Replacing motherboard

[PMU]

I succeeded last night in physically damaging the motherboard on my home PC. Is it just a matter of replacing the motherboard with a new one that supports my processor, or are there other things I need to take to consideration?

 

[ClubMan]

I succeeded last night in physically damaging the motherboard on my home PC.

How and in what way exactly?

Is it just a matter of replacing the motherboard with a new one that supports my processor

Should be but you might want to research the specifics online in a bit more detail first.

or are there other things I need to take to consideration?

Depends on the make/model of processor/motherboard etc. that you have.

 

[rgfuller]

supports my processor

If you move a processor to a new motherboard you should clean it thoroughly and also the processor fan (Surgical or Methylated spirit) and use new thermal paste between them when you reseat.

Ensure you are grounded when handling the cpu, memory and other components.

 

[machalla]

If you are running a windows based operating system you may have problems booting up with your previous windows installation on the new motherboard. Also you may have issues with activation of windows Vista and Windows XP as the activations on these are tied into the hardware in use.

Check that ram that is in use on the current motherboard will work on the new motherboard also. You can do this by checking out the specs on the manufacturers website.

It is possible also that you might have ide based hard drives on the old motherboard and will require sata on the new one. You can get convertor cables for these. Its not a big issue but you might want to be aware of it.

 

[PMU]

If you are running a windows based operating system you may have problems booting up with your previous windows installation on the new motherboard. Also you may have issues with activation of windows Vista and Windows XP as the activations on these are tied into the hardware in use.

Yes. Those were the issues of which I was thinking. The PC came with XP preloaded and I don't have any Windows CDs. And I subsequently installed SP2 and various security updates etc. Thanks for the info.