Upgrading motherboard and cpu?

[j.vzqz13]

Hey,
First, I'm kind of a newb with computers and trying to learn as much as I can about them. I know some basics about them, but any way, I bought an HP computer from a pawnshop last year. I recently just bought the Phantom 410 case and Thermaltake TR2 600W for it since one of my friends gave me his GeForce Gts 250.
But I've read that in cases like HP computers, HP restricts their hardware to work with only HP components and now that I have a new PSU and case, I wanted to know, would it be ok to use the same hardware, including my 1Tb hard drive if I upgraded the motherboard and CPU? or would I need to start from scratch since it's from HP?

Specs:
CPU- AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 250 3.00GHz 64 bit
RAM-4GB
OS- Windows 7 Home Premium
GPU- EVGA GeForce GTS 250 512MB
HardDrive- 1TB

 

[jamesriley94]

Generally, the motherboards are made to fit the case and aren't standard sizes.

You could reuse the processor - although I really wouldn't.

You'll pretty much have to start from scratch. You'll be able to reuse the hard drive, and possibly RAM if it's DDR3?

What's the budget?

 

[alienware]

Custom monopolised hardware is nowhere near as prevalent as it used to be.

I would imagine your HP probably carries a MATX basic motherboard that should fit in any standard casing. Best thing to do is to take a couple of pics with the side off so we can assist you in IDing it..

What will be dumbed down and monopolised however is the bios. There will be no overclocking options left in it at all.

As I said, get us a couple of pics so we can try and ID the board

 

[j.vzqz13]

jamesriley94-

The motherboard actually fit perfectly in the 410.

Yeah, I wasn't planning on using the processor again, which is why I wanted to upgrade it along with the motherboard.

Yeah the Ram is DDR3 and so I wouldn't have to format my hard drive to make it work with a new motherboard and cpu?

I don't have a specific budget at the moment, I'm saving as I go.

AlienALX-

Actually, the motherboard is called M2N68- La. it has it written on right under the cpu lol

But I think I didn't really word on what I wanted to say correctly. :/ When I said "But I've read that in cases like HP computers" I meant situation, I guess cases wasn't really the word to use at the moment. sorry :/

 

[UkGouki]

tbh you would have to more than likly buy another os as the hp oem will be restricted to the hardware you already have, the gpu will work on it though i put a hd6850 in my sons acer desktop which has an amd 5800k apu it works perfect.

so if your saving up for new parts you will need

motherboard
cpu
opsystem
and thats the bear minimum personally i would upgrade the ram too and get a solid state hdd for the opsystem otherwise you may aswell stick with what you have..

 

[airdeano]

welcome to the OC3D forums,

for giggles, yes the hardware should fit into the 410 and the system won't know
any better. I've done that for a couple of "office" clients that wanted to jazz their
décor up and a case is a place to start.
as for hardware, it'll be a limper, but all is compatible. the video card might fit if
the motherboard isn't too dated (could have a AGP slot).
it'd be a learning 'sperience to find out what fits what.

 

[j.vzqz13]

UkGouki -

Yeah I figured the HP Oem would be a problem, but I wouldn't need a new hard drive right? I just need to format the one I have and install the new OS on it?

airdeano-

Thank you
I've actually already have the the hardware into the 410 already, and video card barely fits because of the sata cables, but it still managed to fit :l

 

[Mark3Max]

Hi j.vzqz13 and welcome to the OC3D forums.
Originally I thought of transplanting an HP system into a new case , but after looking at the components they use (Cheap and generic stuff ) I decided it would be best just to buy new and start fresh. For a little more money you can build a much better system with better quality stuff and know what you have. The main problem with HP and others is their cases are too small and have very bad cooling. They also have a locked bios .
My advice would be to save up and get a good motherboard and processor and start fresh with new stuff.

 

[alienware]

Your motherboard is made by Asus. I kind of figured it would be either Asus or MSI tbh as MSI make all of Alienware and Acer's Predator motherboards

update/

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01925534#N156

There you go dude that's your board there. It is an Asus board.

Edit. that board will take a Phenom 2 so you have loads of upgrade options.

 

[alpenwasser]

Yeah I figured the HP Oem would be a problem, but I wouldn't need a new hard drive right? I just need to format the one I have and install the new OS on it?

Correct, your HDD should be compatible with any SATA port (the M/B you have
has SATA-II ports w/ 3 GB/s according to the link provided by AlienALX).

Reformat drive, install new OS. Just make sure you have all necessary drivers

 

[j.vzqz13]

Hi j.vzqz13 and welcome to the OC3D forums.
Originally I thought of transplanting an HP system into a new case , but after looking at the components they use (Cheap and generic stuff ) I decided it would be best just to buy new and start fresh. For a little more money you can build a much better system with better quality stuff and know what you have. The main problem with HP and others is their cases are too small and have very bad cooling. They also have a locked bios .
My advice would be to save up and get a good motherboard and processor and start fresh with new stuff.

Thank you
Yeahh, I mean, I want too, but since I already this computer, so I kind wanted to upgrade it, but although it's a decent motherboard, I kind of want to upgrade it too along with the CPU, but thanks for advice though

Your motherboard is made by Asus. I kind of figured it would be either Asus or MSI tbh as MSI make all of Alienware and Acer's Predator motherboards

update/

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01925534#N156

There you go dude that's your board there. It is an Asus board.

Edit. that board will take a Phenom 2 so you have loads of upgrade options.

ahh! thanks!
I might replace it with a different one later on though

Correct, your HDD should be compatible with any SATA port (the M/B you have
has SATA-II ports w/ 3 GB/s according to the link provided by AlienALX).

Reformat drive, install new OS. Just make sure you have all necessary drivers

ah sweet! thanks!
now I can save up for a new motherboard and cpu without worrying about being a different HDD.



Btw I know this is off topic, but I wanted to know, how did you guys learn about all this? I mean, only reason why I know some basics about this is because of watching many youtube videos lol just curious on how I can learn more.

 

[alpenwasser]

Btw I know this is off topic, but I wanted to know, how did you guys learn about all this? I mean, only reason why I know some basics about this is because of watching many youtube videos lol just curious on how I can learn more.

My dad used to be a construction engineer from around the mid-70s to the
mid-90s. He had to put together his own rigs for CAD work since he could
not buy them. I never really saw one of those machines, but that's how
he got into it (he's generally very technically curious, as am I).

So when I was around 9 I just started asking questions and watching him
modify our machines at home. The rest was mostly reading magazines like
C't and Chip, two German PC magazines. Chip is not exactly for the expert
builder nowadays, but for a beginner in the late 90's they were actually
quite useful.

By 2001 I had saved up enough money to buy my own first rig, and put it
together. You'll see soon enough, it's not really that difficult. Mostly it's just
plugging some stuff into other stuff. The tricky part is of course making
sure everything is compatible before you buy it and I must admit that, at least
in retrospect, things appear to have been a bit simpler back then. I might
be being deceived by my memories though

TL;DR: My dad knew, I watched him, read up on some stuff and the rest was
just learning by doing. Mistakes happen, but it's not rocket science

 

[j.vzqz13]

My dad used to be a construction engineer from around the mid-70s to the
mid-90s. He had to put together his own rigs for CAD work since he could
not buy them. I never really saw one of those machines, but that's how
he got into it (he's generally very technically curious, as am I).

So when I was around 9 I just started asking questions and watching him
modify our machines at home. The rest was mostly reading magazines like
C't and Chip, two German PC magazines. Chip is not exactly for the expert
builder nowadays, but for a beginner in the late 90's they were actually
quite useful.

By 2001 I had saved up enough money to buy my own first rig, and put it
together. You'll see soon enough, it's not really that difficult. Mostly it's just
plugging some stuff into other stuff. The tricky part is of course making
sure everything is compatible before you buy it and I must admit that, at least
in retrospect, things appear to have been a bit simpler back then. I might
be being deceived by my memories though

TL;DR: My dad knew, I watched him, read up on some stuff and the rest was
just learning by doing. Mistakes happen, but it's not rocket science

wow! that's awesome! lol I guess I also should start reading on magazines

 

[alpenwasser]

wow! that's awesome! lol I guess I also should start reading on magazines

Well, keep in mind that there was a lot less information on the internet back then.
Nowadays you can find out pretty much everything you need to know online.
And a lot of PC mags (Chip among them) have lowered their level quite
significantly to cater more to novice users and the average consumer
(Chip had that tendency back then as well, but I sort of have the
impression that it's gotten more pronounced over the years, not sure tbh).

 

[Mark3Max]

There is alot of useful reading here on the forums also , you can learn from other members posts. There are some reliable webpages on the web to learn from too.

 

[j.vzqz13]

Well, keep in mind that there was a lot less information on the internet back then.
Nowadays you can find out pretty much everything you need to know online.
And a lot of PC mags (Chip among them) have lowered their level quite
significantly to cater more to novice users and the average consumer
(Chip had that tendency back then as well, but I sort of have the
impression that it's gotten more pronounced over the years, not sure tbh).

yeah, well that's true

There is alot of useful reading here on the forums also , you can learn from other members posts. There are some reliable webpages on the web to learn from too.

Seems like I gotta do some more research on the internet and forums then B)

But thanks for everyone's replies. It helped a lot.