Upgrading Need Input

[goodz4u2]

I have an old pc laying around and want to put a new mother board in it to bring it up to date as a pc for my daughter. What are some good mid range boards? Prefer AMD prossors

 

[Grandmaster]

One thread will suffice.

 

[Admiral Michael]

How old are we talking? Because if she just plans on surfin, chattin and use office apps then a P3 would suffice.

 

[goodz4u2]

How old are we talking? Because if she just plans on surfin, chattin and use office apps then a P3 would suffice.

Pretty old AMD-K6 300mhz 98os

 

[LeeJend]

Ouch! Lets start the long sad story now...

First you need to check if the power supply and case are ATX style vs AT style. AT has the power cord running up to the front panel. ATX the power cord plugs into the power supply rear. If it is an AT case you need to buy a new case and power supply or start looking for some really old MB's.

1) If the power supply is less than 300W there may be a problem. 250W may work, 200W won't be enough. Also if the power supply is too old it will have 2 seperate connectors that go side by side instead of 1-20 pin double row connector that the new MBs require.

2) Next issue is cooling. If the case is a mini ATX tower then the Power Supply may sit right over the processor. If it does the larger heatsink/fan required for a K7 (Duron/Athlon/Sempron) may be pushed right up against the power supply and not get enough air.

3) MB rear access. The newer cases have a large pop out adapter plate to make the case holes match with various MB connectors. Make sure your case has this. If not you have to find an old style MB which could get difficult.

On the bright side the mounting hole patterns on most MBs are universal now and even the cheapest MB supports USB ports, LAN and on board sound.

As for what MB to recommend.
-What speed CPU are you looking at and how much do you want to spend?
-Do you plan on future upgrades as your daughter gets older?
-Will gaming ever be an issue?
-Do you want built in video on the MB or do you have a video card that will support at least 800x600 (preferably 1024x768) 16 million color. (The early K6's often did not.) 800x600 is barely usable for web browsing the way they design web pages now.

 

[goodz4u2]

Ouch! Lets start the long sad story now...

First you need to check if the power supply and case are ATX style vs AT style. AT has the power cord running up to the front panel. ATX the power cord plugs into the power supply rear. If it is an AT case you need to buy a new case and power supply or start looking for some really old MB's.

1) If the power supply is less than 300W there may be a problem. 250W may work, 200W won't be enough. Also if the power supply is too old it will have 2 seperate connectors that go side by side instead of 1-20 pin double row connector that the new MBs require.

2) Next issue is cooling. If the case is a mini ATX tower then the Power Supply may sit right over the processor. If it does the larger heatsink/fan required for a K7 (Duron/Athlon/Sempron) may be pushed right up against the power supply and not get enough air.

3) MB rear access. The newer cases have a large pop out adapter plate to make the case holes match with various MB connectors. Make sure your case has this. If not you have to find an old style MB which could get difficult.

On the bright side the mounting hole patterns on most MBs are universal now and even the cheapest MB supports USB ports, LAN and on board sound.

As for what MB to recommend.
-What speed CPU are you looking at and how much do you want to spend?
-Do you plan on future upgrades as your daughter gets older?
-Will gaming ever be an issue?
-Do you want built in video on the MB or do you have a video card that will support at least 800x600 (preferably 1024x768) 16 million color. (The early K6's often did not.) 800x600 is barely usable for web browsing the way they design web pages now.

wow thats a lot of good info.

I'm not really trying to put much $ in to machine as will be buying a new one for her when she gets expericenced with ising one.

current stats Asus SPAX 66MHz mother board, 64MB sddram, AMD K6-2/300MHz. So as you can see not really internet friendly with a cable connection. Basicall all I want is for the machaine to handel the net.

Thinking about getting a board off ebay maybe a k63+ and over clocking it and running 256 MB SDDRAM

 

[LeeJend]

Ok, the SPAX has the right type of power supply connector so you're good to go on that.

There are still MB floating around that use SDRAM or DIMMS.

You will need a MB with onboard video since the SPAX has on board video.

The only risk is if the power supply is placed over the CPU socket. The CPU sockets on the newer MB are up near the back panel connectors. Your SPAX is in the center of the board. You can reduce risk there by using a low power chip like an old Duron. The Heatsink Fan is smaller.

As a matter of fact I have exactly what you need sitting on my work bench. It is a PCCHips MB uses DIMM or SDRAM, has built in video, LAN, USB2 and on baord sound. The model number is M825S V3.1 .

I don't know about either of these sellers. $41 for a new MB.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__PC_C..._VIDEO_AUDIO_LAN_DDR_FS,__9955775/search=m825

A low power CPU with HSF should run about $50-60 new less on Ebay if you don't mind the risk.

PS Mine is not for sale. I use it to test damaged harwdare.