Updating motherboard

[CrazyMedic]

I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade just the motherboard on my computer. I bought my computer a while ago, and I wanted to add some upgrades to it, but my present mobo only has 1 PCI slot and no USB ports. Thus, I want to do a minimally expensive upgrade, and figured that changing just the mobo would be a good alternative. I am wondering though whether I will be able to just move my Pentium III chip from the old mobo and put it into the new one (i'm pretty sure that it is possible, but I just wanted to check with someone who's had some experience dealing w/ such issues).
Also, if an upgrade of MOBO is a good option, what should I look for in it, so that it is able to support my memory chips and my Pentium III chip.
Thanks

 

[SpeedTester]

What type of system do you have Ie. Dell, Hp, Gateway?
Give us as much info on all your components you have in your system and we will try and help you.

 

[CrazyMedic]

It's a generic system (no brand name). PentiumIII, 450Mhz, Two DIMM ram chips 128Mb and 256Mb (100MHz), on-board sound and video.
I have a Western Digital HD - 20Gb, A Cd-drive and a TDK CD-rewriter. Floppy drive, Linksys ethernet card on my only PCI slot. A mouse taking up my only serial port.


The manufacturer of the MOBO is TYAN, as I recall from last openning my computer. However, I can't really provide more information about motherboard without openning the computer, can I? If that information would be helpful, I can open it up, but not at 1 am

thanks for your help

 

[Wayward]

A great bang for the buck upgrade right now would be an ECS K7S5A mobo, 1.4 T-Bird, and some PC2100 DDR ram. This is the upgrade I just did and cost a little over $200. The mobo doesn't have any ISA slots but does have an AGP slot and 5 PCI slots.

If you only want another mobo with more PCI slots I think your going to be looking at a used board, something like an Asus P2B. I just upgraded form one of those with a P3 550 and it has 4 PCI slots, 3 ISA slots, and an AGP slot.

 

[GregANDTCH]

Hey Crazymedic,
Read this page:
MB ID

This page too:
More
Hope it helps

 

[Athlon4all]

You may or may not need a new case/ps. But here's what I'd get (including case):

ECS K7S5A $62 Newegg
Duron 800 OEM $44 Newegg
Cooler Master EP5-6i11 $8 Newegg
256MB PC2100 DDR $40 Crucial (Free shipping)
Hercules 3D Prophet 4000XT Video Card $69 Newegg
ENLIGHT EN-72370X3 300W ATX Case $47 Newegg
Total: $295.44 shipped to new York

Good luck, any more q's feel free to pm me. God bless!

 

[CrazyMedic]

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

So the chance of me getting by with only a MOBO upgrade are pretty slim? I'm a bit tight on money right now, so I was hoping to limit this upgrade to $70...

thanks

 

[Athlon4all]

Well a mobo alone isn't gonna improve performance at all really. The video is probably a bottleneck, but just a mobo won't do. You'd need a new vid card, the CPU could use a lift too, but again, a Mobo won't help, so I'd save up and get a full fledge upgrade.