Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with computer and motherboard

Maybe I should have bought a Dell....

unexpected — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:27:28 -0800

You guys helped me figure out what computer parts to buy. Now I've got the parts, tried putting it together, and it's been a disaster. Please help me figure this out... Okay, so things were going smoothly in my build, until I had "an incident", that was mainly the result of me being dumb. This is what happened:

I was connecting the power button switch to the jumpers on the motherboard. Little did I know, I had connected them incorrectly (ugh). When I went to power up, this wire started smoking. When I saw my computer in literal flames, i turned everything off. Sadly, it was too late- the power button has completely melted, so it's always "stuck"

That annoyance aside, I decided to go ahead and wire the reset switch to the motherboard in the power slot (correctly this time). Yes, this means that hitting reset would control the power, but I rationalized it and thought it'd give my computer a little more "character."

So, I finished off the build and powered up, and...nothing. The motherboard powers up, the cpu fans turn on, the lights on the motherboard flash, but nothing on the screen.

Weird Thing that it does: ("the weird thing") When I power it up, it tries to turn on comes on for 3 seconds, then shuts off, then comes on again normally. As I can't see anything on the screen, I don't know if this means anything.

I went into error debugging mode. I disconnected everything except the RAM, processor, and Graphics Card (my mobo doesn't have onboard graphics). Turned it on. Still nothing on the screen.

I disconnected the Graphics card and the RAM, thinking I would get some beep codes, but nothing beeps. I then disconnected the processor, and left the motherboard basically bare, and even then nothing still beeps-but it doesn't do "the weird thing", and it just starts up normally.

I replaced the memory that we had lying around the office. Still nothing. That leaves me with the motherboard, power supply, and processor.

The power supply looks fine on all accounts -it's a beefy 750 watts, and everything is turning on, lights are whizzing, etc.

So that leaves me with the Motherboard or Processor.

Why it could be the motherboard: I mean, nothing is appearing on the screen. Also, I had that "incident". Also, nothing beeps! I should have some beep codes, right?

Why it might not be the motherboard: The lights are coming on. It seems to be functional by all accounts.

Why it could be the processor: Why did it stop doing "the weird thing" once I took the processor out.
Why it might not be the processor: I mean this processor was really easy to put in (Socket 775 Core 2 quad core). Processors generally have a really tiny failure rate.

So what now? I don't have a spare motherboard or processor to test it on. Any ideas? Is it something totally different?

For reference, my board is an Asus PQ5-E. my chip is an Intel Core2Quad 2.4 Ghz. My Graphics card is an Nvidea 9800 GTX+

Will this dual-xeon motherboard boot with a single CPU?

Skorgu — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:31:26 -0800

Will a dual-1366 (Nehalem, Xeon 5xxx) motherboard work with a single CPU? Specifically, a SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DAL-i-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5500 motherboard and a single Intel Xeon E5504 CPU.

The second CPU/ram will be loaded in a few months but I need to replace a box pretty soon so I'm bootlegging it.

I know I'll have to populate only the loaded CPU's ram slots, but it ought to work anyway, right?

How to get my motherboard to recognize all 6GB of RAM

PetiePal — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:25:54 -0800

New Asus P6T motherboard only showing 4GB of RAM in BIOS when I have 6 installed. :( Hey everyone! Just built a new PC last weekend specs are as follows:

-Antec 900 case
-Asus P6T Mobo
-Intel Core i7 920 CPU
-3x2GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
-Vista 64-bit
-ATI Radeon 4870 1GB

I have the memory slotted in DIMMs A1/B1/C1 as listed in the manual for the P6T. When I boot into BIOS (and Vista 64) it only shows 4GB of RAM total. I've tried looking everywhere for possible disabling of memory reallocation etc but I haven't been able to find any way to switch this on and off. I don't think any of the modules are faulty but I will admit I'm not that experienced with RAM optimization.

Is it possible I may have to set voltages etc manually. I've heard/read that DDR3 takes more voltage than standard DDR2 RAM. Mobo BIOS was flashed to most recent (which was released March 6, I built it all the 7th lol) Any help would be most appreciated as I'm really super eager to get all 6GB working :(

ohshitohshitohshitohshit

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:40:32 -0800

Why won't my computer post? About a year ago I built this computer. It died a month ago, and I thought it was the video card. The card was replaced under warranty. I popped the new card in the system this morning and was disappointed to find that it's still not posting.

When I press the power button, the fans spin, and everything seems normal for about the first 3-4 seconds, then it just shuts off before a video signal is ever sent to the display. About 4 seconds later, it starts again, fans spin for 3-4 seconds, and then it dies. This repeats indefinitely until I kill the power by flipping the master switch on the back of the power supply.

My next guess is that it's the motherboard (GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard ) or processor, but I'm not sure how to troubleshoot that problem. It looks like all the cables are connected.

Any thoughts?

Need new motherboard for an emachine

socrateaser — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:13:15 -0800

Should we replace the motherboard and processor or buy a new computer? My husband's emachine (T6520) died and it needs a new motherboard and processor. Calls to the company have been useless and we can't find a supplier to replace these parts.

Should we replace them or just go with a new computer? Any ideas on where we can get new parts?

Can I upgrade my ram to 2GB?

twelve — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:33:08 -0800

Can I upgrade my ram to 2GB? I have a Fujitsu Siemens D1675 motherboard. It currently has two 512mb sticks of ram and the third slot is free. Can I add a 1GB stick to the third slot or do the sticks all have to be the same size? I came across this page but I am still a little confused.

Can you get my (once decent) PC working again....

RufusW — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:49:13 -0800

Can you help me get my PC back in working order? Hello Hivemind!

My 3 year old XP PC died about a year ago - I believe from a power surge that broke the motherboard. Getting the board repaired will cost £60 minimum. I think it's probably worth upgrading instead and buying a new motherboard (and processor and memory).

[Question 1]
Any suggestions for what to upgrade to? I'm looking at spending around £150 for the three (mobo, CPU, memory) and obviously want quality and decent performance. (A dual core 2.8Gig AMD set up has been suggested to me)

[Question 2]
I've lost my XP disk! I have no idea about how to get all the data from my 2 harddrives onto the new set up - 'cos my original XP's doomed, right? Is it possible with a different copy of XP? Would an Ubuntu install recognise XP harddrives the my data? Any ideas?

Any help much appreciated.....

Thanks! ;)

These are the important parts of my PC.

Asus P5ND2 SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi PCI-Express Motherboard (broken)
Intel Pentium 4 630 "LGA775 Prescott" 3.0GHz (800FSB)
Corsair 1GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x512MB)
Corsair 2GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x1GB)
XFX Geforce 6600GT PCI-E 128mb DDR3 TV
2 * Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache – OEM

Need MB, CPU, RAM.

|n$eCur3 — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:27:33 -0800

Best bang for $300 total: Motherboard, CPU and Memory. I don't care if it is AMD, INTEL... whatever. C2D looks like a stretch... so what is the next best option that stays within my budget?

Laptop motherboards that can boot from USB

DrSkrud — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:22:20 -0800

Can you name any laptop motherboards (brands, models, etc.) capable of booting from a USB flash drive? We're working on a robotics project at my university, and we're thinking that using a small linux kernel on a flash drive and a laptop motherboard would be much more sustainable (and easier) than dealing with microcontrollers.

What we need to find is a motherboard that can boot off of a USB flash drive. I know these exist, but I have no idea how to find them!

Should I buy a new motherboard?

Biblio — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:01:45 -0800

Should I buy a new motherboard for my HP Pavillion Desktop? I have an HP Pavillion a320n, about 4 years old. I had been having intermittent problems with it, including 3 power supplies dying, weird shutdowns and blue screens of death. I attempted to flash to a new bios, which ended badly. For a while, it tried to post and got stuck, with the power light blinking. I tried a few things (flashing from a floppy, resetting cmos, resetting jumpers, reseating ram, processor, heatsink...)but was never able to get it to post. Currently if I turn it on, the power light comes on (solid), the hard drive spins, the mouse lights up but the monitor and keyboard (which work fine with our other pc) don't work. I can work the CD-ROM drive to open it and close it, and if I insert a disc, it spins and the lights go on, but nothing else happens. There are no beeps from the cmos during this process.

Today I found the exact Asus motherboard on ebay. It's 89 dollars which I think is a good price. Is this a no-brainer and I should just buy it, or am I missing something else I could try at home? Are there risks to swapping out the mobo and keeping the same hardware?

Scanner Kills Computer

chrisbucks — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:26:39 -0800

My scanner fried my motherboard, was this to be expected? Can it be prevented? Do I assume the scanner is dead too? I have a Canon ColorPage scanner, which is USB1, and has it's own power supply. On the weekend I started up my computer to scan some photos and realised that the scanner wasn't plugged in, so after windows had booted I went to plug the scanner in, upon the USB plug contacts touching the socket (or may have even been the case) the whole computer turned off.

Now it wont turn on. I tested PSU and MB separately and have concluded that the motherboard has been fried (and probably the RAM and CPU as well). They were all out of warranty, so I've resigned to ordering new parts (I'm currently praying that the HDDs are fine!)

Now, will my new computer be at the same potential fate? And what might have caused this? The scanner was plugged into a different wall socket than the computer PSU was, and had been plugged in for several days, previously upon plugging in the scanner the whole computer would suddenly reboot,. This occured once or twice before but I had always assumed it was a driver conflict, or a 'feature' that came free with Windows.

I'm using a Thermaltake Armor case, if that's of any relevance, and it was the front side USB socket.

If the scanner is to blame in this case, then would putting a USB hub between the computer and scanner mitigate the damage? Or should I write the scanner off as a deathtrap?

I was berated by my IT consultant father for not plugging it in before turning the computer on, and that, apparently that's the cause. But I have doubts about this... doesn't sound like normal behaviour...

Motherboard Substitute?

swiffa — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:49:57 -0800

What's a comparable replacement for this motherboard? I'm faced with replacing the motherboard on a Fry built PC (FM-7540). The board is a 865G-M Motherboard Socket 478 and these seem to be very hard to find, alas only 2 on ebay and nothing found anywhere else. Is there another board both suitable and in better supply that I can substitute?

Bad power supply or motherboard?

SteveInMaine — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:57:28 -0800

PC troubleshooting help: Is it the motherboard or the power supply? A few days ago I connected a working SATA hard disk to a new gizmo purchased from Newegg that would allow me to connect the drive to USB to pull some files off. When I hooked the gizmo up it started smoking, so as quickly as possible I disconnected it. I took the SATA drive over to a working PC and plugged it in as an auxiliary drive. The now-fried disk appears to have damaged the second PC I tried to test it in.

The symptoms of the second PC are: When you switch the power on using the pushbutton on the front of the case, the keyboard and case lights, case and cpu fan come on momentarily and then just die. No POST. Is this symptomatic of a bad motherboard or power supply? I "triggered" the power supply while disconnected from the motherboard as suggested here and the power supply fan stayed on.

This is a homebrew PC with a Microstar K8MGM2 mobo, if it matters.

It's a tight fit!

ChazB — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 07:56:26 -0800

[PCHardwareFilter] Socket AM2 or 775 motherboard in an Antec Aria case? I have an Antec Aria case that I'm not too keen on parting with as it fits nicely where I need it to be. My problem is that I had to buy a low profile heatsink and fan for the CPU so that it could fit under the PSU. Now I want to upgrade but I can't find a low profile heatsink and fan for either AM2 or 775 mobos. Is there a solution out there that will fit into the small case or am I out of luck?

Cheap PC Overhaul

IronLizard — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:10:59 -0800

Ok, so I fried my motherboard. I've had this emachines for several years now (2.8 celeron, 80gig hd) and last night it started flashing the HDD, zip and dvd drive madly when I plugged it back in. After turning it off and on again it booted and everything was fine until today. Today, when I shut it down to unplug it, it started doing the odd flashing again. Thinking I could get it to boot once more and let it run, I tried the power button again and was rewarded with a nice click and the smell of something burnt. Oops. The power supply still works (Tested it by jumpering the green wire to ground) and spins up an old HD with no problem, but the rest of the system is dead. I checked the bottom of the processor for teltale burnt pins but that seems fine and nothing on the topside of the MB is obviously the problem.

So, my question is essentially: what can I salvage from this thing? I can't go out and get an entire new system right now but what can I still trust to plug into a new board? If the processor is bad, will it wreck a new MB? What about the ram (It's PC2700)? And another problem, since I'm running the OEM XP and can't get it to boot, is there another, besides deleting the drivers from device manager, way to pull the XP motherboard swap trick and fool it into accepting the installed OS? I really don't want to go to Vista.

How to find the case wire pinout arangement for an old MoBo?

Four Flavors — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 10:53:36 -0800

What's the spec for the pinouts to the case switches/LEDs on an ATX motherboard? I have a board form an old HP Pavilion (X)775c that I'm putting into a new case. I took off the old connectors without noting them (thinking that they'd be printed on the board like my new ASUS), but they're not.

In case it helps, I have a note that says it's a "Xenon GLA", socket 478 board, but I haven't been able to find anything online with that name.

Is there any way for me to tell, either for sure or best guess, what the layout is? I would assume that it's the same as the new ASUS board, but they don't have anything close to the same number of pins

The HP site has many boards listed that might be the right one, and none of them detail the pinouts on that section of the board.

It's 2 rows: 4 above 5.

Heck, if you could even tell me what that section of pins is called so I could search for it on http://pinouts.ru or allpinouts.com, that'd be helpful.

What are my options for a motherboard upgrade?

drkrdglo — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 05:50:59 -0800

Help me find a motherboard upgrade to my Dell Dimension 4300 that I'm using as a HTPC. I recently bought an Antec Overture II case as an upgrade to my Dell Dimension 4300 that I'm using as a HTPC. Let me tell you, one more day using the original 4300 case and psu and the computer would've been toast. That said, I'm looking to transfer all of the parts from that computer into the new case. It doesn't look like my motherboard is going to fit. No biggie. Motherboards for that procressor are fairly cheap (~$20).

Only thing is - I want to get the right mother board. The processor from the 4300 is an Intel P4 1.6GHz using an 845 Chipset and a Socket 478. Now, do I have to pick a motherboard that uses the 845 chipset, or does it just have to use the socket 478?

I found this motherboard and it seems to be just what I was looking for - will it do the job? And if not, could you recommend one?

AMD or Intel, Now or later?

tdreyer1 — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 16:16:46 -0800

I'm trying to choose a new processor, and don't know which one to buy. I am currently in the process of building a new computer for myself, and I'd like it to be my 'Dream Computer.' Pretty much I want to waste a lot of my hard earned money and make a really good computer. I've had enough experiance and can figure everything out, except the processors. I want a very fast chip (the faster the better) for gaming and video editing (more gaming), but I don't know enough about the architecture to be comfortable with picking one myself. Now, to boil it down to what I'm looking for: what is AMD's best chip, Intel's best chip, and which is better? Also, I hear that Intel is coming out with a new desktop chip soon. Should I wait for it, or buy a 'top of the line' right now? If you want, I also need a motherboard to go with it, so any suggestions would definately be appriciated. My end goal with this computer is to have it cost no more than $3000. Thanks!

Am I making a motherboard mistake?

pinespree — Mon, 29 May 2006 21:23:21 -0800

I'm going to swap the motherboard and CPU on my computer, please help me not screw it up! Due to persistent overheating of the CPU in my 4-year-old system (P4/2.0 on an Abit IT7), and due to the fact that it's worse in the summer and it's very, very hot today, I am planning to replace them with a new motherboard and a reasonable Athlon 64. I used to know about hardware, but in the last 4-6 years I haven't cared, and now I'm pretty ignorant.

But I would like to make this motherboard (possibly with a later CPU upgrade) work for 3 or 4 more years, so I don't want to mess it up. An Athlon 64 3000+ seems like a fine choice for me, although in a year or two I might buy a faster one (possibly dual core) when they're cheaper (I don't have a ton to spend now). I will be transferring my three PATA hard drives to the new system, and my cheap AGP video card (The video card I'm trying not to re-buy is only a $40 card (bought solely for the DVI port), but $40 is $40.).

My application use is normal business desktop stuff, with some occasional photo processing and music tracker stuff (FLStudio) thrown in, but what I'm planning for is tabbed web browsing with background stuff. A decent number of apps running at once, most of them mostly idle. I use Windows XP Pro and Debian.

I spent the last four hours or so trying to figure all of this out, and I got most of it, but I have a big question left:

Am I shooting myself in the foot as far as the next few years go by choosing a (presumably older) motherboard with AGP support? It looks like my northbridge choices are nForce3, Uli M1689 and VIA K8?800. Is any of these better than the others? Is it worth re-buying the video card to get a newer chipset? Will these work well with the kind of dual core CPUs that are out now?

Oh, also I can verify that the overheating problem is not fixable. This problem appeared over two years ago, I spent a long time trying to fix it, and I have been enduring not letting my cpu load stay over 75% since then - it's time for a change!

It's alive! (not)

bkudria — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:43:48 -0800

My computer occasionally locks up, and sometimes completely fails to boot when I press the power button. Linux's "sensors" reports out-of-range voltage values. My system with the below specs, sometimes locks up randomly. This requires a hard reset, and SysRq+R,K,S,U,B doesn't help. Sometimes, it does not turn on at all when I press the power button, and sometimes it turns on, and the fans start spinning, but I get no video. Here are my specs:

Motherboard: Soyo KT 880 Dragon2
They have a version 2.0 of mine, so maybe mine is really bad?
Video Card: NVidia GeForce 6600GT
CPU: AMD AthlonXP 2600+ 1.9 GHz
Power Supply: 400W (or 350W, I can't remember) Athena Power

'sensors' output:

it87-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
VCore 1: +1.63 V (min = +1.42 V, max = +1.57 V) ALARM
VCore 2: +3.39 V (min = +2.40 V, max = +2.61 V) ALARM
+3.3V: +5.92 V (min = +3.14 V, max = +3.46 V) ALARM
+5V: +4.97 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V)
+12V: +10.05 V (min = +11.39 V, max = +12.61 V) ALARM
-12V: -16.32 V (min = -12.63 V, max = -11.41 V) ALARM
-5V: -5.60 V (min = -5.26 V, max = -4.77 V) ALARM
Stdby: +4.68 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V) ALARM
VBat: +0.00 V
fan1: 0 RPM (min = 0 RPM, div = 8)
fan2: 4218 RPM (min = 664 RPM, div = 8)
fan3: 0 RPM (min = 664 RPM, div = 8)
M/B Temp: +34 C (low = +15 C, high = +40 C) sensor = thermistor
CPU Temp: +39 C (low = +15 C, high = +45 C) sensor = thermistor
Temp3: +51 C (low = +15 C, high = +45 C) sensor = thermistor ALARM

The voltages stay constant most of the time, and I've seen Temp3 go as low as -9, and as high as 62. It has ALARM next to it maybe 20% of the time...Wehn I boot up after a lock-up, the logs show nothing.

What should I do? Is "sensors" misreporting, or do I need to buy: a) a new power supply, b) a new motherboard, or c) both?

Looking for a new AMD motherboard with good Linux support.

odinsdream — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 19:23:15 -0800

Please recommend a motherboard for an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor that is completely supported by Linux. I recently purchased an MSI RS482M4/RX480M4 Series motherboard and a new AMD chip. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research well enough, and I'm having a difficult time getting Linux to recognize the onboard USB and Realtek NIC.

I could spend weeks working on fixing this problem by researching the intricacies of the board, but honestly, I'm not that attached - so what I'd like are some personal recommendations for boards that support this processor (and the RAM) that have excellent support from the Linux community for any onboard chipsets they include.

I'd like the board to have TV-Out with onboard video, and at least two free PCI slots. If there's an online resource for picking out such a board, that would be wonderful.

PowerBook logic board woes

danb — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 15:21:00 -0800

Should I get my PowerBook's logic board replaced? I've had a PowerBook since February of 2004, which came with two 256MB RAM chips. Everything has worked fine until this Christmas, when I got a 512MB RAM chip as a gift. With the 512 installed, I get a kernel panic within a minute of booting up; with the original 256
chips, everything works fine.

A Genius at the Apple store tested the computer with other RAM chips, and the 512 wasn't a bad piece -- the computer won't run with any 512MB (or larger) chip installed. He also tried booting from an external drive (didn't help) and running extensive diagnostics tests off of a CD (no problems reported). He concluded that it's a logic board issue, and that I should mail off my computer to Apple for a $324 repair. WTF?

Does this actually sound like a logic board problem? The Mac Genius seemed pretty confident that it was, but I'm skeptical because he couldn't test for it -- he could only tell me things that weren't the problem. I don't want to send the thing off for expensive, lengthy repairs for no reason. Could it be something else?

Also, can I safely ignore the problem if I don't upgrade the memory, or is my logic board somehow corrupted (meaning that the computer may eventually not work at all, and I should get it replaced)? The Genius was evasive on this question -- presumably because of a vested interest in doing more repairs -- but recommended an "aggressive backup schedule" (which I've begun). What to do?

My sound card won't fit in my case!

jojopizza — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 19:47:40 -0800

I just bought a new soundcard and I'm trying to install it. It doesn't physically fit within the case! I'm thinking about bending the case with pliers... Ok, this soundcard fits into a PCI slot. I've got 3 free PCI slots, and I think everything is dandy. Well, when I go to slide the card into the slot, it seems the back end of the case is situated too close to the motherboard, or something. If the card is fully flush with the back of the case (the part of the case where the interface slots peek out, and you plug in your speakers), it's not aligned with the PCI slot. It still needs to go back about 2 or 3 mm farther toward the back of the case.

Apart from taking it apart and adjusting the motherboard or something, which I don't feel comfortable with, the only thing I can think of is to take a pair of pliers and bend the back of my case outwards as much as necessary to get this damn card in.

Any suggestions?

Trying to Find the Easiest Way Out

thanotopsis — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 12:43:53 -0800

MotherboardFilter: Looking for anecdotal experience on an inexpensive replacement for my motherboard that has a PCIx for a new video card. I currently run with an ASUS P4PE-X. I would like to upgrade my video card, but the current crop of video cards out there are way more powerful than my AGP 4x video port will support. By buying one of those newer cards in an AGP version, I feel like I'd be throwing away my money, as the performance wouldn't gain through the bottle-neck of the interface.

I'm looking for a good brand that is going to allow me the least amount of residual upgrades to my system. If I have to, I'll upgrade my memory, CPU, PSU, and Hard Drives -- but I"d rather not. The only really thing I need to change is moving from AGP to PCIx.

I'm most interested in your anecdotal experience. What particular brand and model have been working for you? Are you dissatisfied with it?

Finally, bonus questions: One of the boards at which I've been looking has a 1GB Ethernet card. I could buy a router that's rated that high, and put a card like that on my son's machine. This would certainly reduce time from machine to machine. My quandary there is having to wire the house up for Ethernet whereas it has been (to date) all wireless. Is moving to 1GB (and then having to wire my home to take advantage of it) worth it? Will I see any sort of benefit in communications with my otherwise normal Ethernet connection with my cable modem, or is that just attaching an elephant to a mouse?

Swap motherboard - Will Windows work ok?

neodem — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:29:07 -0800

My motherboard died but I don't want to loose any data. Can I put in a new motherboard from a diff manufacturer and have windows xp work ok? If not, what should I do. I had a ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Socket 478 Intel 875P ATX Intel Motherboard with my windows drive on an EIDE drive and most of my other data on the SATA raid that the MB provides. The video on the MB stopped working (tried other cards). I need a new MB and I'd like to salvage my entire system. At least I'd like to save the stuff on the SATA drives. I want to buy a new MB and pop it in. What kind of problems can I expect?