Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (
More info?)
Michael P Gabriel <axipolti@yahoo.com> wrote:
> `Hello!
> Several post recently asked about replacing the Dell mobo, but the
> responses were a little technical....as to the size, the type, etc.
> and not oo specific for some folks such as I.
> I would love to know, specifically, which mobos would be good,
> fairly inexpensive mobo replacements for the Dell Dimension 2400. A
> brand and model would more than suffice.
> I know, what a lazy guy I am, not willing to do the research myself.
> But honestly, it's just to deep for me.
> Mike
I didn't see your earlier post Mike. But I'll go ahead and throw my
ignorant two cents in on what issues you might face.
The "upgradability" of computers is grossly over exaggerated. The
typical motherboard upgrade will involve the motherboard itself,
the processor, and memory. Otherwise, what's the point? The
new motherboard will probably lend some new feature such as SATA,
RAID, a particular chipset, a particular socket type, etc that you
want. You'll probably want a "faster computer" too, which means a
new processor and better/more memory. And the new processor will
invariably require faster clocking memory to work correctly.
So the motherboard, CPU, and memory go hand in hand. Again, otherwise,
what's the point?
/aside
The few times when upgrading is cost-effective is buying less-than-
bleeding market and then upgrading later. Let's say I buy an ATI
9000 video card today in a new system. It costs me about $200 less
than a high end video card. If I wait a year or two, that same
high end card will be half the cost and I can "upgrade" to it.
/aside
So anyway, after buying the motherboard, CPU, and memory, you're
going to need to strip down the 2400. You'll need an empty case
to fit the new motherboard. You'll removed the old mobo, cpu,
memory, expansion cards, hard disk, optical drive, etc (not sure
exactly, but this sounds reasonable for a 2400). And then you're
going to have to install the new motherboard and reassemble in
the reverse order.
Now, finally, I get to make my point. The case only costs $50.00.
Buying a motherboard to fit a particular case makes little sense
to me. Why not buy a motherboard, buy a case, buy the memory to
match, processor, etc and reuse what you can... the dvd drive, the
hard disk, the floppy, etc.
Anyway, food for thought. Long post. I hope I interpreted your
question and plans correctly.
Take care,
Brian