New mainboard on old computer?

I presently use an 4-5 year old or so Athlon 2500 based computer which I have built myself. I have last months upgraded the harddisks to two 250 GBs IDEs. I have 1250 MB of RAM. I use Photoshop and CS2. Some of my files are very huge - 100 MB (negative scans). It works - but is sluggish. The new computers that I buy, I give to my daughters in primary schools... cause the transfer of programs seems to much.

I wonder if it is possible to buy a new mainboard with the duo Intels and put it into my old computer. The main objective is to get more RAM - 3 GB or so, but also the increased speed. I will also want a more silent power supply.

But is it possible to use IDE disks with the new mainboards? Seems to me they are all SATAs.
Thanks for all help.

I tried this with a P4 3.0 ghz hyperthreaded cpu and the case was not designed for the proper cooling. It lasted about a year and the heat took out the motherboard. Not sure but the core2 duo chips seem to run cooler, but why chance it for a hundred bucks or less for a modern case with good airflow?

As long as I can use my 2 harddisks I will happily buy what it takes.

Almost all new mother boards take older IDE hard drives but lots have only 1 IDE connection. So you would most likely have to buy a SATA DVD Burner.

--
Leo

OK - and to this one IDE-connection - I guess I will be able to mount 2 harddisks. Would be fine fine if there was a "part" that I could connect an IDE-interface to SATA-interface. Does this exist? Or maybe some PCI-card with IDE-connectors on them. Someone heard of such?

Yes the 2 hard disk would work on one ide slot, and they do sell pci ide controller cards for about $30.

leave the side skin off and it won't overheat!

passive cooling (side skins open) isn't attractive but it DOES work and it saves a lot of heat build-up.

all pc components that need fans have fans. those that don't have fans on them directly CAN be air cooled naturally. you save extra noise and hash from fans if you naturally air cool.

--
Bryan (pics only: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works )
(pics and more: http://www.netstuff.org ) ~

linuxworks said:

leave the side skin off and it won't overheat!

Click to expand...

Someone I used to work with killed an expensive tape drive by leaving the side off a computer case, because without the side panel installed, no air was being pulled through the tape drive to keep it cool.

I generally do not recommend leaving the side off, unless you are sure everything that generates heat will still have adequate airflow. Since most people don't have tape drives, another example is a hard drive, since they are sometimes mounted in a location where they will only get airflow if the case side is on (not all hard drive need good airflow, but some definitely do).

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• Eric, http://www.InvisibleRobot.com/

IF the pc world was designed as well as it could be, I'd agree with you.

in the old days of workstations, airflow was -engineered- in and you did want the skins on to get things to work as designed and last a good long time.

today, 'clones' are junk, by comparison. its really a wonder they even work at all, with the loose tolerances that they [have to] allow.

older drives used to need cooling. or rather, would not last as long without it. I haven't had such a drive for a good 4 yrs now, I don't think. they all run cool enough so that if you give them a cm or 2 of airspace, screw them into metal (mini heatsink) and don't wedge cables to block normal flow - that normal room airflow is enough to keep drives happy. I don't run gamer video cards and so aircooling is fine for my vid cards, too. the only mobo that I really felt I -had- to force air over was a $350 server board (supermicro) that was meant for a 1u or 2u rack and really needed some air over its flat pancake chipset heatsink. all other systems have lasted years and years with one side skin open. (go figure?)

I hear what you're saying, but pc parts are designed to be installed and used by unskilled people. they are bound to install parts with really bad cooling - and so the manuf's have to build in enough fudge factor tolerance so that their parts won't fail if they don't get 'best case' cooling all the time.

most of my systems run 7x24 but a few are bounceable and they come on when I wake up and they auto turn-off when they don't get used for 2 hours. so constant or switched 'strain' - they've always worked for me.

in fact, I even push my luck further almost all my systems have fanless powersupplies. they didn't get great reviews (coolmax, I think) but I have four of them at home and none have failed yet in almost 3 years, each, now.

fwiw, I have an air conditioned home. that may affect things, some. maybe more than some

--
Bryan (pics only: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works )
(pics and more: http://www.netstuff.org ) ~

Chances are you will need:

1) New CPU
2) New Motherboard
3) New Memory
4) New Video Card
5) New Power suppply

Depending on what you buy, you should be able to price these parts for ~$500 usd. It is also possible you may need a new case, but if you're a DYI'er, you may beable to use the old one, and modify it if it needs it.

About 6-8 months ago, I made a similar upgrade from a 3200+ XP AMD CPU based system. Parts cost me ~$750 usd while part prices were high (also including a Lian Li case).

--
-Yyrkoon

'Thinking ones self to be superior is often the case of a delusional mind.'

• LT. Commander Data

Was it worth it?

Blade servers - hate em'.

I've lost count at the number of big empty server rooms I've see that were consolidated into fancy blade racks because the server engineers were brain-washed into the cult that believes that consolidating space makes servers run better.

What it results in a rack of servers that requires constant active cooling and trays of screaming 60mm fans just to run. If the room temp get's beyond 85F ambient the RAID arrays start pulling parity errors because the blade cases can't radiate heat efficiently enough. Same with most of your SANs.

Scary thing is I've just described every other corporate server farm in America. It always gets me how a desktop PC can run silently on a desktop in a non air conditioned home in florida just fine, but servers running the same processor, if not under less CPU load, require a central air unit the size of a small house.

The Athlon 64 and Intel Core Duo both require less airflow that their Athlon XP and Pentium 4 ancestors. A decent case with a low RPM 120mm fan can easily supply enough airflow to keep the box cool. HD's however emit more heat than people think, and high powered GPUs are also a problem. Removing a case panel does solve the problem though.

The Cooler Master Centurian might be the best case for the money right now.

I'm not going to comment on the tape back-up requiring lot of air flow

--


The argument between film and digital is, well, a lot like debating the athletic skills of the Special Olympics -vs- the NFL....

I've always thought that the power supply fan would bring hot air out of the box. Am I correct in believing so? And if that was sufficient before - why not now? My graphic card will be a ATI X1300 or so.

John Folde said:

But is it possible to use IDE disks with the new mainboards? Seems to
me they are all SATAs.

Click to expand...

This is very much possible and much cheaper (and more friendly to the environment) than getting a brand new machine.

I do this all the time with my computers. I get a good case that lasts me 4 or more years and replace components. Things like power supply, CD/DVD drives or recorders, floppy, mouse, keyboard and case stay in operation for many years. Hard drives stay until they full and then transition to the backup usb enclosures. Older systems go for sale on ebay as parts or I put them together with older spare parts and sell as systems.

Anyway, you can easy put together a system but unfortunately you will need new power supply as the one from your old system most likely has older style connector.
Look in this thread for approximate configuration and costs:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=24659970

If you go with intel you will probably spend $100 or so extra. I would estimate $300-$400 expense to upgrade.

Personally I go to anandtech.com and look at one of their budget or midrange guides for parts. Then I purchase parts on newegg or other place. It takes about an hour to assemble machine by first putting it together outside of case to make sure it works, then putting it inside of the case.

You will have to reinstall windows to refresh drivers, I figure 1.5 hours for that. If all goes smoothly you can have working machine in say 3 hours.

Depends on what you do, but for me, yes very much worth it. Also, keep in mind a Core 2 Duo system would spank my system in a lot of situations (well, maybe not 'spank' but out perform at least marginaly).

Anyhow, I like new games/applications of all types, and for things like CS3, Adobe ligtroom, Capture NX, having a current system is nearly a must. You also should keep in mind, that I have been building my own systems for 13-14 years, and lately (as in the last 5 years) I find it optimal for me to upgrade every 6-12 months. I spend a lot of time behind my system monitor though, and I have been known to be imptient ; ) However, when I upgrade as such, I do not spend more money, if anything I may save a minimal amount of cash because I normally buy technology about 1-2 generations behind 'bleeding edge'.

The important thing however, is make sure you just do not buy 'cheap' parts, but buy inexpencive parts that have a good track record, just in case you do need your last upgrade to last a while longer. Usually this means finding a good namebrand for each part you use, and sticking with it. Shrug it also depends on if you're strapped for cash or not ; )

You may even want to wait just a bit longer, because of the Intel X38 Chipset motherboards will arrive shortly, and then the 45nm process Core Duo CPUs will also arrive soon-ish, which should drive down older technology parts some.

--
-Yyrkoon

'Thinking ones self to be superior is often the case of a delusional mind.'

• LT. Commander Data