Replacing motherboard + case of Dell Dimension 4550

devfrost

January 24, 2010 6:02:51 PM

Excuse me for any lack of computer knowledge. I still have my old dimension 4550 and I recently made the mistake of not realizing that my motherboard only supports AGP 4x. I bought an ati radeon hd 3650 agp in hopes to play some tf2 with an fps that isnt below 30 but with only AGP 4x support, I can't. I've already upgraded my ram, my psu and yet the problem occurs cause, well, my computer is a piece of crap. So I went looking around and I thought, "what if i replace my motherboard?" I knew motherboards go for alot but i was hoping that i would find something below 70. I found this:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-4CORES2&title=AS...
ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2

It's good cause it accepts AGP + PCI-E(only 4x though) cards so I don't have to feel like this HD 3650 was a waste. My question is that are there any things I have to check for compatibility for? i don't know SO much about computers but do psu's have to be compatible with the motherboard and stuff like that? I don't have money yet to buy a new cpu but does my pentium 4 have a specific model that makes it incompatible with other motherboards?

The problem about the case is if I DO buy this motherboard, it will not fit in the dell case. The measurements of this motherboard are 12 x 9.6 inch / 30.5 x 24.4 cm and the dell case is 9.6 inches by 8.2 inches. Any suggestions for a cheap case below 50?

I don't know what to do about that windows xp problem where it doesnt work when switching to a new motherboard..

Please do not suggest that I should just buy a whole new computer. I really don't have the money to do that. Thanks very much in advance.

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o1die

CPUs Master

Motherboard Master

January 24, 2010 7:03:15 PM

Frys.com has the antec 300 case for $49.99 shipped; plenty of space and a great value. The asrock board you linked is an old chipset; it only works with 2 gb of ddr or 2 gb of ddr2. That board will fit in the antec case with no problems. You may find a core2 duo such as the e4500 or e5200 (may require a bios flash). The newer the cpu, the less likely it will work without a bios flash. For a newer board, get a g41 with onboard video and sell the 3650 on criagslist. You can get a pci-e card later. Most newer boards use ddr2 and will work with almost any socket 775 dual or quad without a bios flash. Newegg.com has a great selection for around $50 plus shipping.

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devfrost

January 24, 2010 8:34:11 PM

Thanks a lot for the quick reply, but I'm low on cash. Really, all I want to do is play Team Fortress 2 at around 40-50 FPS using the most least amount of necessary cash. I just need the cheapest, most convenient motherboard along with the a CPU that wont severely bottleneck at a low price. With a case. The asrock board I linked is the only board i've found that can support AGP and also some newer CPU types.

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