Super budget motherboard

[cookybiscuit]

Asus and Nvidia (after failing to get a 670 to work) recommended I update the motherboard BIOS, but my motherboard is some random crap model so as far as I know there are none. So I think I'll just replace it, but I'm stupid and need help if possible.

1.) I'm pretty sure I'm after a mATX motherboard, processor is i5 2320 so I think its LGA 1155 fitting. Whats a decent cheap one? Don't want to spend much more than about £30.

2.) When taking the heatsink and processor off the old motherboard and moving them to the new one, what do I have to do before putting them on the new one? The thing is 2 months old and has hardly been used, but I think I still need to replace the thermal paste? What can I use to get the old paste off?

3.) Any recommendations for thermal paste?

4.) What do I have to do to get the new motherboard to work in the system? Is it possible to preserve the data on the HDD?

Thanks.

 

[o1die]

I actually reused my thermal material for my stock Intel heatsink and fan, and the idle temp is only 49c with my 2120 cpu. If you want to replace the thermal material with paste, remove it with fingernail polish remover (with acetate). You don't have to get it spotless; the less you handle the cpu, the better. You can use a simple esd strap to prevent static discharge damage if you're concerned; I worked at dell handling boards and cpus, and this was required to be worn at all times while handling components. Preserving the data is available with a windows 7 backup program, but I've never used it. On my asus h61 board with ufei bios, windows 7 never crashed; I got lucky and windows 7 started reconfiguring all my device drivers when changing from an amd 880 board to an Intel H61 board, but your installation may crash. Here's the board I use:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131906
http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H61M_LECSM_R20/

It doesn't have sata III or usb 3.0; if you want those features, get this board instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131842

 

[cookybiscuit]

Thanks.