Would this be an upgrade?

[strep3241]

Somebody I know gave me a desktop to look at. He said he thought he hooked some wires up wrong but I didn't find anything wrong. It started up and ran fine.

The computer he has is a prebuilt, not sure of the model, doesn't say anywhere on the case. The system properties says it is manufactured by Proteva. This is a pretty old system running Windows 98, a AMD K6 3d cpu, 10gb hd and 252mb of ram. The only thing he wants to do with it is use internet for ebay and maybe email.

Now he gave me a Socket A 462 motherboard, an AMD sempron cpu and I think 1.5 gigs of ram(1 stick says 512mb and the other stick does not say but it has 1G on it which I assume means 1 gig) that he got from someone else. Not even sure if it is working.

Would I be able to swap out motherboards? Would it fit in the case without doing any modifying? How much of an upgrade would it be?

 

[mfenn]

It would be a huge upgrade. You'll likely need to put something like 2K or XP on it though.

 

[strep3241]

What about fitting in the same case?

 

[Davidh373]

well, we wouldn't know that without some model details.

 

[strep3241]

The only thing I could find is it says Proteva, Inc HSN 31 under system properties. If that is not it, where would I find the model number? The guy who owns it said it has been sitting in a garage for a while so he most likely does not have any books for it. The Socket A 462 board is micro-atx form factor. I am not sure of the one that is installed now, I do know it is a socket 7 board.

He does not have internet right now and he wants to get DSL just so he can search ebay and use email. Would there be a problem hooking DSL up to this machine?

 

[jackschmittusa]

As long as the case is ATX style, I would imagine the new mb would fit. Do you have an i/o plate for the board?

You might need a new psu. If Ethernet is not built in, you will need a n.i.c. to connect to the internet.

Video? Built in on the mbs or not? If not, what card in the old one?

Found drivers for the newer board?

Have a suitable hsf for the socket 462? Heatsink compound?

For the stated purposes, it should be OK.

 

[strep3241]

As long as the case is ATX style, I would imagine the new mb would fit. Do you have an i/o plate for the board?

You might need a new psu. If Ethernet is not built in, you will need a n.i.c. to connect to the internet.

Video? Built in on the mbs or not? If not, what card in the old one?

Found drivers for the newer board?

Have a suitable hsf for the socket 462? Heatsink compound?

For the stated purposes, it should be OK.

How do I know if the case is ATX style? Yes I do have the i/o plate for the new board.

Why do you think I would need a new PSU? The only thing I can find about wattage is it says +5 and +3.3v shall not exceed 100 watts. I know that is low but you don't think that would be enough to power the new motherboard? Ethernet is built in so I am good on that part.

The video is built in to the motherboard.

Yes I found drivers for the board, video, chipset, sound, and lan. They are dated pretty recent too, 12-16-10.

The board came with the cpu installed along with a heatsink installed and memory installed as well.

I don't really know if I am going to do this. I was just curious if it would be possible. If I did do anything, I would probably have to reinstall Windows and I would bet that he does not have the Windows cd and he probably does not want to spend the money either. He is not even sure the newer motherboard is working. I would have to go through all this and the board end up being dead.

 

[Davidh373]

micro-atx form factor

That is what we needed to know.

a simple google search turned this up... -_-;


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX

 

[mfenn]

How do I know if the case is ATX style? Yes I do have the i/o plate for the new board.

It is either going to be ATX, MicroATX, or the really old Baby AT. Best way to tell is to look at the board that's currently in it. If it has a 20-pin ATX connector and the boards are the same physical size, then you are all set.

 

[strep3241]

I found a notepad file that shows the specs of the computer and it says the case is Micro-atx style. So the second motherboard should fit, right? And I am assuming that the motherboard installed is a micro-atx board or smaller. An ATX board will not fit in an micro-atx case, right?

By the looks of it, the two motherboards are the same size. I did not put them back to back and just from eyeballing it, they look like the same size.

I talked to the guy I got this computer from and he is going to see if he can find the Windows disc for it and the motherboard cd. Let's say he can't find them, and he still wants to try switching motherboards. What if I switch them and it does not work, would I run into any trouble putting the original board back in? Is it possible that it will work with the second board with no cd?

 

[mfenn]

I found a notepad file that shows the specs of the computer and it says the case is Micro-atx style. So the second motherboard should fit, right? And I am assuming that the motherboard installed is a micro-atx board or smaller. An ATX board will not fit in an micro-atx case, right?

Correct on both counts.

By the looks of it, the two motherboards are the same size. I did not put them back to back and just from eyeballing it, they look like the same size.

If it were the wrong size, one motherboard would be very obviously bigger. You should be set.

I talked to the guy I got this computer from and he is going to see if he can find the Windows disc for it and the motherboard cd. Let's say he can't find them, and he still wants to try switching motherboards. What if I switch them and it does not work, would I run into any trouble putting the original board back in? Is it possible that it will work with the second board with no cd?

This is the tricky part. I'd make an image of the HDD (should be small as hell given the vintage) just to make sure that I could restore completely in the case of a screw up.

If this thing has Win98 on it, I wouldn't even bother trying to upgrade, too much of a hassle. Just make an image, wipe the drive, put 2K or XP on it and restore the data.

 

[strep3241]

Correct on both counts.



If it were the wrong size, one motherboard would be very obviously bigger. You should be set.



This is the tricky part. I'd make an image of the HDD (should be small as hell given the vintage) just to make sure that I could restore completely in the case of a screw up.

If this thing has Win98 on it, I wouldn't even bother trying to upgrade, too much of a hassle. Just make an image, wipe the drive, put 2K or XP on it and restore the data.

This is part of the problem. He really does not want to spend money on this. I told him how much XP would cost and he said I don't know about doing that. Really, as it is right now, there is nothing wrong with it besides the power and hdd lights not working since they are not hooked up right. For what it is, it is fast enough for what he wants. I have no way of hooking internet up to it but when and if he does get internet himself, would that slow the machine down any?

 

[mfenn]

This is part of the problem. He really does not want to spend money on this. I told him how much XP would cost and he said I don't know about doing that. Really, as it is right now, there is nothing wrong with it besides the power and hdd lights not working since they are not hooked up right. For what it is, it is fast enough for what he wants. I have no way of hooking internet up to it but when and if he does get internet himself, would that slow the machine down any?

I'd never in a million years hook a Win98 box up to an always-on connection. That's just asking to have the box get owned.

And yes, the Internet would be slow to the point of usability on a K6 if he ventures away from text-only sites.

 

[strep3241]

That is what I figured. I will have to talk to him again and find out what he wants to do.

These ads on the internet are getting to be too much. It makes a pretty good system slow down. If you use interent all the time, you almost have to have broadband.

Thanks for you help.

 

[strep3241]

Would I be able to install Windows XP on the 10gb hard drive? Will he run into space issue? He does not plan on storing that much on there, maybe a few emails. He just wants to use internet.

 

[mfenn]

That is what I figured. I will have to talk to him again and find out what he wants to do.

These ads on the internet are getting to be too much. It makes a pretty good system slow down. If you use interent all the time, you almost have to have broadband.

Thanks for you help.

No prob.

Would I be able to install Windows XP on the 10gb hard drive? Will he run into space issue? He does not plan on storing that much on there, maybe a few emails. He just wants to use internet.

Hmmm, the requirements only say 1.5GB, but I've got a fairly vanilla VM here (only Windows and Office 2k3) and it's using 15GB.

 

[strep3241]

I'd never in a million years hook a Win98 box up to an always-on connection. That's just asking to have the box get owned.

And yes, the Internet would be slow to the point of usability on a K6 if he ventures away from text-only sites.

What is wrong with having internet on Windows 98?

 

[Davidh373]

What is wrong with having internet on Windows 98?

Virus'

 

[mfenn]

Virus'

Bingo. Windows 98 was last patched in 2006.

 

[Davidh373]

Bingo. Windows 98 was last patched in 2006.

Not to mention the modern day security suites aren't compatible anymore. So no AVG, No Spybot, no MalwareBytes... nothing.

 

[strep3241]

If i install the second motherboard along with a bigger hard drive for XP, would the PSU be able to handle it? It only has a 100 watt PSU right now.

 

[Davidh373]

yikes... 100W?

 

[eflat123]

Might want to look at putting some version of linux on there.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd never in a million years hook a Win98 box up to an always-on connection. That's just asking to have the box get owned.

And yes, the Internet would be slow to the point of usability on a K6 if he ventures away from text-only sites.

LOL. I'm working with someone, running WinME on a Micron Millennia 2000. It's tied to a vinyl cutter, that is connected via the parallel port. On a FIOS connection. Scared yet?
Good thing his FIOS router has a firewall/NAT.

I'm going to be helping him move to XP or Win7. Probably XP, even though it's practically EOL these days, because newer versions of Windows and Virtual PC don't support the parallel port anymore. (Thanks $#@%#$% Microsoft.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Would I be able to install Windows XP on the 10gb hard drive? Will he run into space issue? He does not plan on storing that much on there, maybe a few emails. He just wants to use internet.

I've got a test install of XP on a 4GB IDE drive I keep around for diagnostic purposes. 4GB is the absolute minimum for XP, you can't really install any apps on besides.

Edit: 100W is WAY TOO LOW for an Athlon XP-class rig. I would go with a 300W minimum. I think the rule of thumb was either 135W, or 170W on the 5v+3.3v.