Ok Chewy, I am taking your advice on building. I am ready for the challeng are you

[photo_angel2004]

Hello Chewy you once told me why not build your own pc?

Ok so I will begin to learn how.

I have 3 computer and a 4th tower/ case. I am ready to learn. I know some basics but not all the way there yet.


3 computers / 3 different issues.

Computer # 1 - my old PIII 670mgz - 7 years old and still going. LOL
Its been upgraded through the years.

What I want to do with this one is. Change out the mother boards,

I just picked up a:
1 Dual Pentium 3 Motherboard with 2 Pentium 3 933 Mhz processors

Thats an up grade from the one I have. I am going to need some help on the how to change the mother board out.

the other 2 computers I will deal with when this one is done.

Whats the first step or steps in changing this one out other then opening the case? LOL

Thanks,

Carla

Edit: once I swap out the mother boards from my son's I will then have the mother board from his pc left over a an empty tower to begin building a whole new pc. Of course that will be a PIII but the parts I picked up today are all FREE since all was free there is nothing to loose if I screw somthing up.


More infor on the new mother board, I found the model number on it and googled that this is what I found.
MS-6321: Dual CPU
on VIA Apollo Pro133A

http://www.digit-life.com/articles/msi694dpro/index.html

Thats what I have picked up.
if that helps I will find out what I have in the pc now that I want to swap it with.

[Chewy]

server boards are a bad way to start out, they usually require ECC memory, you will need
to verify?

btw cases and power supplies do not necessarily always work for old to new parts

just have to try it out and see

I would have approached the problem from a different angle, building a new budget computer then upgrading

[photo_angel2004]

Well I got the upgraded mother board for free, I am broke at the moment. LOL
I know when you buy a motherboard there is always a book and a disc of drivers I am having a hard time finding either of the 2.

Where can I get the manual and drivers for this one:MS-6321: Dual CPU
on VIA Apollo Pro133A

this is not a new motherboard its older but new to me and an upgrade from the one in my sons pc. So I am thinking since the time line on the 2 are about the same there should be no problems there.

[katzdvd]

server boards are a bad way to start out, they usually require ECC memory, you will need
to verify?

How can you identify what is a server board?

[Chewy]

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/694D_Pro@_Pro@IR.htm

for both of you

[katzdvd]

Chew, I had looked that up previously, & read the specs., but i guess I can't see the forest for the tress, so I will ask again;

What makes a board a "server" board. How does it differ from a "desktop" pc board?

Sorry, I thought I knew what I was doing

[photo_angel2004]

I am still at a loss as to where and how to find the drivers for this motherboard. I have been doing many google searches for them with so far no luck.

You know the driver sites better then I do maybe you can help me to find them or point me in the right direction please.

Thank you



EDIT: There are 3 different models on this page for drivers

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_search.asp

How do I know which one I need? Thanks

[Chewy]

server boards almost always have 2 or more cpu sockets which have to be occupied, there are special balancers? for a socket when using one cpu, the cpu's have to be matched

no using home edition for an OS if I remember?

also they use or support ECC ram, slower but almost foolproof, no errors

then you have the deluxe features like lot's of ide sata controllers, dual firewire, dual ethernet, etc

video and sound is usually lamer since servers don't need that as a deluxe feature

this one is especially lame because in that era they usually came with scuzzi controllers

basic entry level server boards have become obsolete today with multicore cpu's and sata controllers, now the quad core barcelona x4 servers make my mouth water

16 cores to play with?

[Chewy]

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=searchresult&keywords=MS-6321

which southbridge chipset A or B?

if you can't answer that question, put the pointy hat on and sit on the stool in the corner

[katzdvd]

So what you're saying is that PA needs to consider another board...

[Chewy]

well let's say this, if she attempts it, the effort will be an educational experience

I was lucky and had more of the parts when I tried fixing a server setup, we never could get a few of the hardware options to work right, drivers et all?

[photo_angel2004]

well let's say this, if she attempts it, the effort will be an educational experience

I was lucky and had more of the parts when I tried fixing a server setup, we never could get a few of the hardware options to work right, drivers et all?

Thanks chewy I have the manual and drivers and updated bios for this board now thank you!

So from what I am seeing here is to take my sons running pc apart to change the mother boards is probably INSANE with the motherboard I have.

I do have a empty case / tower to work with here. I am thinking to start from scratch to use this case and motherboard to build a whole new pc.

from what I am reading it sounds like a more challening idea then I thought. Ok I can work with that.

You were saying that the sound isnt as good what if I added a better sound card rather than use the onboard sound?

I do have windows XP pro so thats not a problem.
I just now have to gather more of the gutts that go into it to be able to build this pc. I will keep checking the freecycle groups to obtaine those parts.

At least with free parts If I mess something up I am out of time not money better way to learn when your not playing with a lot of $$$.



I will put this project aside for now and gather more parts.

I will get the box from newegg and start with the other computers first then.
Thanks.
Carla

I would have approached the problem from a different angle, building a new budget computer then upgrading

Sounds like a better plan to me. This other case and power supply I have is also older not brand new so we may be good here.