[jps]

I have a Gateway G300 computer with 4.5gb drive Im looking to upgrade to a much faster chip and a larger drive. Ive been told that I cant replace the integrated motherboard because the case is made for gateway and other boards would not line up properly with the mounting holes. Is there no way to upgrade? Must I get a new computer?

[thib4]

a new case would cost about 50$ to 75$

then move all of your parts into the new case

[stnwerks]

Just a thought http://www.pricewatch.com/ 1.13 ghz $138
Steve

[Max19]

You can't just purchase any fast processor and put it on any motherboard. You need to verify that your motherboard is upgradeable, and if it is, how fast a processor it supports. Most computers only allow a processor upgrade of 100-300Mhz. Rarely can you upgrade a generation (Pentium III to IV).

[jps]

Gateway has told me that I cant replace the chip with a faster one. I am not a computer maven and could not toy with the innards of the computer myself. I thought I could replace the entire motherboard with another integrated board with a PIII chip of close to 1mgh. I have no cards in the computer, sound,video etc are all built into the motherboard. There are PCI slots The modem is in one and an extra serial port in another.
I thought a simple way to upgrade was to replace the motherboard and chip

[Max19]

If everything is on-board and the case is proprietary (for Gateway motherboards only), then you're looking at buying a case, a new motherboard, sound card, video card, processor, etc.

You're buying a new computer not an upgrade. The only parts you can take from your current Gateway computer are the hard drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and maybe the CD-ROM.

[RandyG]

The floppy, CD-rom, Harddrive, and modem will migrate with no problems.

I took these from an old Gateway and popped them into a new case with a new motherboard and processor.


What you will need is a motherboard, CPU, maybe RAM (RAM on the 300 would have been 66MHZ so would still work).

The motherboard could have onboard sound and graphics, but I don't like them.

stnwerks gave you a link to pricewatch, which you can use and get the components necessary.

Case: FUTURE POWER ATX CASE W/ 400W PS $30
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7DXC Socket A(K7) AMD 761 & VIA 686B Chipset AudioAccepts Socket A (K7)600MHz-1000MHz(5) PCI(1)4XAGP(2)DDR (184PIN)UDMA/100 IDE ATX $93
CPU: Athlon (Tbird) 1GHz Socket A (OEM) 200 FSB Bus $75
Graphics: GeForce2 MX 400 64MB SDRAM Memory, AGP Video Card Retail Box $58
Sound:Sound Blaster 16 Bit PCI128 Ensoniq $12
RAM: - PC1600 32X64 256MB DDR - 184PIN DIMM $35



total price: $303 and will give you a 1GHZ processor, 256 MB RAM, 64 MB Graphics card, Soundblaster 128 sound card, and plenty of space in your case for additions.