all the components, note it down where they connected and for HDD which one...
better make sure you have the OS CD
now it is important for you to back up your important data to disc...in case anything go wrong...
you may not be able to boot your existing OS
Dont worry, dont reinstall the OS
Simply repair the OS using the OS CD
you may be able to boot from it
The above may work with AMD to AMD upgrade and P to P upgrade :-)
2006-10-14 05:18:39 · answer #8 · answered by realdan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You must reconfigure Windows to work with the new motherboard and its components because not all motherboards use the same hardware abstraction layer (HAL), integrated device electronics (IDE) controllers, basic input/output system (BIOS), and other components.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824125/en-us
2006-10-14 05:24:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
first of all u have to check out is ur processor is compateble with the new motherboard and all other hardwares like cards or devices all the slots awailable in ur m.board which u need.
2006-10-14 05:36:12 · answer #10 · answered by paradise 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋