new mainboard query

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rubix
  • Start date Start date
R

Rubix

Hi,

I have 2 queries first I want to change the motherboard and memory only on a
PC I own. Does this mean I will have to reinstall all the software including
Windows?

Secondly, I have discovered that a 478 chipset was used on my old
motherboard for a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz chip with HT. This is apparently very
rare as per my research, or am I missing something? Can I use a different or
more appropriate chipset?

Rubix
 
| Hi,
|
| I have 2 queries first I want to change the motherboard and memory only
on a
| PC I own. Does this mean I will have to reinstall all the software
including
| Windows?
|
| Secondly, I have discovered that a 478 chipset was used on my old
| motherboard for a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz chip with HT. This is apparently very
| rare as per my research, or am I missing something? Can I use a
different or
| more appropriate chipset?

#1 Not necessary, but probably best.
#2 P4 3.0G W/HT has 478 pins. The I845, the I865P, the I865PE, and
the most mature the I875P chipsets will handle your CPU. Your DDR
memory will control the FSB. 266 or 533 or 800. For stability I would
suggest for your CPU an Intel i875p with matched PC 3200 RDRAM.
For more speed go to a Promise RAID 0 controller.
good luck
 
I don't know about the availability of boards with the 478 chipset, but the
way I understand it is unless the new board has the exact same chipset, a
reactivation XP will be necessary at best. At worst, a 'repair installation'
of XP will in order. The repair installation does not require you to
re-install any software. The memory upgrade is not usually an issue.



Curt.
 
Thanks guys!
I obviously need to do a little more research, before buying my motherboard
and memory. I need more info on the most appropriate DDR memory and
motherboard.

My existing memory is 2 x Kingston 512MB DDR and a FIC P4M-800T
motherboard. The memory failed and I fried the motherboard while fixing the
problem, by fixing the DDR in back to front, and damaging a capacitor.

Any pointers to websites, mags or books which may help?

Rubix
 
These sites: www.pcworld.com , www.pcmagazine.com , will offer a lot of
insight on components. There are others of course that you can Google for.
When you're ready to buy, check out www.newegg.com , www.tigerdirect.com ,
www.pricewatch.com and www.pricegrabber.com . NewEgg in particular offers a
wide variety of components at very reasonable prices and fast delivery. I
know this from personal experience. The same is said about TigerDirect, but
I've not dealt with them.

One other thing, in your first post you mention a '478' chipset. I pretty
sure you meant 478 to be the socket type of your CPU. That being the case,
I'm running the same HT CPU you have on an Intel D865PERL board with a gig
of DDR PC3200 memory. No problems at all. Take a look the Asus P4P800 Deluxe
series as well. I've got an HT P4 2.4 CPU on one with a gig of DDR PC3200
memory, again no problems. Posy back and let us know what you came up with.

Good luck,
 
I see that your board is a Socket 478 one, using a Via PT800 chipset.

http://www.fica.com/site/html/products/mb/detail.asp?cat_id=240000048&C_ID=240000802

It's also a microATX board (24.4 X 22.9 cm). That's the only thing uncommon
about it. Do you need one that small, or will a full-sized ATX board do? If
you need microATX, your choices may be limited, but they're out there.

You may not be able to buy from them if you're in the UK, but check the
mainboards available at www.newegg.com. You'll find a number of microATX
boards, but most of them (like your FIC board) won't use Intel chipsets. I
suggest that you avoid PC Chips products, but most of the others may be OK.

If you can use a normal ATX board, I'd suggest an Asus P4P800 (Intel 865PE)
or P4C800 (Intel 875) board, although there may be better values available.
Asus also makes the P4S800, which uses an SiS chipset, and is a bit cheaper.

If you use a new mainboard with a different chipset (than the PT800), you'll
probably need to do at least a repair install:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

Some would declare that nothing but a clean re-installation of XP will
serve, but I've had good results with a repair installation in the past, and
it can be much less work.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations
and licenses are not transferable to a new motherboard - check yours
before starting), unless the new motherboard is virtually identical
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the
one on which the WinXP installation was originally performed, you'll
need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at
the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this
point. You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the
OS. (If you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as
picking up a Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch
style foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K
before it, is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to
accepting any old hardware configuration you throw at it. On
installation it "tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This
is one of the reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much
more stable than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more
than 120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key,
you'll most likely be able to activate via the internet without
problem. If it's been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone
call.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH
 
I have more or less settled for a $200.00 ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe board.
The Intel site seems to recommend only Gigabytes GA-8NXP series with an 875
chipset
but that costs about $400.00. I am not sure the difference in performance
can justify the price.
The Asus also seems to have a lot of novice-friendly features like an auto
web-update facility for the bios and crash protection.
Its also the same chipset.

I think I'll buy 2 smaller memory sticks. I might damage 1 big one.

Yeah 478 is the socket type not the chipset.

Rubix
 
I'll do a repair install. I have an upgrade disk to XP pro that I have never
used.

Thanks

Rubix
 
Good choice. You'll be OK.

--
Curt
Rubix said:
I have more or less settled for a $200.00 ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe board.
The Intel site seems to recommend only Gigabytes GA-8NXP series with an
875 chipset
but that costs about $400.00. I am not sure the difference in performance
can justify the price.
The Asus also seems to have a lot of novice-friendly features like an auto
web-update facility for the bios and crash protection.
Its also the same chipset.

I think I'll buy 2 smaller memory sticks. I might damage 1 big one.

Yeah 478 is the socket type not the chipset.

Rubix
Click to expand...
 
You're still welcome. <G> Hope you have your new box together real soon.
Post back when you're done.

Curt.
 
Thanks Curt,
My motherboard is due on Monday, but I've ordered non-magnetic tools and a
new graphics driver too. Thanks for wishing me luck. Its a tough world. I'll
need it.

Yeah I'll keep you posted, but it might be more than a week as I have a lot
of research to do before I'm confident enough to do the full installation.

A problem area I've uncovered is that I have an XP home OEM installation.
I'm going to have to reload windows.

This could be complicated as I have already upgraded to XP SP2. My
recollection is that upgrading to XP SP1 professional with newer SP2 files
already installed can be a problem. I'm going to need all the luck I can
get.

Rubix
 
I have successfully installed my new motherboard. In spite of a few early
problems with the power switch and getting into Windows. It works like a
dream and I have a dream PC. The only problem is that the RAID connector
doesn't seem to work on my ATA 100 hard disks. I'm not complaining though. I
thought I was going to have to write off my PC a few weeks ago.

Rubix
 

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