upgrading old pc.

[tebreak]

hiya,
I've been offered a 10 year old desktop. i haven't seen it yet but if it's got an atx power supply, can i replace the m.board and associated components and would a new m.b. fit? not sure if there's a problem with the power supply in terms of wattage from a 10 year old power supply?

 

[warmadmax]

old ATX supplies can be a little heavy on the 5v side and lacking on the 12v that modern boards need,
old PSU's might be missing the 4/8 pin 12v for the motherboard or a 6/8 pin PCI-E supply for a decent graphics card, something you'd have to check when you get it.


when it get to 6 years or more old the only thing I tend to keep is the case!
Use or fix as is or replace the lot, hard drives only have so many hours of life in them till they start playing up, they're mechanical after all.

if it's a "branded" pc (dell especially) then the PSU will be spec'ed to do only the components currently in the box, doubtful it'll have enough oomph for a decent machine


you'll probably want to wait and see what you get, ATX boards are a standard layout and the case should take one unless it's a micro atx (roughly 3 expansion slots or less)