how to decide on motherboard replacement

Okay this may sound like a dumb question but here goes. Currently, I am working on a system board that appears dead. The board is a MSI 633mhz Celeron model ms-6312 Rev 1. When I search on the web I find that this was primarily used by Gateway. When I look at Gateways prices for the board they are asking 150.00 for the board.

I have replaced tons of system boards in my life but always have replaced with like boards or with the recommended replacement from the vendor and have not had any problems working that way.

Now the dumb question. How does one decide and what goes into that decision when replacing the board with something totally different ????

 

Well,

For me I just look at the feature that the current board has and try to get one with the same features. Obviously it should be a board that can fit in the same location as the previous - AT, ATX, micro ATX etc.

Now, since you are dealing with a Gateway, you may have one of these slimline cases that everything is crammed into. With that sometimes you have to look at the physical layout of items on the possible replacement board. Not all boards are laid out exactly the same and some of the smaller cases leave little room for m-boards with alternate layouts.

As Rockster2U pointed out in a previous post some of these machines also use a passive heatsink rather than a heatsink with a fan incorporated. If you have a passive heatsink on the Gateway then you need to make sure the CPU on the replacement board is in the same location. Otherwise it may not get cooled properly.

In some instaces (one with a Compaq machine) I found it cheaper to get a real computer case and a better motherboard than to track down something that would fit in the same space as the OEM board.

Cheers,

ICE

 

Iceolated

Sorta what I thought that in this case cuz it is one of Gateways special super mini case and board that finding a replacement that will exactly fit is not as easy as a normal sized board and case.

Thanks for the info.