R51 - Looking for Best Motherboard Upgrade

[OpenPads]

Hi All,

My R51 motherboard died; it won't go into POST unless I press down on the GPU. Apparently it needs reballing (many thanks to RealBlackStuff for all his help! ).

So, since the motherboard has to come out, what's the best possible board (irrespective of what model it was originally intended for) that I could put into my machine (without any special tooling, fixtures or mods)?

Thanks

[Harryc]

The best choice would be an R51 Intel board. That way you would not have to deal with GPU issues in the future. What is the machine type and model of your R51?

[OpenPads]

Harryc,

Thanks for the prompt reply!

The best choice would be an R51 Intel board. That way you would not have to deal with GPU issues in the future. What is the machine type and model of your R51?

It's: 1836-BCU

I'd prefer a better graphics chip than the Intel (even though I'm risking future issues). By "best motherboard" I was thinking in terms of maximizing performance.

[Neil]

A board from the T4xP, or R50P line would have the 128MB FireGL GPU.

[OpenPads]

Neil,

Thanks for the info!

Do you know of any part numbers in the TxxP series that will fit with my existing system?

[Neil]

Sorry, no, I don't know the numbers, but any of them will physically fit.

[Harryc]

... but any of them will physically fit.

You will lose the Firewire port if your R51 has one if you use an R50P or a T43P board.

[OpenPads]

Thanks for all of the responses!

It looks like a T43P would be the max spec board that would work in my R51, does that sound right?

And if anyone knows, are the mounting holes of the T43P board compatible with the R51? Will all of my existing R51 hardware work on the T43P board?

Thanks!

[Harryc]

Yes, like I said the board will fit but it does not have firewire. Oh, a couple of more points...the CPU and RAM on a T43P are different from your R51, so you'll need to purchase those. Also you may need a new fan to cool that hot ATI GPU depending on which fan you have already. You are actually better off with an R50P board or a complete R50P base IMHO. All of your stuff would fit on an R50P base...http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Motherboard-IBM ... 3a63eeb54e
You currently have a 15" R51 right?

[RealBlackStuff]

You could always donate your old mobo to the The Board Room