How can I find a compatible motherboard? My motherboard is gone and I need a replacement. but I'm not sure how to find a compatible motherboard that matches my unit?

Normally you can find the info you need at the site of the manufacturer.

www.intel.com
www.amd.com
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for your old pc (CPU/Ram: 166/64) i would say you take a look at shops like ebay because i dont think you can buy such an old compatible mainboard anymore...

manual:
Search for info on the sites i mentioned.
Or
Search on google (type: Mainboard 166 Mhz compatible)

thats a board i found for a Intel 166 Mhz:
http://www.allproducts.com.tw/manufacture8/atrend/atc-6000.html

greez
Seth

Cheers seth,

I'm looking to buy a new processor too. So I just need to find a compatiable motherboard with the unit design. Is there a set design for motherboards?

thanks

not sure about that. i would just decide which cpu to buy and then search for a mainboard which is compatible.

you would do better if you would buy a new cpu, mainboard AND Ram.
because your old ram would slow the whole system down..

a good combo:
CPU: AMD XP 2400+
Mainboard: MSI KT4 Ultra-BSR,KT400 Sock.A
Ram: DDR-DIMM 256MB, PC-2700 184Pin, 333MHz, CL2.5

should be fully compatible (and fast) :)

greez
Seth

PS: Mainboard details in english on

http://www.stegcomputer.ch/details.asp?prodid=msi-KT4UBSR

ofc 512 mb ddr ram is better but more expensive :P

Motherboards follow something called form factors. The form factors are designated by letters such as AT, ATX, MATX, and so on. Also, the power supply and the RAM will more than likely need to be upgraded.

If your Hard drive, CDRom, Graphics card etc, are in good condition in maybe should consider a barebones kit. This is a new case, power supply, floppy drive, motherboard, CPU and sometimes RAM. You add the HD, the CD Rom, Graphics card (you can get them built in depending on your needs), and the Operating System. It's easier than trying to replace the motherboard and CPU and match the form factor and not much more expensive.

If you do decide to replace the motherboard try and determine what your form factor is then search for the board based on the CPU you want to use. Good luck.

It depends on what you use your PC for & how much you wana spend to upgrade. Obviously you have an awful lot of choices that are better than a 166 system...lol. However, being that it's a 166, you probably have an AT power supply rather than ATX. If so, you'd be better off upgrading your case as well...it's usually cheaper to buy an entire case w/power supply that it is to buy just a power supply alone. You should be able to get a fairly decent case for about $40. Then you'll have to decide on a CPU/motherboard. AMD Athlon/Duron systems will give you the most bang for your buck. The ECS K7S5A motherboard is available for about $60...it supports all AMD's current socket A CPUs & uses either PC100/133 SDRAM or DDR RAM. If you don't need a real "screamer" & wanna keep costs down, you can get a 1200 Duron for about $35. If you're willing to spend a little more, you can get an Athlon XP 1700+ for about $50. Another thing about newer boards is that ISA slots have been eliminated...so if you're still running any ISA cards, you'll have to upgrade them as well. Then again, if you desire an ISA slot, there are still some boards available.

For slightly dated components, I usually go to Compgeeks.com. For example...they have a Shuttle AI61 Slot A MBB Athlon 700MHz CPU 128MB w/CPU Fan for $77. I'm not very familiar with Slot A systems, but if you're not looking for "state of the art" & want something cheap, you can't beat that price.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AI61-700128-F-K

If your prefer an Intel system, compgeeks has two Soyo Socket 370 mobos for under $30...& one of them has an ISA slot. You can pick up a 1.0Ghz Celeron for about $40.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-7IS2

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-7VCA-E

Decisions, decisions...LOL!

Good luck!

I hate to say it, but it's probably time to bite the bullet and get a new system. As big a fan as I am of upgrading, I don't think your components will have much more life in them. Instead of spending $50 to keep a dinosaur running, you can spend $200 and get a whole lot more computer.

It would be like putting a new transmissionin a car with 200,000 miles on it. You know the rest of it is going to fall apart sooner or later so why put in a new transmission if you won't be able to use it in your next car. Sooner or later you are going to have to get a new car.

Obviously you do not need a heavy duty computer if a 166 got you this far. I would probably get the cheapest barebones I could find. You can find a 1 GHz for about $100 at www.pricewatch.com under PC Kits. You will need to add some memory for like $30 (or less). You can continue to use your old drives until they die and replace them as needed.

If you don't have PCI or AGP video card, try to get a kit with on board graphics and sound.

I recently bought this and am very pleased:

http://www.3btech.net/incel1gcpumi.html

It didn't come with a video card, but I already had one. It also didn't have any cables, but I was able to use my old ones. It took me about an hour to get it running. The other nice thing about these people is free ground shipping.