Motherboard Issue: Need Help Please

[babloo73]

Hi, Im running an acer aspire T180 and fried my motherboard when changing the BIOS chip. Board is MCP61SM-AM. Current CPU is AMD athlon 64x2 dual core processor 4200+ 2.20 GHz.

Should I buy the same motherboard or is there any other motherboard that would fit in to this case. Please recommend. Thanks.

 

[violetblueskies]

yeah almost all are standard size.
there are some mini sized motherboard and there are some that are a little larger in width, but most of them out there are the same size.
i would stay away from getting the oem as it can be expensive. getting aftermarket will give you more options to upgrade and settings in bios.
just be sure you buy a motherboard that will not only be compatible with your cpu/memory/accessories/video card/etc, but also has the room to do upgrades in the future if you decide to do so.
also be sure you buy one new in the box so that it will come with the aluminum plate cover that goes on the back of your case for your ports on your motherboard to line up with.
the one you have on there may not line up exactly with a newer motherboard you get.
(metal plate circled in red)

 

[babloo73]

yeah almost all are standard size.
there are some mini sized motherboard and there are some that are a little larger in width, but most of them out there are the same size.
i would stay away from getting the oem as it can be expensive. getting aftermarket will give you more options to upgrade and settings in bios.
just be sure you buy a motherboard that will not only be compatible with your cpu/memory/accessories/video card/etc, but also has the room to do upgrades in the future if you decide to do so.
also be sure you buy one new in the box so that it will come with the aluminum plate cover that goes on the back of your case for your ports on your motherboard to line up with.
the one you have on there may not line up exactly with a newer motherboard you get.
(metal plate circled in red)View attachment 1775

Thanks a lot. I'm too bad with hardware but would like to do it myself. Would you be able to suggest any mother board that I could buy... Please...

 

[violetblueskies]

well i know that your cpu is an am2 socket that that you have ddr2 memory.
i don't know if you use the onboard video or if you have one in the pci-e slot.
another thing is that your motherboard looks more squarish in size so that tells me your case might be midsized.
i'm not sure about the clearance in your case so this could be a shot in the dark since i cant see it myself.
i checked out the motherboard you said you had on ebay and they have them refurb which usually mean they were pulled parts for $59 including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Acer-Aspire-E38...656989651?pt=Motherboards&hash=item415875cdd3
if your hard drive has your previous windows on it still with all your programs, games, documents, data, etc on it then this might be the best way to go.
essentially if the motherboards are the same, then you can simply just swap them, plug everything up, and then everything will run like it use to.
however if you get a different make/model motherboard you will have to reinstall windows programs and all that stuff.
the price for a new motherboard will go about this price anyway for what you have.
also checking into it, there isn't a whole lot of improvement to upgrade in this socket.
id say its better to just get the same motherboard or invest in another system.
$60 isnt so bad really to get you back up and running where you left off so.