To answer your question, let's make something clear: there can be four different things meant when you ask about "different types":

1. Different technologies: for instance, SDR (Single Data Rate), DDR (Double Data Rate), DDR2 (2nd Generation Double Data Rate), etc.
2. Different speeds: within a given technologies, the RAM can be built to run at different speeds: 800Mhz, 1066Mhz, 1333Mhz, etc.
3. Different features: RAM designs have a bunch of other properties, depending on their target audience. Things like ECC (Error Correction), being buffered or unbuffered, are the major extra features.
4. Different hardware: even if two pieces of RAM have #1 - #3 all the same, it is possible to construct the RAM itself from a variety of different physical chips. For instance, a 1Gbyte RAM module can be made using 8 x 1Gbit chips, or 4 x 2Gbit chips, or 2 x 4Gbit chips.

The short answer to this question (which will satisfy 99% of all computers), is that a computer can use only a single technology and feature set, can use speeds equal to or GREATER than your existing RAM, and can normally use different hardware designs within that technology and feature set.

For instance, the vast majority of systems which are sold as "desktops" (NOT workstations or servers), use a single type of SDR, DDR, DDR2, or DDR3 RAM (these days, it's DDR3, with DDR2 common for machines made in the last 5 years), with the feature set of NO ECC, and NO buffering ("unbuffered"). Very, very briefly around 2000-01, there were some of systems made that had BOTH SDR and DDR sockets - however, only ONE of those two sets of RAM sockets could be used at once, so it wasn't possible to use DDR and SDR RAM at the same time. Systems can use any speed of RAM, but will run at the LOWEST speed of any DIMM used - so, if you have a mix of 800Mhz and 1333Mhz DIMMs, the system runs at 800Mhz.

Please check your motherboard or system documentation. It will explicitly lay out the combinations of the four factors above that can be used in your system. If your motherboard manual doesn't explicitly say it can be used, then DON'T assume it works. If you are unsure, ask your local computer repair store - they'll know for certain.

Usually you do not have to wipe the hard drive. Most operating systems will let you boot up from a hard drive regardless of which computer/mother board it's running with.

However, I have heard that Windows XP will not allow the operating system to boot up if you move the hard drive to a new computer. I guess when you register it with the license key, the OS records information about the hardware as well. If that hardware changes, then XP fails to boot. This is only something I've heard about, and I've actually tried to move an XP hard drive to a new PC and it did not boot up - but personally - I'm not aware if this is an XP issue or another hardware problem that I was experiencing at the time.

Also, it is always best to format a drive when installing a new motherboard, especially if the new board has a different chip set than the original; VIA, INTEL, AMD, NFORCE ...

Win XP is especially testy of all the operating systems. If the ide controller is different than the original it will blue screen at first boot and is hard to get past. Only with a repair reinstall can you pass it.

One other problem with swapping motherboards is integrated sound. If you have integrated sound on both the original and the new board I could almost promise you that you will not get it to work with the new board.

Last but not least, I can not explain the difference you will see between a reconfigure and a reinstall, if you do choose to reinstall you will benefit for better stability and a faster computer.

It is not as if with Win XP only that you have to reinstall the OS and all other softwares on the hard drive if you change the motherboard. But the same thing happens with windows 2k too. While changing the MBD of one COmpaw Enl PC I Encountered the same problem. May be that happens with other Os (Read Microsoft) also. A little Bit of experimentation with other Os will let you know if at all that happens.

No, you do not have to reformat. But if the motherboard is of a different type, your drivers will be no good. You will have to change back to the defaut Microsoft drivers and then install your new MB drivers. GO to Google and type "Merge Winxp" and you will find the procedure laid out for you.

They're correct concerning the responses with WinXP. When Windows XP was introduced, so was "Windows Product Activation". When you first register Windows XP your Product ID Key is sent to Microsoft via your internet connection. and Windows XP takes a snapshot of your hardware, including the type motherboard you have. The Product ID Key used in setting up Windows and your hardware information is also saved in a file on your hard drive named "wpa.dbl". Every time you start Windows it checks this file and compares it to your current hardware, and if you alter the hardware, the information contained in your "wpa.dbl" file will not match the configuration of the computer and Windows won't boot.

Windows 98 or earlier ? That's easy !! - boot Windows in Safe Mode The problem will be that the drivers installed in the OS will not match what's on the motherboard. What you need to do is remove all of the drivers in Windows RIGHT BEFORE you replace the MoBo. Make sure you have the disks for you Motherboard, video card and any other peripherals if necessary.

First, back up all of your data. Then do this: 1. Right-click on My Computer. Select Properties. 2. Click on the Device Manager tab. 3. Remove ALL of the devices in the Window.

After you have done this, shut down your machine, install the new Mobo in your computer. Have all of your driver disks ready. When you start up, Windows' Plug and Play feature will look for the drivers for your new (and old) hardware. This is where you'll need the disks to reinstall the drivers.

Most popular manufacturers of CPU are Intel (8086, 80286, 80386, 80486, Celeron, Pentium, Core, Core II, i3, i5, i7, Itanium series) and AMD (Duron, Sempron, Athlon, Phenom, Opteron CPU families).

Other companies are ARM (for mobile devices), alliance of Motorola, Apple and IBM (PowerPC), Hewlett-Packard (PA-RISC) and Sun Microsystems (SPARC processsors). Sun was actually acquired by Oracle Corporation and renamed to Oracle America, Inc.

Maybe. It depends on the AGP connector type of the motherboard and vga card. The ECS P4VXASD2.v1 motherboard has - I think - an Universal AGP slot ( not Universal AGP 3.0 !!) which can set 3.3 V or 1.5 V signal line voltage. The question is : What AGP connector does a vga card have ? Because of we are speaking about an 8x AGP card now the card connector type can be :

• AGP3.0 (in this case it won't work)
• Universal 1.5V AGP3.0 (it will work)
• Universal AGP3.0 (it will work).

So the answer is : Try to find the voltage requirement or AGP collector type of card what you will purchase.

If you have already bought the card and there is no signal from AGP (for example the monitor is dark )you can do a proof. Do the followings:

• check the card in an another computer with 8x AGP motherbord AGP slot
• if the card works try to find his "AGP driving control" value (for example on the working computer:

PowerStrip->Adapter information->Report . You can see this value in a list. )

• note the "AGP driving control" value (it is a hexa value between 00 - FF)
• start the computer with motherboard P4VXASD2.v1 and enter BIOS setup
• go to "Advanced Chipset Features" and see value of "AGP Driving Control" (the default is Auto)
• set it to FX5700LE's value
• "Save & Exit" from the BIOS Setup
• install your FX5700LE in the P4VXASD2.v1 motherboard
• start the computer

If the "no signal problem" persists your FX5700LE has an AGP3.0 collector type.It means your card can not work together with your P4VXASD2 mobo. ( In this case you should set back in the BIOS the original "AGP driving control" value. It can be your old AGP will have a "no signal" problem now. If it was use a PCI card to set BIOS-value back) I hope , I could help you.

Hi! I was asking similar question to ECS Technical Support (question was about different model of GeForceFX - 5200) The answer was that this mobo supports only AGP 4X graphics card (AGP 2.0), and it's not guaranted to work well with AGP 8X (AGP 3.0) cards. "This model is support AGP2.0(4X, 2X, 1X), so can not support AGP3.0 VGA card(4X/8X)" In attachment I got this: Differences between: AGP 2.0 // AGP 3.0 Signaling: 1.5V Signaling // New 0.8V Signaling Protocol: AGP1.0 + Fast Writes // AGP2.0 + Some enhancements - some deletions Speeds: 4X, 2X, 1X // 8X, 4X Connector: 1.5V keyed, Universal // 1.5V keyed, Universal

However, refering to the first answer, my graphics card's manufacturer technical support informed me that its connector is 1.5V, so it should work. I'll try the given proof and update my answer.