Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

Step-By-Step: Upgrade Your System With a Motherboard Swap

Insert a new motherboard to revitalize your PC.

Stan Miastkowski

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

Changing a motherboard is the ultimate upgrade project, the PC equivalent of a heart or lung transplant. But with the pace of processor, RAM, and bus speed improvements, it's a project that's often well worth the effort involved.

If your computer's more than a couple years old, a motherboard switch usually isn't worthwhile because small, slow hard drives and previous-generation add-in cards will bog things down. And if your PC is really long in the tooth and uses an AT-style case instead of an ATX one, you'll need to start with a new case; AT motherboards are no longer available.

Unless you're swapping CPUs on a fairly recent machine, installing a cutting-edge processor of the AMD Athlon XP or Intel Pentium 4 lines effectively requires a new motherboard. Plus, new motherboards often include built-in network support, high-quality audio, USB 2.0 ports, and even FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports.

Most motherboards sell in the $100 to $150 range. Add a 1.7-GHz processor (AMD or Intel) and 512MB of DDR RAM, for example, and you'll have a lightning-fast system upgrade for about $500. (Prices are averages at press time.) You might also consider getting a new case and power supply.

One warning: If you are running Windows XP, a motherboard swap may trigger a new round of Microsoft's irritating Product Activation. Before you'll be able to use your upgraded system, you will have to call Microsoft and try to get a new Product Activation code.

As always, do a full backup before you start to work on your system. It's particularly important for this project.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Featured APC Accessories

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Deal Breakers

Special Offers for PC World Users

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

  • 15 Minutes to a Secure Business Get the Secure in 15 toolkit starting with the "15 Minutes Month-at-a-Glance" calendar. McAfee will send you additional tools and tricks to stay protected around the clock.
  • A Buyer's Guide to Data Protection Implementing data protection products and processes can be daunting. Make the right decisions by exploring what is available and what makes sense for your organization. Use this simple guide to evaluate different vendor offerings.

Sponsored Links