yow,

Im looking for a new motherboard.

I was wondering, is there any risk to the new MB if I try to migrate some parts from my old system (P4, dvd writer, graphics card) ?

the reason I ask, is that in the end, my old system developed quite a few problems, due to the PSU and the MB itself (cold fault), leading to the system to restart over and over in the mornings.

eventually the dvd drive started behaving strangely by reading disks intermittently, and the P4 seemed only ever to hit around 50% capacity.

so what Im asking is, if these parts were/are damaged, could trying them damage the new motherboard?

Depending on what, if anything, is wrong with them, yes they could.

You stated that a quite a few problems is due to the PSU , so why is the PSU not working good anymore , was it damage by the items you like use on the new MOBO ?
Is the voltage supply on the new MOBO for the Graphic card the same as on the old MOBO.
Is the Old MOBO and the same as the New one.
For instance the connection for the DVD IDE or SATA has the new MOBO both
connection.
So my advice look care full what you are doing.

As long as the components are installed properly, there is virtually no chance of them causing harm to the system. Remember to attach a heat sink to the CPU using thermal paste (removing old paste with a razor as necessary), make sure it has a fan and the fan is working. Make sure the DVD-RW drive is mounted properly, that all cables are intact. The PSU is about the only thing that may damage the system, but only if it severely defect, so if you suspect that, then get a new one of good quality. Make sure to look at how much power you need, here's a good estimate, but always add 50 to 100 W to this:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/p...ulatorlite.jsp

Im starting to think maybe it would be better to buy all new components, as the old components are already 4/5 years old anyway, and I need the 'new' computer to give me another 4/5 years. also, if there is a slight risk to the motherboard from using damaged parts, maybe its just not worth the hassle.

I dont know wether there is an actual problem with the PSU, I just dont trust it (as irrational as that sounds!).

H_TeXMeX_H, Im definately going to buy a good PSU, from what I gather from numerous computer build threads its important but often overlooked.

A other think is also that according to Moore's law the CPU performance double every two years.
Do not know if you need it

I'm personally waiting for something to die in my P4 system so I can justify upgrading to a board that supports PCIe so I can get a higher end video card (which would also require new CPU and RAM). This system, which I built about 6 years ago, performs pretty darn well with Debian so I can't justify the upgrade for no reason. A better Video card is what I really want, but there are not too many choices when you are strapped with an AGP slot.

If I were you, I would look at this as an opportunity to do the Full system upgrade. Throw those other parts in your spare parts bin.

Well, I'm telling you that the only risk posed to any system is from the PSU, it's the one that provides all the power to the system, and if defectous (very rare) it is the only think that can harm a system. The only other thing (even more rare) is if you forget to put a heat sink on the processor, but even if you do this the P4 will throttle down and no harm will be done. Only old AMDs had a problem similar to "China Syndrome", it would overheat and melt through the MB making its way to China (unless you live in China, in which case it would be "US Syndrome"). Really, that's for nuclear reactors, but I think it applies here too

Those are the only possible things that might go wrong, if anyone knows of any other potential problems say so, but I've never heard of any. In your case I bet the motherboard was defective or the PSU or the RAM, the other components could not cause the symptoms that you said.

yeah, I would have liked to keep the P4, but I think it may be damaged, it peaks at 50% however much I throw at it. ah well another £50 for a duel core I suppose ;(



Its funny you should say that, because I run slackware and a window manager, and I could get by with very little resources, but the new Smokin Guns standalone is due out soon and I really want to play it.

dammit H_TeXMeX_H, youve got me thinking I should try the old components now lol

BTW, whats your current motherboard? Ive been searching on LQ's for opinions on MB's that are available to me, and you seem to have owned one that I have been looking at, but I forget which one it was now. it was a board with a Jmicron controller? I think you posted that it wasnt the best, what are your thoughts on it now? which make/model was it?, and what do you have now?

any motherboard recommendations from LQ members? I dont want to go too high, perhaps £60-70 ($150).


Im thinking about this one:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...avigationKey=0

.

Did you consider browsing through the motherboard reviews on a Linux hardware review site like http://www.phoronix.com/ ?

I suggest ASUS M3N78 PRO. It is for AMD processors, it includes on-board video, and it can handle high TDP processors. Since the UK seem that it does not have a wide selection for motherboards, ASUS is OK. A USB mouse works in Linux and USB to communication ports like serial and parallel ports works too. The IEEE-1394 (Firewire or i.Link) may not work in Linux. The power connector is in a weird spot, so you may have routing problems with over size heat sinks. Using high TDP might decrease the voltage and increase cable temperature around the 12ATX 4-pin connector. ASUS should of used an 8-pin connector for an increase over clocking potential and increase life span with the use of high TDP processors. The on-video should save you time and money when buying all the products at once and putting it together. A dedicated video card can then be added later.

Selecting a power supply separately will give you the ability to get a quality power supply. Good power supply brands are Seasonic and Enermax. Antec, OCZ, Corsair, SilverStone and Power & Cooling are ok. xbitlabs.com have a vast and good review on power supplies. IMHO, xbitlabs review on power supplies is a lot more thorough compared to tomshardware.com and anandtech.com.

In 20 years as an electrical engineer, I've rarely seen a well designed switch mode or PWM DC power supply failure cause secondary damage. These devices are designed such that internal faults cause the power supply to shutdown. Of course, the key is "well designed" which is rarely the case with the power supplies used in PC's. It is more likely that faults in the load destroy or damage the power supply.

I have, however, seen many components like processors, transceivers, decoders, memory, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc. whose failure resulted in secondary failures. If there is an internal fault in the OP's processor, it can cause failures of other components on the motherboard. If there is an internal fault in the OP's DVD drive, it can cause failures of components on the motherboard. In the case of the DVD drive, a fault could cause the failure of the PSU as well.

Well, if you say so, but if the processor was faulty then the computer would have had severe issues. All sorts of weird stuff would happen, the computer may not even boot, it may not even POST, and if it did, it wouldn't stay up long. Typically doesn't the BIOS check to see if the processor is in working order, and beep codes are emitted:
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

Well, if the components are not valuable, and are old anyway and you suspect they are faulty, I guess just get rid of them.

thanks, Ill have a look at that.

the specs for that board look good. I never even considered AMD, maybe its because this will be my first build, and AMD dont have as many T.V ads as Intel

a 64 bit AMD processor should work ok with a 32 bit linux like Slackware, right? but just not work to its full potential?