Replacment for a fried mobo

[jrdz71]

I have a 2 year old Gateway Tower with a P2 350Mhz processor. Last night my modem took a surge (I know I need to get an APC that covers my phoneline.) that fried my motherboard. instead of buying a new unit I am debating upgrades. Can anyone give me some suggestions, am I wasting my time trying to upgrade my mobo and processor? Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.

jrdz71

[Ygor]

This has happened to others who have posted here. If you have insurance on your home, you may wish to check with your insurance agent to see if they'll cover it.

The next thing you need to be aware of is that many of the major manufacturers make their systems "proprietary". This often starts with the motherboard connections and how it fits to the case. Usually they would rather sell you a new computer rather than assist in an upgrade.

In other words, you may need a new case (with power supply) in order to use anything other than a Gateway approved motherboard.

A 350 is fine for web-surfing and many other applications. Since technology keeps improving, you can often get good deals by shopping around for hardware that's been out about 6 months or more rather than the newest available.

You could probably assemble a system almost double the speed of the Gateway for less than you paid for that one. Also, by doing your own research, you can decide yourself about future upgrades.

Many current BX boards are capable of using that 350 and will also handle a processor double that speed or higher with just a bios upgrade or a socket adapter.



[This message has been edited by Ygor (edited 07-04-2000).]