Motherboards Buyers Guide
What you won't get is a new hard drive, optical drive, or operating system, though the new motherboard gives you the option of upgrading these components later. When you do it yourself, you choose the make, model, and cost that serve you best, rather than settling for what's preloaded in an off-the-shelf machine.
For as little as $200 to $350, you can purchase a motherboard with a new Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2 processor and 1 Gb of RAM. That's hundreds of dollars less than the retail cost of a midrange PC that supports PCIE 2.0 graphics cards, Serial ATA drives, and the other advanced features that your new motherboard is likely to offer.
Motherboard Buyers Guide
Size matters: Most desktop PCs sold in the last few years conform to the ATX form factor (as do most motherboards), but not all do. Many small or ultrabudget systems are based on other designs, and big-name vendors aren't ATX-compatible. Refer to your computer's documentation to see if the new motherboard will fit inside its case.
Find the right CPU: The optimal combination of CPU price and performance may lead you to early versions of Athlon X2 and Core 2 Duo processors. Make sure you buy box version. With that you can get full warranty. Retail boxed versions of 2 GHz to 3 GHz Athlon X2 processors cost less than $100, while Core 2 Duo processors E2xxx, E4xxx and E7xxx cost less than $130. OEM versions of both (that's minus the fancy box, the cooling fan, and sometimes a warranty) may be priced considerably lower.
Be picky: Steer clear of no-name vendors and buy from established manufacturers only.
Pay for power: Your old PC's power supply may not have enough wattage or may lack the 12-volt amperage needed to run some Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 motherboards. Check the new motherboard's requirements against the specs on your power supply. If in doubt, buy a power supply that generates 400 watts or more.
Faster is better: A motherboard's frontside bus speed is the rate at which data moves between the CPU and RAM. FSB speed can have a greater effect on overall system performance than listed CPU speed, which is a multiple of the FSB speed. The faster the FSB, the better.
Sight and sound off: Some low-cost motherboards have sound and graphics functions built in. The quality of these integrated functions is often marginal. Make sure that any built-in sound and graphics can be disabled, and that separate audio and graphics boards can be added.
For as little as $200 to $350, you can purchase a motherboard with a new Core 2 Duo or Athlon X2 processor and 1 Gb of RAM. That's hundreds of dollars less than the retail cost of a midrange PC that supports PCIE 2.0 graphics cards, Serial ATA drives, and the other advanced features that your new motherboard is likely to offer.
Motherboard Buyers Guide
Size matters: Most desktop PCs sold in the last few years conform to the ATX form factor (as do most motherboards), but not all do. Many small or ultrabudget systems are based on other designs, and big-name vendors aren't ATX-compatible. Refer to your computer's documentation to see if the new motherboard will fit inside its case.
Find the right CPU: The optimal combination of CPU price and performance may lead you to early versions of Athlon X2 and Core 2 Duo processors. Make sure you buy box version. With that you can get full warranty. Retail boxed versions of 2 GHz to 3 GHz Athlon X2 processors cost less than $100, while Core 2 Duo processors E2xxx, E4xxx and E7xxx cost less than $130. OEM versions of both (that's minus the fancy box, the cooling fan, and sometimes a warranty) may be priced considerably lower.
Be picky: Steer clear of no-name vendors and buy from established manufacturers only.
Pay for power: Your old PC's power supply may not have enough wattage or may lack the 12-volt amperage needed to run some Core 2 Duo and Athlon X2 motherboards. Check the new motherboard's requirements against the specs on your power supply. If in doubt, buy a power supply that generates 400 watts or more.
Faster is better: A motherboard's frontside bus speed is the rate at which data moves between the CPU and RAM. FSB speed can have a greater effect on overall system performance than listed CPU speed, which is a multiple of the FSB speed. The faster the FSB, the better.
Sight and sound off: Some low-cost motherboards have sound and graphics functions built in. The quality of these integrated functions is often marginal. Make sure that any built-in sound and graphics can be disabled, and that separate audio and graphics boards can be added.
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