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Packard Bell M/B Upgrades?
I have a Packard Bell 120mhz pentium computer that I'd like to upgrade the motherboard so I can still use all the memory and peripherals. I been told that these motherboards are proprietary to Packard Bell and there are no aftermarket motherboards that will fit these computer cases. Do you know if it is possible today to buy an aftermarket motherboard to replace this one easily?
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There's very little upgrading you can do that will utilize your existing hardware
A case $50. A new motherboard would require a new CPU and almost certainly DIMM memory, rather than your old SIMMs. Assuming the video adapter, sound and modem cards aren't built in to the motherboard, you should be able to easily transfer them to the new case/motherboard. Further, while it may work, the sound card modem combo (if you have that) should probably be replaced - you can get a faster modem for $35-75 and a sound card for $20. The floppy drive is probably fine... as is the CD-ROM drive (provided it's a true IDE drive and not some special PB brand from my experiences with PB, this would NOT surprise me). The hard disk would also work fine in a new case/motherboard, but it's probably a 1 GB (+/- 500 MB) drive and for less than $100, you can get a 4 GB drive, $140 you can get a 13 GB drive.
A case $50. A new motherboard would require a new CPU and almost certainly DIMM memory, rather than your old SIMMs. Assuming the video adapter, sound and modem cards aren't built in to the motherboard, you should be able to easily transfer them to the new case/motherboard. Further, while it may work, the sound card modem combo (if you have that) should probably be replaced - you can get a faster modem for $35-75 and a sound card for $20. The floppy drive is probably fine... as is the CD-ROM drive (provided it's a true IDE drive and not some special PB brand from my experiences with PB, this would NOT surprise me). The hard disk would also work fine in a new case/motherboard, but it's probably a 1 GB (+/- 500 MB) drive and for less than $100, you can get a 4 GB drive, $140 you can get a 13 GB drive.
this was the reason I proposed an answer to lock the question. this can be very confusing for people who don't know the systems. there are some systems which lack upgradeablility but if you can provide the info I asked for I can recommend exactly what you need.
I'm not posting this as much to knock PB (though I despise the computers they make), but upgrading almost any Pentium class system is close to useless... 58968 seems to want to utilize the same case - this, in my opinion, is not worth it - it'll cost him $50 to get a new case that all industry standard components will fit into.
I'm not posting this as much to knock PB (though I despise the computers they make)>>>
I work for them and I wouldn't buy one!
but upgrading almost any Pentium class system is close to useless>>>
That would depend on budget
58968 seems to want to utilize the same case - this, in my opinion, is not worth it - it'll cost him $50 to get a new case that all industry standard components will fit into.>>>
A new case might not be needed. It really depends on exactly what he has. Some of the PB case/motherboards are industry standard even at the age of this system. regardless, I don't know where you are but cases can be had for less than $20 with a powersupply.
I work for them and I wouldn't buy one!
but upgrading almost any Pentium class system is close to useless>>>
That would depend on budget
58968 seems to want to utilize the same case - this, in my opinion, is not worth it - it'll cost him $50 to get a new case that all industry standard components will fit into.>>>
A new case might not be needed. It really depends on exactly what he has. Some of the PB case/motherboards are industry standard even at the age of this system. regardless, I don't know where you are but cases can be had for less than $20 with a powersupply.
58968,
might as well toss my two cents in:
THE MACHINE IN QUESTION IS NOT WORTH PUTTING ANYTHING ELSE INTO IT.What ever you spend on it in upgrading you are faced with the reality of.......... you still will be driving a Rambler with new dual exhausts
might as well toss my two cents in:
THE MACHINE IN QUESTION IS NOT WORTH PUTTING ANYTHING ELSE INTO IT.What ever you spend on it in upgrading you are faced with the reality of.......... you still will be driving a Rambler with new dual exhausts
The serial number is B463501250+ and the maunfacturer's number is 848237102. I've replaced the modem with a 56K model, installed a new 8.4GB hard drive, 104MB of memory, and Windows 98 Second Edition.
OK, the problem you are faced with is this. The motherboard follows a typical architecture of the day which includes a riser card/daughter board for the add-on cards. Unfortunately, these days motherboards don't use this type of design and you will be stuck buying a new case. On the lighter side, you can find many, many cases for less than what you might expect
( less than $20 ) which will include a power supply. Check out http://www.pricewatch.com and look for the cases category. As mentioned above, the downfall of this is that you might have to get new memory as the EDO SIMMS which you are most likely using might not be supported by a newer board. If you are using the fast page mode ram, you pretty well have 96MB worth of really cool keychains! ( send me one if ya would )
Now, here's my thoughts. You have really pushed this system to it's potential already. Again, as mentioned above, it's not worth too much money trying to upgrade this system as you will only be able to keep a few items like the floppy, cd-rom, etc. Even the keyboard would have to be swapped. Let me ask you what you are really trying to accomplish here. Is it a new system for the price of a motherboard? Is there a problem you are trying to solve? Is this just for a new processor? What do you use the system for?
***** Motherboard *****
Overview:
Battery A 3V Lithium battery is soldered on-board at location BT1.
BIOS Flash EEPROM - Phoenix BIOS
Bus Architecture PCI 2.0/ISA based system bus
Cache 16KB L1 (Internal) write-back Cache (integrated in the CPU)
256KB L2 (External) write-through with write buffers cache soldered on the motherboard
Chipset PCI064B Super I/O controller
VL82C593 controller
CPU
Pentium 75 MHz
Pentium 90 MHz
Pentium 100 MHz
Pentium 120 MHz
Pentium 133 MHz
Uses Type 5 CPU Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) CPU Socket
Interfaces 1 DB-9 Serial ports for COM1
1 DB-25 Parallel port
1 PS/2 Keyboard port
1 PS/2 Mouse port
1 15 pin VGA
( less than $20 ) which will include a power supply. Check out http://www.pricewatch.com and look for the cases category. As mentioned above, the downfall of this is that you might have to get new memory as the EDO SIMMS which you are most likely using might not be supported by a newer board. If you are using the fast page mode ram, you pretty well have 96MB worth of really cool keychains! ( send me one if ya would )
Now, here's my thoughts. You have really pushed this system to it's potential already. Again, as mentioned above, it's not worth too much money trying to upgrade this system as you will only be able to keep a few items like the floppy, cd-rom, etc. Even the keyboard would have to be swapped. Let me ask you what you are really trying to accomplish here. Is it a new system for the price of a motherboard? Is there a problem you are trying to solve? Is this just for a new processor? What do you use the system for?
***** Motherboard *****
Overview:
Battery A 3V Lithium battery is soldered on-board at location BT1.
BIOS Flash EEPROM - Phoenix BIOS
Bus Architecture PCI 2.0/ISA based system bus
Cache 16KB L1 (Internal) write-back Cache (integrated in the CPU)
256KB L2 (External) write-through with write buffers cache soldered on the motherboard
Chipset PCI064B Super I/O controller
VL82C593 controller
CPU
Pentium 75 MHz
Pentium 90 MHz
Pentium 100 MHz
Pentium 120 MHz
Pentium 133 MHz
Uses Type 5 CPU Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) CPU Socket
Interfaces 1 DB-9 Serial ports for COM1
1 DB-25 Parallel port
1 PS/2 Keyboard port
1 PS/2 Mouse port
1 15 pin VGA
Basically it's my daughter's computer and I was trying to speed things up because it seems so sloooooow...
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I need your serial number and manufacturers number
serial number= a letter, 9 numbers, and a +
manufacturers number= 84????????????????????????