Here's my problem. My PSU went haywire in my old machine. Fried my video card fan which then corrupted my HD since my Mach Speed - X-Caliber Mach P4XFCP - VIA Socket 478 mobo didn't have on board video. I couldn't find a PSU that had an ATX P9 6 pin power connector to fit into my mobo, so I had to replace both the PSU and the mobo, with a new 250 gb SATA HD thrown in for good measure. Same old chip though. I'm ticked though that I didn't just upgrade the chip instead of using the same P4 and getting another, newer Socket 478 mobo. I do video capturing and editing with Intervideo WinDVD, and my chip runs at between 90 and 100%. Can't do anything else at the same time too. What I'd like to do is buy one of the cheap Pentium D dual core chips (Tiger has a chip and mobo deal for $140) and install it. But I just reinstalled my OS and all my peripheral programs for about the millionth time and don't want to go through all that again. Plus, I've got like 140 gbs of music and video on the HD and don't want to either lose it or have to transfer it to ext. HD's. Is there any way to install a new chip and mobo into a system without having to do a complete OS reinstall and reformatting my HD and losing all my data?? It's either that or trying to overclock my chip to see if that will give me a little bit more flexibility. I've never overclocked anything though and wouldn't know where to start. Any tips you guys can give me would be appreciated.

P4 2.66ghz, 533 FSB, 512 kb cache, socket 478
MSI PM8M-V Socket 478 mobo
XFX GeForce FX 5600 256 mb 8x AGP
WD Caviar 250GB SATA-3G HD 7200/16MB
Ultra 500 watt X-Finity PSU
1 gb Crucial PC3200
Viking 512MB PC2700 (I know, I know. Two different types of memory. I'm going to change that as soon as possible, I swear.LOL)

You basically replaced one weak board with another. You do realize that the X-Caliber has a lifetime warranty? You could probably get it replaced for free.

http://www.machspeed.com/specs/xcal...

Don't worry about the different types of RAM. The CPU:RAM ratio should be 1:1 anyway & you only have a 533FSB P4. In other words, the RAM should run at 133MHz to match your CPU.

You could have done much better.

As for the OS, all you need to do is a "repair install"...there's no need to reformat & start from scratch.

Thanks. I didn't know that the X-Caliber had a lifetime warranty but it wasn't broke so I didn't think about it. It was the PSU that went bad, not the mobo. I just couldn't find a PSU that had an ATX P9 6 pin power connector to fit the X-Caliber mobo, so I replaced them both. Most tech guys I talked to on the phone didn't even know what an ATX P9 power connector was. When I told them it was 6 pins, they thought I was talking about a PCI-E plug. Like you said, I could have done much better.

So once I install the new chip and mobo, how do I do a repair install?? That's an option from the OS disk?? And it doesn't mess up the data on the HD?? Thanks jam.

BTW, what do you think about the Pentium D chips as far as dual cores go??

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...

Here's how to do a repair install of XP:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...

I don't know what you mean by an "ATX P9" plug either? P9 sounds like an old AT power supply plug? I had a look at your board (link in response # 1) & don't don't see anywhere that plug would connect to?

The Pentium D is kind of a moot point...you have two S478 boards now. Are you gonna start all over again with a S775 system? It will mean getting new a new board & CPU, plus DDR2 RAM & a PCI-E video card too.