Motherboard Form Factor Question

[Falinor]

Hello,

I currently play World of Warcraft, but I am currently running the following machine: http://www.emachines.com/support/pr...ies&model=T1221

Yes, it sucks.

Anyhow, I am looking for a new motherboard, but I have troubles finding the motherboard and case form factor for this system. Can anyone refer me to a place where I can find this? Or if you simply know, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

[classicsoftware]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums.

Please post your request in one thread only. The other thread has been closed.

I will also move this to the Buying and Upgrading forum.

[pop pop]

The link you left doesn't work.

Why in the world would you spend any more money ... or time ... on an eMachine?

[Bullman]

Falinor, Welcome to the PCguide!!

Here is a link that works: http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=desktop&subcat=T-Series&model=T1221
It worked in his other post that was closed. :D

Yes, it sucks.

Some around here are not very fond of emachines, and you look like you might think that also. :) I have an emachines also, and it has been very good to us so far. I have not tried a Mobo upgrade on an emachines, yet, but I just finished one on an HP. I wanted to see if I could do it, and didn't want to spend to much on it, and it is working great.

Anyways, here is a link (http://www.e4allinc.info/) to an emachines upgrade site that has quite a bit of good info. It led me here (http://www.e4allinc.info/dir1/support/usa_motherboards.htm) to find your motherboard. Then if you click on your motherboard model Lomita (http://www.e4allinc.info/dir1/motherboards/socket370/lomita.htm) it will give you the info you are looking for. It looks like it is an mATX mobo. That is what was in my HP that I upgraded. If you decide that you still want to go through with the upgrade, I am sure you know you will need to upgrade your CPU, and memory. You should also upgrade your Power supply. The power supply you have in your system now is probably barely enough to run what you have now. You may also have to do some modding to your power button wiring and some others like HDD LED and maybe USB wiring.


If you are from the USA, you can find all you will need at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com). I found an Asus Mobo, got the AMD Sempron 2800+ (Socket 754), an Antec PSU, and the Memory to match. If you have any other questions, just ask, there are many knowledgeable people here willing to help. :cool:

[saphalline]

Most of what is holding you back for that game is probably the pathetic onboard video provided by the i810e chipset. Unless you have upgraded to a PCI vid card, I cannot believe you can run WoW on that thing! :eek: Looking at the game's system requirements (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/technology.html;jsessionid=E0E0C6EBDFA94576B62E9C3 2434FB6F0.app04), you probably do have an upgraded vid card. And how much RAM do you have?

If all you want is a new mobo for your current hardware, I found this mATX DFI mobo (http://www.directron.com/cm33tl.html) for $56 + shipping. It has everything your current mobo has, except for the better chipset! :p As Bullman said, you might have to "hotwire" a few things if that eMachines Lomita mobo has proprietary connections, but otherwise it will work great. There are a few things to think about with this upgrade, however. Slapping in a better mobo for your current hardware is only recommended if:

- You have at least a PCI GeForce2/Radeon 7500 vid card

- You have at least 256MB of SDRAM

- You have an extremely low budget

- You have an installation CD of Windows that will work with the new mobo/chipset

If you said "no" to any of these, I suggest re-thinking your plan. While a new mobo is nice, it's also the most complex PC upgrade you can possibly do! There are so many issues involved with doing this, and at some point it is no longer cost-effective to drag an OEM machine with you. WoW is a demanding game and it might be too much to ask that poor little eMachine to withstand your gaming addiction! :D As per Bullman's advice, if you can afford to spend a couple hundred on a new platform, you'll get sooooo much more for your money! For instance...

A new Sempron or Celeron D would blow your current CPU out of the water, for less than $100

A new modern mobo can be had for under $100 (with built-in 100 or 1000 ethernet/LAN, audio, USB 2.0, SATA, etc)

1GB of high quality, high speed DDR RAM is about $80-90

Decent vid cards can also be less than $100

160GB SATA hard drives are (once again) under $100

OEM versions of WinXP Home/Pro are about $93/146 (respectively)

A decent case and a good power supply can sneak under the $100 mark

The total of all of this is much more than $56, but this is guaranteed to work and is a whole heck of a lot more powerful and you don't have to buy everything at once (just a few key components). But of course it depends on your budget. ;)

[david eaton]

And, if you only have the Emachines "restore" CDs, then a new copy of WinXP is mandatory. The restore disk will only work with the hardware you have, so it will be necessary to completely wipe your drive, and reinstall from scratch. Any files you want to keep will have to be burned to CD or CD/RW before you start this upgrade.