Do I need a new motherboard?

Xeno

Ok, right now I'm running a

7800GT
AMD 64 processor 3500+
Motherboard is an ASUS A8N-E

What I want to install is this.

8800gt
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850

Now, will my motherboard be able to support these two things?

1. If no, can you recommend a motherboard that is good? I want to try and stay away from ASUS IF possible. Not a big deal though.

**BONUS QUESTION**2. Is right now the best time to buy a new cpu? I would hate to buy something right now and find out that a brand new CPU is coming out in a few months and I will regret my purchase. Heard something about penryn, but I am CPU illiterate. Thanks guys.

3. Ohh one more. I have never changed a motherboard. Is it difficult?

nexuscrawler

Yes you need a new mobo as that modle is for AMD chips only

xThanatoSx

Xeno wrote: »

Ok, right now I'm running a

7800GT
AMD 64 processor 3500+
Motherboard is an ASUS A8N-E

What I want to install is this.

8800gt
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850

Now, will my motherboard be able to support these two things?

You'll need a mobo switch as AMD and Intel don't play nicely with each other.

1. If no, can you recommend a motherboard that is good? I want to try and stay away from ASUS IF possible. Not a big deal though.

Anything in this list should do you just fine. I know - it's a bit broad - but it's filtered for top ranked mobo's that can take the CPU you want to install.

**BONUS QUESTION**2. Is right now the best time to buy a new cpu? I would hate to buy something right now and find out that a brand new CPU is coming out in a few months and I will regret my purchase. Heard something about penryn, but I am CPU illiterate. Thanks guys.

Pass.

3. Ohh one more. I have never changed a motherboard. Is it difficult?

It's a lot of plugging things in to the appropriate places, along with reformating windows. It's not horribly difficult, but it can be a bit scary the 1st time you do it.

TychoCelchuuu

1. The ASUS P5N is what I recommend to everyone nowadays. You should be able to find an equivalent from Gigabyte or something if you hate ASUS for some reason, but I don't exactly have the model number memorized.

2.There are worse times to buy CPUs, but Intel's 45nm Penryn die shrink is coming in a few months. The new chips will be faster and probably use less power, and they'll overclock to high heaven, but either way it'll drive down the prices on whatever chip you'd be buying right now.

3. You'll be unbuilding and rebuilding your computer from scratch, basically. It's not difficult, per se, but it really helps to know what you're doing. Read a few "How to build a PC" guides first, or ideally have a friend who has built one before nearby to answer any questions. Like I said, it's not really hard, but if you make a mistake and it doesn't boot up, it might be tough to figure out where to go next. And yes, you'll need to reinstall Windows.

Ruckus

Replacing a motherboard is essentially building a brand new computer from scratch, but with used parts.

Now, on the time to buy a new CPU, I've heard Rumors that OctoCore (8 core) chips will be available in Q1 2008. Typically when Intel/AMD dump new products on the market, their existing products see a price drop, so you may want to wait and see what January/February bring.

Xeno

I was thinking, does AMD have a good dual core offering? It seems like Intel is really dominating the arena. However, if it means not switching out the mobo, then I'm cool with it. NCIX.ca has this there.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25777&vpn=ADX6400CZWOF&manufacture=AMD

Would this work with my mobo? That's pretty much a priority question.

There's also this one. It's quad core though, so I'm assuming its better? Would this one work with my motherboard?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=27040&vpn=HD9500WCGDBOX&manufacture=AMD

TechBoy

Your CPU/mobo is Socket 939. All the newer AMD CPU's are Socket AM2. The socket type of the processor has to match the socket type of the processor or they literally won't fit together. The two types (939 and AM2) unfortunately aren't compatible so, no, they won't work. Intel CPUs also have different socket types for their CPUs that similarly aren't compatible with AMD processors.

Xeno

Ughhh, so changing the motherboard is pretty much needed. Alright, I'll stick with my original plan then. It's like I'm building a whole new computer.....

Ok, will my ram sticks at least be able to fit with the new motherboard? Basically what I'm asking is if everything else besides the vid card and cpu will be able to fit onto the new miotherboard.

GiantRobo

It depends on the motherboard. I'm guessing by your specs you have DDR, DDR2 has been gaining popularity lately.

Fartacus_the_Mighty

You may not need to reinstall Windows.

See:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/hardware.ars/2007/09/04/how-to-install-a-new-motherboard-without-reinstalling-windows

Basically, if you replace all your motherboard device drivers with generic Windows ones, there's a good chance that you'll be able to get Windows to boot on the new mobo. If this fails, you can do a Repair install from your XP disc and keep most of your settings.

Malkor

Fartacus_the_Mighty wrote: »

You may not need to reinstall Windows.

See:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/hardware.ars/2007/09/04/how-to-install-a-new-motherboard-without-reinstalling-windows

Basically, if you replace all your motherboard device drivers with generic Windows ones, there's a good chance that you'll be able to get Windows to boot on the new mobo. If this fails, you can do a Repair install from your XP disc and keep most of your settings.

I was able to replace my motherboard, CPU, and video card in one go without Windows shitting all over itself. I literally just shut the computer off and replaced everything and turned it back on. The hard drive I had didn't contain any critical data though, so you might want to be more careful than I was.