New Motherboard/Processor

[rahamanpatrick]

Hey all, quick question. I have a store-bought computer here, a Medion M3 Composer 6000E, I've been upgrading it over the last couple years so everything in it works nicely except the motherboard and the processor.

The BIOS and motherboard are P.O.S. value models and the processor is an aging Pentium D 820. Since I've already got a working setup, case etc. I'm looking to simply swap in a new motherboard and processor. Is this feasible?


I currently have:

4 GB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+
700W PSU
SATA CD/DVD Drive
Seagate Barracuda SATA HDD

[glc]

Yes, as long as the case has a removable I/O shield and does not use a unitized front panel connector - and you choose a motherboard that takes DDR2 ram. Windows will have to be reinstalled.

[AMGrbaowska]

Yes, I would recommend a nice Dual core and Asus mobo...

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor

Mobo: ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

This would work very nicely, but this can be less or more(for better), if you gave us a budget that would help. Also, you should find out if you case supports micro-ATX or normal ATX or both, the board above is a normal ATX.

[rahamanpatrick]

Well, for a budget I'm looking at spending something around $400 - $600, $300 if I'm lucky. But that's Canadian dollars, so $374-$561, $280.

As for a removable I/O shield I assume you're talking about the holes for ports etc. on the back of the case? If so I'm fairly sure they're cut into the metal, so that would be a no. :S

I'm not sure about a unitized front panel connector, I believe it may use one.

Any easy way to determine if it's ATX or micro-ATX? I'm fairly sure it's ATX.

Thanks for the replies!

[glc]

Micro ATX cases have 4 slots for cards, standard ATX has 7.

Why not just buy a new standard ATX case without a power supply? They aren't that expensive.

[rahamanpatrick]

It's Micro ATX then as there are 4 slots.

I suppose I could buy a new case, I was looking to keep the original case and just swap the new components in to make the job easier.

I guess my built in card bay wouldn't work in a new case right?

[glc]

If it's a standard 3.5 or 5.25" form factor, it will work. If not, replacements are cheap.