New motherboard in older case??

[Rhonda85]

Hello, I have been out of touch w/ new builds for a while. I currently have an HP pavilion a814x PC circa 2006. I am happy with the case but unhappy with the system (pentium 4 3.4). I have a updated power supply and new hard drives. All I really want to buy is a new mobo, cpu and ram but I am unsure if my old case power connections and front panel USB connections will fit. Any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[mnewsham]

They should all be fine. new PSU is 50 bucks if you need it.

 

[Rhonda85]

So the connector for the power button, power LED and HDD LED should connect? The old builds I used to do were somewhat difficult when it came to connecting these.

 

[mnewsham]

Yep that is all the same.

 

[Rhonda85]

Thanks! Time to junk my old netburst p4 3.4 pig and get a new AMD quad core.

 

[mnewsham]

Thanks! Time to junk my old netburst p4 3.4 pig and get a new AMD quad core.

I would advise against that for the time being.

 

[BoomerD]

As long as the wires are properly labeled, connecting the front case items should be pretty easy. If they're NOT labeled...you'll have to trace them back and figure out what is what...It's easy to get the +/- connected incorrectly, but it's also easy to change them if things don't work right.

Does the case have decent airflow? (fans)

 

[Rhonda85]

The power/LED connector is like a nine pin block connector. The old cases that I used to mess with long ago had individual wires that came from each LED/buttons etc. I do have enough ventilation (large rear fan) as the orig CPU drew 115W (old P4 3.6 ghz).

 

[mnewsham]

The power/LED connector is like a nine pin block connector. The old cases that I used to mess with long ago had individual wires that came from each LED/buttons etc. I do have enough ventilation (large rear fan) as the orig CPU drew 115W (old P4 3.6 ghz).

I would wait for BullDozer performance to come out before you invest in a new system especially if you are going AMD.

 

[Rhonda85]

I would wait for BullDozer performance to come out before you invest in a new system especially if you are going AMD.

Not sure what you are talking about. All I know is for around $200 I can a new mobo, cpu and 4gb of DDR3 mem. I have no desire to have a cutting edge PC, just want to speed up my outdated system for minimal cost.

 

[mnewsham]

Not sure what you are talking about. All I know is for around $200 I can a new mobo, cpu and 4gb of DDR3 mem. I have no desire to have a cutting edge PC, just want to speed up my outdated system for minimal cost.

When the new platform comes out in a few months the current AMD offerings are likely to drop in price. Making your upgrade even cheaper.

 

[Rhonda85]

When the new platform comes out in a few months the current AMD offerings are likely to drop in price. Making your upgrade even cheaper.

Well, I am really not in a hurry to do the upgrade anyways. Guess I need to do some reading and find out what I have been missing out of. Thanks for yalls suggestions!

 

[betasub]

If you have the time Rhonda, check out the articles on the main www.AnandTech.com site, to get an idea of new processors and motherboards arriving on the market.

 

[mfenn]

The power/LED connector is like a nine pin block connector. The old cases that I used to mess with long ago had individual wires that came from each LED/buttons etc. I do have enough ventilation (large rear fan) as the orig CPU drew 115W (old P4 3.6 ghz).

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. The OEMs can standardize on one big block connector, aftermarket mobo/case vendors can't. Unless you're extremely lucky, chances are that that block connector won't match what you get with a new mobo. Ca. 2006 HP cases are not exactly great anyway, so I'd probably just pick up a new $30 Rosewill or similar.

 

[rudder]

I would advise against that for the time being.

Why? If he spends ~100 on a quad or ~70 for an X3 cpu will it really lose that much value? Throw in a decent cheap motherboard and you are still way under $150.

We need details.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would wait for BullDozer performance to come out before you invest in a new system especially if you are going AMD.

I disagree. If BullDozer is getting the "FX" designation, then it is likely going to be priced in a much higher bracket than existing stock, which probably won't go down in price much.

The only reason to wait, would be if you wanted to get LLano, instead of a Phenom II. But that's nothing that a 5570 or 5450 card wouldn't cure.