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RalphHxyzFlag for United States of America

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Suggestions for a new motherboard

Any specific suggestions for a replacement motherboard.
I need specifics not "Asus makes a great motherboard".

I do not know what Socket I need.

Will a replacement motherboard fit in this box or did eMachines do something to screw up a simpl;e replacement like DEll has done with some of their configurations.

What do I need to be careful of, watch out for?

My existing computer is a eMachines T6540 A64X2 3800.

The reason I am thinking about replacing the motherboard on a lest then one year old box is:
        I am having problems with the sound (see the referenceed thread).
        If I try to use 2 gbs of memory the computer will randomly freeeze up. No blue screen or
        any of that simple regular stuff, the screen will stay but everything is frozen in time
        (the clock not update even). I have tested the individual memory sticks and it is good.
        If I run with 1.5gbs or .5 gbs it seems to run fine without freezing.
eMachines will take the computer back but there will be a minimum three week turnaround which I would
rather not endure, so I thought why not take a afternoon and replace the motherboard. Oh eMachines has allready sent me a new hardrive so that is not the problem.

So I am looking for a motherboard that I can swap processor and memory.
I use a Matrox TripleHead2Go so a onboard video card would have to drive that or perferable no onboard video, I have a strong enough video card.
My memory is CENTON DDR@-533 PC@-4200 240 pin.
The processor is a AMD A64X2 3800.

Any specific suggestions? Especially well documented idiot proof instructions welcomed.
I mean just removing the procesor looks chalenging.

Thanks for any help.
Ralph
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willcomp
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Great reccomendations from willcomp . . I'd just like to add that the eMachines PowerSupplies are notoriously under powered.  I'd reccomend you consider replacing that when you replace the M/B.
Avatar of Mark Poirier
This model comes with Vista as the OS, have you downgraded to XP. Have you been able to get all the appropriate drivers for the motherboard such as the chipset driver?
This may be the reason for some of the problems you have been having with your sound in the other question.
eMachines web site listed XP Media Center as OS.
Avatar of RalphHxyz

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Yes the Native OS is XP Media (I bought this computer last year before VISTA release). I would like to do a new install using XP-PRO 64 Bit as I do not believe XP Media is 64 bit. The reason I say this is that I tried to install the 64 bit version of Virtual PC and the OS was not recognized as being 64 bit. So I was thinking about throwing a virgin hardisk on also.

I was trying to make a Ghost 12 image of the existing OS so that I could do a restore but apparently Ghost no longer does a simple image. So if I put a new hardisk on I will "supposedly" avoid any problems (ha).

One of the main things is I want to use my existing RAM I do not want to buy more RAM.

Ralph
All the hardware - including RAM - is compatible. You cannot use your current XP installation without performing a repair install to compensate for a non eMachines motherboard. A repair install requires the XP CD.

A fresh OS install can be done on existing hard disk or a new one.