Sony Vaio/New Mobo?

[Dreamstalker]

My dad has an old Sony Vaio (max 256MB RAM) and wants to replace the motherboard/CPU to add more memory and make it into a general backup/SETI box. I'm guessing/hoping that any Standard ATX board will fit. Going to open it up tonight and check. Does anyone know if Vaio mobos are proprietary/has anyone replaced one?

[Avg]

Well I don't know if they are proprietary but since your getting mobo/cpu/ram why not just get a cheap atx case with a new psu, from the vaios I've seen it is a pain to do any work inside the case.

[TimWest]

Sony has a good web site, lots of information on thier computers.

My Vaio has an ASUS motherboard in it. I think it is a micro-ATX. But if you buy a motherboard and it turns out that it doesn't work. Buy a Case, Heck Best buy has a nice antec on sale this week for $40 after rebate.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1093469383939&skuId=6852943&productCategoryId=cat01069&type=product

[Xtreme Barton]

either way just get a micro or regular atx and keep yor current case..

come on .. hard to work in there?? is it really that hard.. maybe if you have elephant trunks as fingers ..lol

if your just doing a simple upgrade and not gonna do any heavy overclcoking than just replace what you absolutely have to ..

are you going AMD or INTEL for this ??

[Avg]

From the ones I've seen the psu is not even above the mobo, they are right next to the mobo in front of the cpu fan, it's just annoying having to take out the psu if I want to take out a hdd, video card, mem module you get my point.

[Dreamstalker]

either way just get a micro or regular atx and keep yor current case..

come on .. hard to work in there?? is it really that hard.. maybe if you have elephant trunks as fingers ..lol
At this point he's just thinking of getting a whole new box...that may be better as I haven't gotten a chance to get inside the thing and find out exactly what's proprietary in there. I know the mobo is, and the PSU may be as well...

if your just doing a simple upgrade and not gonna do any heavy overclcoking than just replace what you absolutely have to ..
It's my dad's comp; just being used as a backup box/SETI-farm addition so there probably won't be that much done with it.

are you going AMD or INTEL for this ??
I want to go AMD; my dad's an Intel disciple. We'll see...

[Xtreme Barton]

AMD !! ALL THE WAY !!

well like i said.. if he isnt gonna being doing nothing but installing it and leaving it be then just replace things you have to .. micro atx boards perform excellent too.. sure you may not have all the goodies for overclocking but it will run stock anything great !!

only thing is micro atx arent sold in 939 as of yet ( i dont think so anyways, none on newegg)..
it would have to be 754 ( oh my god did he say 754.. yes i did )

what speedss are you looking at ?? ..

better yet what budget you looking at ??

you could always price out the best intel vs. amd accroding to your budget and go from there.. ( although there wil be no point cause AMD should always be the choice !! )

[DrSlinky]

Seriously, dump the case.

You can get an mATX board to fit in there, but chances are pretty good that the front panel stuff won't be laid out the same. Major manufacturers tend to use a one piece connector for the power, reset, lights, etc. Customizing the wiring is going to be required, and it's just not worth the frustration. You can get a basic case shipped for $14 from eBuyer.com. Got 5 in my farm already.