Micro-ATX Motherboard Upgrade [HELP NEEDED]

[iBVGx]

Hi, my name is nathan.

I am a regular pc user who wants to start playing more high end games such as battlefield etc. So naturally i was unhappy that my system currently only has 3GB of ram and wanted to upgrade, however upon inspection I researched my motherboard and found that it only supports 4GB.

My mother is "Pegatron Corporation 2A99", here's a spec list:
Pegatron Corporation 2A99 Mainboard Specs

Therefore I was looking at buying any Micro-Atx gaming motherboard such as the ones listed below. However before purchasing i wanted to know if i would be able to just simply repalce my current motherboard and if everything would work (Graphics card, etc), or is there more to take into considoration when buying a new motherboard?

List of possible motherboards I wanted to buy:

ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS Maximus V GENE

ASUS Rampage II GENE Republic of Gamers - motherboard - micro ATX - LGA1366 Socket - X58 - Motherboards - CNET Archive

If anyone could reply to this read and inform me if its is as simple as buying a new motherboard such as the ones listed above it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nathan

 

[johhny-marshal]

It is not always necessary that the components that you were using on your old motherboard will fit into the new one you buy.. So, before buying any new motherboard just do a full research on the type of motherboard that you are planning to buy and make sure that your old components fit in properly.

 

[OhSnapWord]

What are the full specs of your system?

Your current motherboard is a Socket AM3. If you get a board that is not Socket AM3/AM3+, you will need to replace the processor.

PCIe graphics cards are pretty standard and will work in any motherboard. Same thing with hard drives and optical drives. When changing a motherboard, the biggest things you have to look for in compatibility is the processor and RAM.

 

[iBVGx]

What are the full specs of your system?

Your current motherboard is a Socket AM3. If you get a board that is not Socket AM3/AM3+, you will need to replace the processor.

PCIe graphics cards are pretty standard and will work in any motherboard. Same thing with hard drives and optical drives. When changing a motherboard, the biggest things you have to look for in compatibility is the processor and RAM.

I have found this motherboard:
ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS M5A78L-M LX


It supports upto 8GB DDR3 witch is what type of ram I am currently using + the ideal amount of ram that I want to use. It also is Micro-ATX the same form factor as my current motherboard. As far as I know it's compatible so do you think this would be ideal?

 

[OhSnapWord]

It'll work. I would see if I could find something with 4 memory slots. More room for expansion. Any reason you're sticking with µATX?

 

[iBVGx]

It'll work. I would see if I could find something with 4 memory slots. More room for expansion. Any reason you're sticking with µATX?

I want to stick to micro-atx because my computer case doesn't look like it has the room to fit an ATX motherboard. + It's better from my point of view to find a motherboard that is the same form factor as your previous one, therefore you know you're not going to get any issues.

 

[cb600fshornet]

I have found this motherboard:
ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS M5A78L-M LX


It supports upto 8GB DDR3 witch is what type of ram I am currently using + the ideal amount of ram that I want to use. It also is Micro-ATX the same form factor as my current motherboard. As far as I know it's compatible so do you think this would be ideal?

You have a board currently that holds max 4GB RAM

You want 8GB

In the future, what if you want 16GB? You'd need to buy a new motherboard again.

Try looking out for a board which can support more RAM.

What CPU do you have?

EDIT: Personally I'd splash out and buy something like this: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus...aid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-graphics-on-board-matx

USB3.0 (Latest USB type), SATA III (Latest SATA type), 4 slots for RAM and a max of 16GB