Once you determine the style of motherboard you will need to
decide on the featurs you require. You will also have to decide if
you want to buy a Packard Bell motherboard or another brand.
The Packard Bell motherboards could have a better fit in your case,
but you may pay more. There are a few venders that will sell you
PB motherboards, see my veder list on my links
page. While non Packard Bell motherboards will give you a wider
range of features to choose from while selecting a new motherboard.
Selecting a motherboard is like buying a new computer your selection
will also determine the upgrade path that you can choose in the future.
I will only discuss a few of the major points because there are too many
features to talk about on this web page, I would suggest you try some of
the great motherboard web pages to lean more about all your options.
Depending on how much new stuff you want to buy for your new PC you
will have to examine the following carefully.
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Dimensions of your current motherboard - you will need to make sure
your new motherboard is the same size or ver close to the smae size.
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Also look at the physical and electronic compatibility of riser cards and
riser card connectors. I don't know alot about this subject,
but it is important for you to use your PCI slots.
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CPU - If you want to keep your current CPU then you will need to
make sure your new motherboard will accomidate it.
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If you have a Socket 5 upgrade to a socket 7 that is MMX compatable.
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Don't buy a Slot One (Pentium II) motherboard if you want to use socket
7 CPU's
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If you find a LPX Pentum II motherboard "pay extra close attention to
ventilation of the CPU inside the case, adding an extra fan to blow across
the CPU, even if the CPU has its own fans so stick with socket 7
if you have an LPX form factor" - Newsgroup post.
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BIOS - This is critical many Packard Bell system max out on the upgrade
path because Intel does not make new Socket 7 chips and the BIOS on a lot
of PB systems was crippled by Packard Bell on Intels request to support
only Intel chips.
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Look for motherboards that support AMD, Cyrix and IDT processors this will
let you upgrade more in the future. Third party BIOS is not a good
as having the original manufacture support the BIOS.
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Check out the features of the BIOS the BIOS can control many feature of
your motherboard. Some high end motherboards even let you watch the
processor temperature to prevent over heating.
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Also be sure that theres is a bios recovery procedure for any motherboard
you buy.
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CLOCK MULTIPLIERS - This is important because it will allow you to
upgrade in the future,l but it is not the most critical because you can
always use a Powerleap adapter to increase toe clcok multiplier on Socket
5 and Socket 7 mother boards.
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BUS SPEED - This is critical. Make sure that the new motherboard
at least supports 66 MHz. If you can find motherboards that give
you 75 MHz, 83MHz, 100 MHz 112 MHz and maybe even higher then spend the
little extra on them. The higer the bus speed goes the higher the
potential performance of the motherboard and the better your chances of
overclcoking a CPU.
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RAM - Well if you don't want to buy more RAM then you better make sure
your new motherboard supports your current RAM.
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If you have SIMMS and want to keep using them stick with SIMMS.
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If you are willing to buy more RAM then you may want to upgrade to a motherboard
with 128 Pin DIMMS.
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You may even find motherboards that support both DIMMS and SIMMS, what
you need to ask about these systms is can you use both the SIMMS and the
DIMMS in the system at the same time.
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VIDEO - A lot of Packard Bell motherboards came with the video on the motherboard.
You will basically have two choices with these
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You may want to get a new motherboard that has the video on the motherboard
like the system you are replacing
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or you may perfer to buy a separate video card and put it into the PCI
slot or into the AGP slot if the motherboard has one.
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SOUND - There is even a sysms or two that has the sound on the motherboard
and if that is the case you will have to get a sound card or buy a unit
with the sound on the motherboard.