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[MSI G31TM-P21] - Compatibility question

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lessthanthree

Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Location
Mission Viejo
My step mom's motherboard fried and I'm trying to get her a new one but I don't have much info on the board and I don't really know much about mobos anyway.
This is the rig she has... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883108198.
All I did was match the memory and socket but for some reason the MSI mobo I was planning on getting her (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130234) looks way bigger than the mobo she currently has so I just want to make sure it'll fit. Here are a few quick pics of the mobo shes currently running...
img0225dp.jpg

img0226e.jpg

img0227yy.jpg


Thanks in advance!
 
The mounting holes that the board in the Lenovo box is using seem to be standard MicroATX ones. I would think you could pack any ol' LGA775 MicroATX board that supports the early Core 2 Duo series CPUs into it. Anything with a G31 or G41/G43 chipset ought to do the trick as long as it has DDR2 memory slots for you to use your old memory with.

Looks like the one you've chosen has support for just about any C2D/C2Q up to 95W and 1333FSB. Doesn't seem like a bad deal for such an application - you might get away with a small degree of overclocking, too, if you want. And if you're really lucky, you might be able to swap it in, let the OS detect the new hardware (since both boards are G31-based), and go on your merry way without a rebuild. Personally, I'd rebuild it anyway, but some folks are persnickety about that kind of stuff.

And one pet-peave I have with manufacturers... they seem to be fond of assymetrically loading dual-channel motherboards in a manner that won't let one take advantage of it. It seems that Lenovo used a 1GB and a 2GB memory module in these systems - so, it's effectively likely running in single-channel mode, sapping potential performance. Way to take a step backwards, guys! /Rant
 
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