Motherboard swap

[Guest Lee M]

What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a repair

install on these two similar systems:

Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb (gigabit

LAN)

Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

video card: same card in each

hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

 

Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops on

BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: Motherboard swap

 

Chances are high the system will boot, but you'll end up with a long list

of "Phantom" devices in Device Manager.

 

Don't understand the logic of swapping Motherboards using a latter

version/revision of a suspected "Bad" board for a similar product. Did

you update the suspect board's BIOS firmware ?

 

"Lee M" <Lee@noemail.com> wrote in message

news:1qqdnYDqzvHbSa_VnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@comcast.com...

> What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a repair

> install on these two similar systems:

> Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

> Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb (gigabit

> LAN)

> Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

> video card: same card in each

> hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

> LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

>

> Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops on

> BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

>

>

[Guest Terry R.]

Re: Motherboard swap

 

The date and time was 5/20/2008 6:39 AM, and on a whim, Lee M pounded

out on the keyboard:

> What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a repair

> install on these two similar systems:

> Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

> Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb (gigabit

> LAN)

> Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

> video card: same card in each

> hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

> LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

>

> Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops on

> BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

>

>

 

50/50 would be my guess that the new board would run the same installed

drivers as the previous one. I swapped out ePox mb's years ago and was

surprised I didn't have to perform a repair install. But you never know

what extent the changes were.

 

--

Terry R.

 

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[Guest Lee M]

Re: Motherboard swap

 

The suspect board's BIOS is the latest available. The other board has never

experienced a boot failure. It is a backup machine that only gets turned on

2-3 times/week. The suspect board is on 12 hrs/day, every day. I'm just

afraid that one day the boot failure will be permanent and I'll be forced to

swap under duress.

 

Opinions on the cause of the boot failures centered around the PSU (which is

400 watt Rosewill less than 1 yr old) and bad caps (no signs of bulging or

leaking that I can see.) I don't want to risk spending $50 or more on a new

PSU and find that's not the problem. The internet PSU calculators say my

system only draws about 250 watts so I don't think the current PSU is

underpowered. The mobo swap is a "free" (other than my time) diagnostic

tool.

 

"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:u8KECAouIHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Chances are high the system will boot, but you'll end up with a long list

> of "Phantom" devices in Device Manager.

>

> Don't understand the logic of swapping Motherboards using a latter

> version/revision of a suspected "Bad" board for a similar product. Did

> you update the suspect board's BIOS firmware ?

>

> "Lee M" <Lee@noemail.com> wrote in message

> news:1qqdnYDqzvHbSa_VnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@comcast.com...

> > What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a

repair

> > install on these two similar systems:

> > Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

> > Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb

(gigabit

> > LAN)

> > Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

> > video card: same card in each

> > hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

> > LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

> >

> > Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops

on

> > BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

> >

> >

>

>

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: Motherboard swap

 

Understood, Thanks for the additional info - Hope it works out for you.

 

"Lee M" <Lee@noemail.com> wrote in message

news:Q7ednYM7wrNIfK_VnZ2dnUVZ_tDinZ2d@comcast.com...

> The suspect board's BIOS is the latest available. The other board has

> never

> experienced a boot failure. It is a backup machine that only gets turned

> on

> 2-3 times/week. The suspect board is on 12 hrs/day, every day. I'm just

> afraid that one day the boot failure will be permanent and I'll be forced

> to

> swap under duress.

>

> Opinions on the cause of the boot failures centered around the PSU (which

> is

> 400 watt Rosewill less than 1 yr old) and bad caps (no signs of bulging or

> leaking that I can see.) I don't want to risk spending $50 or more on a

> new

> PSU and find that's not the problem. The internet PSU calculators say my

> system only draws about 250 watts so I don't think the current PSU is

> underpowered. The mobo swap is a "free" (other than my time) diagnostic

> tool.

>

> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

> news:u8KECAouIHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>> Chances are high the system will boot, but you'll end up with a long list

>> of "Phantom" devices in Device Manager.

>>

>> Don't understand the logic of swapping Motherboards using a latter

>> version/revision of a suspected "Bad" board for a similar product. Did

>> you update the suspect board's BIOS firmware ?

>>

>> "Lee M" <Lee@noemail.com> wrote in message

>> news:1qqdnYDqzvHbSa_VnZ2dnUVZ_hOdnZ2d@comcast.com...

>> > What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a

> repair

>> > install on these two similar systems:

>> > Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

>> > Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb

> (gigabit

>> > LAN)

>> > Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

>> > video card: same card in each

>> > hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

>> > LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

>> >

>> > Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops

> on

>> > BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

>> >

>> >

>>

>>

>

>

[Guest Erwin Moller]

Re: Motherboard swap

 

Lee M schreef:

> What do think the chances are of a mobo swap without having to do a repair

> install on these two similar systems:

> Mobo: Epox 8RDA3+ vs Epox 8RDA3+ Pro

> Northbridge: nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 vs nForce2 Ultra 400Gb (gigabit

> LAN)

> Southbridge: MCP2 vs MCP2S

> video card: same card in each

> hard drive: Seagate 120GB IDE vs Seagate 80GB IDE

> LAN: onboard Realtek vs Netgear PCI wireless

>

> Reason for swap is troubleshooting the occasional boot failures (stops on

> BIOS screen) on the 8RDA+ system.

>

>

 

Hi,

 

Hard to say.

I just switched motherboard *of the same model* (Asus) and had to

reinstall the OS (W2K in this case).

That was something I didn't expect.

Yes, it booted, but was very unstable and freezed mostly within the

hour. (No blue screens, just freezing)

After a fresh W2K install it ran smoothly again. It has been doing so

now for 6 months.

 

It think it really depends on the motherboards you are switching.

I doubt somebody keeps lists of 'easy-swappable-boards'.

So best is to test it some day before counting on it.

 

Regards,

Erwin Moller