How To Choose A Motherboard For My Desktop

My Acer Aspire M3910 desktop is 11 years old. In the last 3 years the SSD HD has been replaced twice and the onboard graphics card has failed and been replaced with a seperate one that plugs into the PCIE slot. Until yesterday it was working really well and had been upgraded over the years inc more memory.

It's failed again - similar symptoms as before, couple of blue screens, refusing to boot up, one occasion of screen freezing and making a loud buzzing sound when watching Youtube vid and now won't do anything. All I'm getting is a flashing black screen with small cursor in top left corner.

These are the same type of symptoms that the failing SSDs and graphics card displayed, so it could be one of them again. However, research leads me to believe the motherboard could also be the culprit. With this in mind I would like to know which type of motherboard is compatible with my pc in case my friend who does my repairs says it needs a new one. He has been warning for some time my m/board is on borrowed time.

I need a motherboard with - VGA connector for my monitor, at least one preferably two PS2 outputs for keyboard and mouse, audio jack for speakers, an up grade to original's m/board CPU, memory, etc (DDR4??). Is there a company who sells pc parts where I can put my pc model in search and find compatible boards/CPU, etc. How can I choose the right board? All advice appreciated.

Samuria said:

I have just bought these GEEKOM A5 Mini PC AMD Ryzen 7 5800H - GEEKOM they have 16 cores 32 gig ram on on sale they also do I9 and others everything is going to mini pc the same specs in a desktop would be over £1500

Thanks for youre reply Samuria. That Geekom looks great, but will set me back £400 with the postage. Then I'll need to change my monitor as it's only got VGA connections. Then change my new PS2 mouse and old PS2 keyboard. Plus also maybe new speakers as mine have old jack type connectors. Quite a shopping list.

If I can keep my old faithful that is always repairable and upgradeable and poss new m/board and a couple of bits for say £130ish - I would be happy. I don't play games or do editing so don't need warp factor 9 performance.

Of course, it may not be the m/board - but I just want to be forewarned with costs and specs/models in case. Would like to know what model my motherboard is and what would be a reasonably straightforward swap with mild upgrade.

I don't know if the problem sounds like your motherboard. It sounds more like a power supply issue if it is killing SSDs like that.

The motherboard may well be compromised too, if the PSU is bad, however, there are a couple of things to consider:

1. A new motherboard may not fit in the case. OEM branded parts often use weird screw hole patterns that won't line up with an aftermarket motherboard.
2. Your current power supply connector may not fit the new motherboard. Again, proprietary connectors and OEMs go together like wine and cheese.
3. If you do have to replace your PSU, it may not fit in your case. Again, OEM shennanigans.

I think you are definitely going to have to work out if your PSU is causing the trouble first, before you go out buying a new motherboard. If it isn't the PSU, you are going to have to do some research on the PSU connector that plugs into the motherboard. If you can't get one where all of the voltages and signals line up, you are going to have to either buy or build a converter. Likely you won't find an off the shelf converter so you will have to rewire the PSU connection as it comes from the power supply.

No matter what you do, I don't believe that this will be an easy fix, and probably not even worthwhile with 11 year old hardware. If it were me, I would junk the thing and buy something new. An 11 year old computer is pretty long in the tooth. No telling what will fail next.

Catnip said:

I don't know if the problem sounds like your motherboard. It sounds more like a power supply issue if it is killing SSDs like that.

The motherboard may well be compromised too, if the PSU is bad, however, there are a couple of things to consider:

1. A new motherboard may not fit in the case. OEM branded parts often use weird screw hole patterns that won't line up with an aftermarket motherboard.
2. Your current power supply connector may not fit the new motherboard. Again, proprietary connectors and OEMs go together like wine and cheese.
3. If you do have to replace your PSU, it may not fit in your case. Again, OEM shennanigans.

I think you are definitely going to have to work out if your PSU is causing the trouble first, before you go out buying a new motherboard. If it isn't the PSU, you are going to have to do some research on the PSU connector that plugs into the motherboard. If you can't get one where all of the voltages and signals line up, you are going to have to either buy or build a converter. Likely you won't find an off the shelf converter so you will have to rewire the PSU connection as it comes from the power supply.

No matter what you do, I don't believe that this will be an easy fix, and probably not even worthwhile with 11 year old hardware. If it were me, I would junk the thing and buy something new. An 11 year old computer is pretty long in the tooth. No telling what will fail next.

Thanks for your reply Catnip. I think you are along the right lines. The symptoms are very similar to the last two occasions the SSDs failed. The first new SSD (which replaced the old mechanical HD) lasted just over 3 years. If the new one that replaced it has now failed, it will have been in just over 5 months. They are both Crucial MX500s, which I believe is a reasonably good brand.

Is it uncommon for SSDs to fail after short periods of time? If it is the SSD that's failed again, is it worth installing another PSU at the same time as the new SSD? I have a new Corsair VS350 PSU still in it's box if you advise replacement.

VS Series™ VS350 — 350 Watt Power Supply (UK)

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Ghot said:

@woodbine


It would help if you take a pic of the inside of your computer and post a picture for us.

Thanks Ghot. Will do. Away for a couple of days, will get camera out when I return.

If I can keep my old faithful that is always repairable and upgradeable and poss new m/board and a couple of bits for say £130ish

That sort of budget you could look for intel 300 series.
i5-8400 cpu ( £28 at cex ) and 2x8gb ddr4 ram ( £24 at cex ) leaving £75 for motherboard. You should be able to find b360 or b365 mobo for less than that.

or amd 300/500 series mobo ryzen3 cpu and 2x8gb ddr4 ram which could be upgraded to ryzen 5 cpu when funds allow so more upgradeable than the intel option above.