Motherboard Virgin

[keyser_soze]

I'm gonna have a shot at fitting a new motherboard this weekend for the first time, ive only ever put in new drives and a graph card so would appreciate any links or advice on fitting a new m/board ie should I uninstall xp before I start to make sure I get a clean set up? what are the most common probs I will come across?

All help appreciated.

[sparsely]

Yeah you should reinstall the OS when you change motherboards, as you'll probably (definitely) have lots of weird driver issues if you don't.
And...there's really not much to it, just put the risers in, line the holes up & you're done.
But those goddamn I/O panels can be a bitch to fit in just right sometimes.
Of course, this is all easier when you're working with a roomier case too...or one of those cool cases with a hinged door that the motherboard mounts to.

[tesco]

You will have to remove the heatink, meaning you will need some thermal paste to go between the heatsink and the CPU.
DO NOT re-use the old thermal pad.
I recomend you use Arctic Silver 5, it is the best thermal paste. Here is a guide on installing it. (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm)
I'm assuming you knowhow to install aheatsink? I think that guide shows you how.

When installing the cpu, you open the latchon the side of teh socket, then place the cpu on top. It should just fall into place if properly alligned.
DO NOT try to force the CPU into the socket. If it isn't going, it must not be aligned properly.

Between the motherboard are little spacer screws.
DO NOT go without these spacers...unless you want to see a pretty fireworks show (i've seen it, it's pretty, motherboard won't be though...).


That's the things I had trouble with, rest should be pretty straight forward. Remember that nothing should need to be forced into place, if it requires a lot of force you are doing it wrong.

edit: forgot, if the new motherboard has a different chipset than the last, you will definately need to run a repair install, or format and install windows. Even if the chipset is the same i would still reinstall just to avoid problems that may occur later...

edit2: When installing the headers (power switch, pwr led, etc.) it is a lot easier if you use a flash light. ;)

[clocker]

Make absolutely certain that the spacers line up with the holes in the board properly.
When you install the screws, insert them all before tightening them down.

Before you install the board, take a good close up look at the connections for the front panel ( switches and LEDs) cause they are a pain to figure out once the board is in place.

Be certain that your RAM is fully seated in the slots...the little retaining clips should be completely locked in.

[keyser_soze]

Thanks, every1 says its not a big job but me being a technophobe is always gonna be risky :D its seemed straight forward in the manual but chances are I'm not gonna realise I have a problem until I get half way through it and have no internet access, there was A few points in the manual that I was unsure about but I've been working away and hav'nt had time to re-read again so please check out my post again 2morrow and I'll post any other things I'm not sure about before I commit to taking apart :o at the moment I'm trying to make sure I've backed everything up I'm gonna need.

[lynx]

Make sure you fit the processor, heatsink/fan and the memory to the motherboard before you put the motherboard into the case. They are often damn near impossible to fit afterwards, and you will be exerting a fair amount of pressure onto the board too.

[Chewie]

Originally posted by lynx@10 July 2004 - 12:05
Make sure you fit the processor, heatsink/fan and the memory to the motherboard before you put the motherboard into the case. They are often damn near impossible to fit afterwards, and you will be exerting a fair amount of pressure onto the board too.
A couple of times I've seen a 'techie' at PC World (hey, we can see the idiots at work n there!) with both hands and a screwdriver in a case and a determined look on his face; you just know that the pillock is (un)doing an Athlon heatsink clip.
Boys and girls, the mounting points on a mobo are spread out and there's only so much flexing that there PCB will do, so don't be a twat, do it on a mat.
Just thought of that :)
<ahem> I&#39;ll get me coat...

[lynx]

Originally posted by Chewie UK+10 July 2004 - 12:29--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chewie UK @ 10 July 2004 - 12:29)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-lynx@10 July 2004 - 12:05
Make sure you fit the processor, heatsink/fan and the memory to the motherboard before you put the motherboard into the case. They are often damn near impossible to fit afterwards, and you will be exerting a fair amount of pressure onto the board too.
A couple of times I&#39;ve seen a &#39;techie&#39; at PC World (hey, we can see the idiots at work n there&#33;) with both hands and a screwdriver in a case and a determined look on his face; you just know that the pillock is (un)doing an Athlon heatsink clip.
Boys and girls, the mounting points on a mobo are spread out and there&#39;s only so much flexing that there PCB will do, so don&#39;t be a twat, do it on a mat.
Just thought of that :)
<ahem> I&#39;ll get me coat... [/b][/quote]
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[tesco]

Originally posted by Chewie UK+10 July 2004 - 07:29--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chewie UK @ 10 July 2004 - 07:29)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-lynx@10 July 2004 - 12:05
Make sure you fit the processor, heatsink/fan and the memory to the motherboard before you put the motherboard into the case. They are often damn near impossible to fit afterwards, and you will be exerting a fair amount of pressure onto the board too.
A couple of times I&#39;ve seen a &#39;techie&#39; at PC World (hey, we can see the idiots at work n there&#33;) with both hands and a screwdriver in a case and a determined look on his face; you just know that the pillock is (un)doing an Athlon heatsink clip.
Boys and girls, the mounting points on a mobo are spread out and there&#39;s only so much flexing that there PCB will do, so don&#39;t be a twat, do it on a mat.
Just thought of that :)
<ahem> I&#39;ll get me coat... [/b][/quote]
Your right. I tried that twice. First time when i put the heatsink on the processor fried. :rolleyes:

Then I got my 2200+ lol.

Second time was like a few months ago i was changing my heatsink while it was in the case and trhe screw driver slipped off of the clip (couldn&#39;t get a good grip with the PSU in the way) and it scratched part of the motherboard...thought i&#39;d ruined it (happy actually) but i didn&#39;t :( still works to this day. :(

[Snee]

It&#39;s possible to mount cpu+hs, with the mobo in the case.

I&#39;ve had to do it once, because the bloke who owned the comp had managed to get the mobo stuck somehow.

Had to bend the clips a little, because they would fit otherwise every time I&#39;ve done it.

Them clips are bastards.


But removing heatsink+cpu from inside the case...

I never want to try that.

Best heatsink/fan I&#39;ve mounted for an AMD, when it regards ease in fitting it, was a shuttle ICE heatpipe solution.

Screws instead of clips. Fabulous :D

[kaiweiler]

I&#39;ve replaced many heatsinks while inside the case, it&#39;s not that difficult depending on the size of your case of coarse.
Just take off the side panel and put the case on it&#39;s side, if you have good clean wiring you should have plenty of room to work with if you&#39;ve got a big enough case.
but if your using a smaller case, definatly mount the heatsink before you screw in the mobo

[keyser_soze]

Is it possible to just add my motherboard now and then re-install my OS later is that a bad idea?

[kaiweiler]

Originally posted by keyser_soze@10 July 2004 - 13:39
Is it possible to just add my motherboard now and then re-install my OS later is that a bad idea?
Chances are you might have some driver conflicts....

[Chewie]

Originally posted by kaiweiler@10 July 2004 - 17:29
I&#39;ve replaced many heatsinks while inside the case, it&#39;s not that difficult depending on the size of your case of coarse.
Just take off the side panel and put the case on it&#39;s side, if you have good clean wiring you should have plenty of room to work with if you&#39;ve got a big enough case.
but if your using a smaller case, definatly mount the heatsink before you screw in the mobo
I used to do Socket7s in situ, but the K7 (and apparently also PIII>) heatsinks sometimes require effort bordering on the brute.

With only 6 or 9 mounting points, I&#39;d not recommend trying it anywhere but a solid flat surface (on top of the packaging &#39;underlay&#39; too) to eliminate the possibility of cracking that £130 mobo by flexing it.

[Chewie]

Originally posted by keyser_soze@10 July 2004 - 17:39
Is it possible to just add my motherboard now and then re-install my OS later is that a bad idea?
If you&#39;re using WinXP, no. It just won&#39;t boot.

[Snee]

Had to swap everything recently, now I can almost, but not quite get into any of my old windows installs (win 98, win2k pro, winxp pro) thing is, my brother swapped his mobo too, and it worked for him, could be &#39;cuz the chipset on the new one was similar to the old.

He had to start it up from the cd at first, but I think he could repair the install and get it working then.

Of course, some of my probs stem from the fact that all my partitions got damaged when the old mobo broke down.

But it&#39;s better to do it over anyway.

[lynx]

Originally posted by keyser_soze@10 July 2004 - 17:39
Is it possible to just add my motherboard now and then re-install my OS later is that a bad idea?
The facts about motherboard and OS upgrade.

Your new motherboard will be fully ACPI compliant. If your old mobo is also fully ACPI compliant then you should be able to upgrade the OS, but you need to make sure you uninstall the old chipset drivers first (you can do this in safe mode).

If your old mobo is NOT fully ACPI compliant then you will not be able to upgrade.

[keyser_soze]

Am I glad to be back :D I&#39;ve managed to get the board in and everything going but now my hardware problems turned into a software problem, upto now I&#39;ve got back on track I can connect and nothing else is installed, my big problem is I can&#39;t reinstall xp pro, its not in my add/remove programs list so I could&#39;nt uninstall b4 the mobo change over, I wrongly thought that if I just installed again it would overwrite the existing version and I was gonna format the hd and clean install but when I try to install xp again it says there is already a version of xp on that drive :o I installed anyway hoping I could uninstall the other but still no show in add remove programs :angry: My current situation is I&#39;ve got 2 versions of xp pro on my c/drive and now a version on my d/drive which Ive installed my broadband modem on and my antivirus just so I could get in here for help, can any1 please tell me how to format both drives and start againg with a clean install.
s.o.s :helpsmile: please.

[tesco]

bad idea.

should ahve formatted then reinstalled.

or a repair install.


now you gotta format both partitions.

[apunkrockmonk]

Boot from cd, don&#39;t try to install it from windows.

[keyser_soze]

should ahve formatted then reinstalled. For future ref is this before or after fitting the board? My prob was I was&#39;nt booting from cd but trying to install xp while a version was actually running :rolleyes: anyway I&#39;m back, new mobo in, both drives formatted and a fresh install of xp :) Now I just have to find out whats the latest versions of everything and get sharing :ph34r:

Btw Everything in hardware manager seems to be fine other than the ethernet controller, any 1 know where to start?

[peat moss]

Originally posted by keyser_soze@13 July 2004 - 13:16

should ahve formatted then reinstalled. For future ref is this before or after fitting the board? My prob was I was&#39;nt booting from cd but trying to install xp while a version was actually running :rolleyes: anyway I&#39;m back, new mobo in, both drives formatted and a fresh install of xp :) Now I just have to find out whats the latest versions of everything and get sharing :ph34r:

Btw Everything in hardware manager seems to be fine other than the ethernet controller, any 1 know where to start?
Did you install mobo drivers ? Your new mobo should come with a cd with drivers.Do&#39;nt use the xp ones.

[Chewie]

Originally posted by peat moss@13 July 2004 - 22:00
Did you install mobo drivers ? Your new mobo should come with a cd with drivers.Do&#39;nt use the xp ones.
I hope you mean any available on the WindowsUpdate site, cos the install would&#39;ve put them there if it had any.
Any that appear on the WindowsUpdate site are signed and stable so there shouldn&#39;t be any problems using them anyway.