[SOLVED] Experiment

[Red862]

So I've come into an older HP Pavilion P7-1234 that has the AMD A8-3870 (yes that old lol). It has the AAHD2-HY motherboard. Im curious about swapping the board out to Intel base. I found that ASUS has a board in uATX form that I can put an 8th gen i5 in. If they're the same form factor it should just bolt in...... right? lol Does anyone have any experience with this? Am I just wasting time and money?
Current Mobo: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02966470
Proposed Mobo: https://www.newegg.com/asus-tuf-b360m-e-gaming/p/N82E16813119084
Yes I realize this not a "gaming" PC.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

considering that their older Pavilion systems used rather crappy cases with very low airflow and proprietary fittings,
low quality power supplies, and mostly lower quality everything else;
i'd say it is a waste of investment.

most OEM motherboards don't fit regular standoffs so there's a good chance the new board will not be possible to install even if there may be adequate space for it.
there's also the chance that the rear I\O may not line up with the case.

you would have much better results just building a lower budget custom system.

 

[Red862]

Thank you. I was afraid someone was going to use the word "proprietary"

 

[Fatalzo]

So I've come into an older HP Pavilion P7-1234 that has the AMD A8-3870 (yes that old lol). It has the AAHD2-HY motherboard. Im curious about swapping the board out to Intel base. I found that ASUS has a board in uATX form that I can put an 8th gen i5 in. If they're the same form factor it should just bolt in...... right? lol Does anyone have any experience with this? Am I just wasting time and money?
Current Mobo: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02966470
Proposed Mobo: https://www.newegg.com/asus-tuf-b360m-e-gaming/p/N82E16813119084
Yes I realize this not a "gaming" PC.

If you don't want to replace the processor, it's a no-go. AMD processors have pins and intels have holes.

 

[DSzymborski]

Thank you. I was afraid someone was going to use the word "proprietary"

Actually, I don't think the fit is a problem. Companies avoid using the official form factors if it's not one and that looks like a bog standard uATX to me. Even have the proper 24-pin connection and a four-pin CPU connector.

Now, the question of "should" is trickier. While I think you'd technically be able to put in a new uATX motherboard, as JBG farther up notes, OEM cases are known for being cramped and low quality. The existing PC inside is quite low power, so it would not need to be a particularly good quality case and you might run into issues with a new motherboard. There's also the possibility that the front panel arrangement is proprietary, which can create a problem.

Realistically, if you were going to a Coffee Lake Intel CPU, you're already buying a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM. And you'd obviously get a new PSU rather than re-use a decade-old proprietary that is likely poor quality and also likely to be group-regulated. At that point, you're basically building a new PC, so you might as well buy an inexpensive case; there are very good budget cases in the $60 range like the Cooler Master NR600.

I think that last paragraph is the larger problem: this PC is an entry-level PC from a decade ago, so without meaningful upgrades over the last decade, the window for any significant improvement to be an upgrade has long since closed. Any real upgrade at this point is basically building a new PC anyway.