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Thread ID: 55446 2005-03-10 18:56:00 Upgrading, need Advice pluged_in (7560) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
332868 2005-03-10 18:56:00 Hey Guys

I'll give a quick run down on what happened. I opened my computer
up to clean out the dust, dad comes along, begs to clean the CPU, I
agree, he cleans it down, forces it back in its socket, and bends a few
pins, later snapping them. I had a P4 2000 Celron.

I've gotten over that, and it has lead to me upgrading my computer. I
have researched and have decided to buy a Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9
motherboard, a Geforce 6600GT (Pci-e) and an Athlon64 3000+ (Socket 939).

I just have a few concerns. I have a 300W power supply, and the rest
of my components from my old computer are about 3-4 years old.
The motherboard I'm getting has SATA and ATA 133. My hardrive is a
Seagate 60GB U6 Model ST360020A.

Will I be able to connect this to an ATA 133 cable? I believe my Hardrive is only an ATA 100, but am unsure.

Also, will this power supply be enough to handle my new components?

And finally is there any advice I can get on the actual replacing of the
components? i.e. the Motherboard is my main concern, can you actually
just swap components, or is there major configuration that needs to be done?

Hope this isn't too much, any help would be much appreciated. I just
need piece of mind that it's going to work.

Thanks alot 		pluged_in (7560)
332869 2005-03-10 19:12:00 The power supply will depend on what brand the current one is, cheap PSU's often struggle to meet their power output rating, and what else it is expected to power; CD/DVD, USB devices? printer, scanner, firewire, etc.

The AtA 100 drive will run fine at 100, the board auotmatically detects it and will run it at that bus speed.

Is that the Neo motherboard?

The new motherboard drivers won't be loaded on your drive, so you will probably have a few probelms with that and, possibly some conflicts. But, Windows will hopefully start to give you an opportunity to load those. It would be best to uninstall your current video drivers, at least, using the native Windows drivers before pulling it to bits and installing the new components. Other things to uninstall would be printer, scanner, etc, especially if they are USB. It won't matter what CPU is there, the board and chipset is more critical. 		Murray P (44)
332870 2005-03-10 20:47:00 See here for how little wattage you really need:
www.silentpcreview.com

However, I agree you should have a good quality PSU!

Are you running Win XP? If so, don't just update the drivers - do a complete new reinstall - you'll get problems if you let it update.

I guess your Dad is contributing to the cost? :-) 		pctek (84)
332871 2005-03-10 21:10:00 What OS do you have?

It is recommended that a complete reformat and reinstall of Windows and loading of your new motherboard, graphics card, etc drivers be undertaken after such a system upgrade .

If a format and reinstall is not practical due to the possible loss of files that are not backed up you can perform a repair install instead, if you have Win XP . See the following webpage: . overclockers . com/tips1155/" target="_blank">www . overclockers . com 		FoxyMX (5)
332872 2005-03-10 21:20:00 Ditch the PSU.

HD is fine.

Do you have fast enough ram? (DDR400)

Your comp is pretty much not garenteed to boot after the transplant,so you will need to do a dirty install,and then it will need activation,and then it will still be crap and require a full format and relaod.

Though you could do it in order to back up your gear,then do the format. 		Metla (12)
332873 2005-03-11 08:53:00 To answer a few of your guys questions,

Its not the Neo board (the MSI K8N Neo),
and damn right my Dads contributing to the cost, lol.
I have Windows XP Home, and I don't have any new RAM,
but I'm pretty sure the new board supports my old
Memtek PC2100 256MB RAM (x2). My PSU is an Auriga,
Model 9806B if that helps at all. I haven't got much to
hook up to it, just the inner components, do the scanner
and printer still draw power through the USB cables? (even
though they're hooked up to the wall?)

Thanks for the advice so far guys. It probably won't matter
too much about loss of data, however if it is possible I'd like
to back up some of the files on the comp before a full format.

So without getting a compatible CPU for my old mother board,
it sounds like I can use the new motherboard and once I've got
the files backed up, then I can format, Is that right?

As an afterthought, what is a dirty install? (Like as in, unclean? Without
proper config?) And also, RAM, the numbers after the DDR? They stand
for amount of Pins?

Thanks alot so far 		pluged_in (7560)
332874 2005-03-11 09:03:00 Dirty install just means to load Windows over itself rather then on a clean slate.... Metla (12)
332875 2005-03-11 09:30:00 Definately upgrade the PSU (power supply unit), I would suggest 400W maybe a bit more, and make sure you have enough cooling for the new CPU
As far as the numbers after the DDR, I presume you mean the ...
PC2100 256MB? I am almost certain this means that your RAM speed is 2100 (266Mhz*8b) and you have 256 Megabytes of RAM 		Myth (110)
332876 2005-03-11 09:40:00 one small thing.......is your OS a windows cd or a restore disk? if its a restore disk you may need to get a new copy of windows. tweak'e (69)
332877 2005-03-11 10:21:00 The best way to backup and restore your files is to use the file and settings transfer wizard, copy the files to a seperate hard disk if you have one available (make sure it's equal to or bigger than the size of your Documents & Settings folder), then after formatting and re-installing, reload them using the same in reverse . If you have your hard disk partitioned with enough space on the 2nd partition, then you can use that as the temporary store for your data backup, but you'll have to be doubly careful not to wipe it during the re-install .

Doing a motherboard swap without a re-install is certainly a good way to ensure frustrations, but if you have the same make of motherboard chipset, it can be done with minimal driver updates .

The external USB devices do draw a little power, but if they have their own power source, then you have little or nothing to be concerned about .

Your PC2100 RAM may be a limiting factor for the speed of the CPU's front side bus . It will work, but you may not achieve the full benefit of the fast CPU .

Concerning the power supply, some taiwanese manufacturers are known to ask their customers "what wattage stickers would you like us to label the PSU with?" . If your PSU does not deliver enough, then your systems overall stability will be directly affected, but, the PSU will only struggle if you have pretty much every connector feeding some device and they're all active at the same time . (the shoe-box PC's run fine on a 230-250w PSU)

Cheers 		m_pav (6721)
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