[1californiarepublic]

Hello PCWorld, I am having an annoying issue with a custom build out of an old windows 98 case, kind of a neat project to make an old dinosaur into a monster.

So, everything has been going as planned, got an ASUS FM1 motherboard that lines up perfectly with the built in motherboard stand-offs, power supply fits nicely, a temporary XFX Radeon HD 5750 is in there for now while I save up for a 6970, I am just about to purchase an APU and I am amazed at how well everything is working out..besides this little problem (yes, I will have proper air flow if you are concerned about that). I have realized that the circuit that is pressed on to start the computer's connectors are too old to comply with this new motherboard. I have searched all over the internet to find out if it is possible to purchase one, but I haven't been able to find one. Maybe it's just because I don't know what the proper name for such a circuit is, or it just isn't sold because it seems like a rather useless unprofitable thing to sell. I will provide some photos so you guys can get an idea, and maybe you can help me as to how I should go about this. I need it to become the standard 2-pin connector, so maybe I have to just purchase a wire converter that can convert from the old to new, or I need a new circuit, or, worst case scenario, I have to buy a new case. https://mail-attachm...1_1ufgI-GJxZxck

https://mail-attachm...vrmBKbXkGLmxqpU

https://mail-attachm...3iF82ndTSUy5dUk

Hopefully you can see those, I don't know if you will be able to :/ But, if you can, the first is a picture of the connector, second is the circuit, and third is where is has to connect to the motherboard..it has to connect to the black slot. Thanks!

This post has been edited by 1californiarepublic: 26 February 2012 - 11:52 AM

[LiveBrianD]

Those links go to gmail unfortunately. Try posting them on photobucket or imageshack (or if it's less than 750KB total, here).

If the board fits in the case, the case is likely new enough to be ATX. As for the power button, keep in mind that ATX simply has 2 small lines that go from it to the motherboard (containing 5V). The older AT ones have an actual button that pushes in while the PC is on, and has thick wires connecting to the power supplies (containing 120V)!). If yours has the AT style power button, you might be able to mod in your own regular button. Hint: find a connector like an audio cable that connects to a CD drive and cut it down to just 2 pins. Connect that with some electrical tape to the switch. It's not professional, but it'll work.

Also, be aware that older PC cases don't have as good airflow as newer ones. I don't recommend putting a 6970 in there. I like the retro idea though.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 26 February 2012 - 11:58 AM

[1californiarepublic]

LiveBrianD, on 26 February 2012 - 11:53 AM, said:

Those links go to gmail unfortunately. Try posting them on photobucket or imageshack (or if it's less than 750KB total, here).

If the board fits in the case, the case is likely new enough to be ATX. As for the power button, keep in mind that ATX simply has 2 small lines that go from it to the motherboard (containing 5V). The older AT ones have an actual button that pushes in while the PC is on, and has thick wires connecting to the power supplies (containing 120V)!). If yours has the AT style power button, you might be able to mod in your own regular button. Hint: find a connector like an audio cable that connects to a CD drive and cut it down to just 2 pins. Connect that with some electrical tape to the switch. It's not professional, but it'll work.

Also, be aware that older PC cases don't have as good airflow as newer ones. I don't recommend putting a 6970 in there. I like the retro idea though.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I figured you wouldn't be able to see the pictures, and I'm just too lazy to upload them to a hosting site. Yes, I believe the computer was originally an AT, as it had these huge flat wires that came from a 120V power supply, so I think I'll probably have to go with a custom power button.

And yes, thanks for the consideration, I was already aware of this as the only fan that was in the original computer was on the CPU and otherwise just had natural airflow through small holes in the case. I have designed a plexi-glass slide-in that has 4 medium sized fans on it that I am debating between being intake or exhaust, although I am pretty sure it's best for them to be intake and they blow directly on the components. then I have a large fan on the bottom that will probably be an exhaust, and I'll have the case on a stand with an opening for the exhaust fan on the bottom to blow out from. I also have a fan for the RAM that just goes straight on top of it. To retain the retro look, I'll put the cover back on (it's like a big shed that just goes on top and drapes over the side, it's kind of weird) and poke some holes where the fans are so they get proper air-flow. And depending on how things go, I'll probably install a liquid cooling system. I'll upload photos when I'm done

[LiveBrianD]

I find it odd that it can fit an ATX motherboard but has an older AT power button, whatever. I'm not sure you'll be able to fit in a liquid cooling system and a huge GPU like a 6970 (btw some of the 7000 series are out now), but if you can, cool!

I'd love to see pictures of this when you're done.

[waldojim]

In that situation, I would use the reset button connector for the power. They will do the same task, and should work out well for now.

[LiveBrianD]

Why didn't I think of that... you really don't need the reset button nowadays anyway (most OEM PCs have lacked them for quite a while).

[1californiarepublic]

waldojim, on 26 February 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

In that situation, I would use the reset button connector for the power. They will do the same task, and should work out well for now.

I'm sorry, I don't quite follow how to connect this connector to a 2 pin reset connector. Do I just connect this huge connector to the 2 pin reset port and leave part of it not connected to anything or what? Sorry, this is my first full custom build and I'm only 14 so I'm still getting used to the language and how things work. Here are the images, one is the power connector and one is the port on the motherboard (it's the white one).


http://i.imgur.com/g8duX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EAbPF.jpg

Thanks, I really appreciate the help x)

[1californiarepublic]

LiveBrianD, on 26 February 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

Why didn't I think of that... you really don't need the reset button nowadays anyway (most OEM PCs have lacked them for quite a while).

Yeah, I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to fit the liquid cooling system, but I know I can fit the 6970, I've tried out my buddy's GTX 260 which is huge, it's about 10.5 inches, and it fit inside with lots of breathing room. If I have to have a liquid cooling system, I'll just make case modifications if it doesn't fit stock, I've already removed a big hunk of metal where the floppy used to be because the RAM on the motherboard would intersect with it, so I'm sure I could make some cut outs to fit everything (I'll take the components out before I take a pair of wire cutters to it of course). I'm resourceful xD

[LiveBrianD]

Hey, I'm 15 and when I was 13 I built a PC from scratch! Hang around forums like these for long enough and you'll get the hang of it.

That's a bit proprietary I think - most PCs have individual 2-pin connectors for power, reset, power LED, hard drive LED, and a 9-pin for the USB ports. Can you trace which wires go to the reset button? Maybe you can connect those to another connector, like an audio one, or find a way to fit it into the motherboard. By the way, the polarity (+ and -) of the power and reset button connectors does NOT matter. All the button does is short the pins. (for LEDs though it does - connect one backwards and it won't light up)

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 26 February 2012 - 04:49 PM

[1californiarepublic]

LiveBrianD, on 26 February 2012 - 04:48 PM, said:

Hey, I'm 15 and when I was 13 I built a PC from scratch! Hang around forums like these for long enough and you'll get the hang of it.

That's a bit proprietary I think - most PCs have individual 2-pin connectors for power, reset, power LED, hard drive LED, and a 9-pin for the USB ports. Can you trace which wires go to the reset button? Maybe you can connect those to another connector, like an audio one, or find a way to fit it into the motherboard. By the way, the polarity (+ and -) of the power and reset button connectors does NOT matter. All the button does is short the pins. (for LEDs though it does - connect one backwards and it won't light up)

Well for the record, I JUST turned 14

And yeah, the 2 pin deal for each component LED is what I've been looking for. What is the "reset' button? I know where it would hook up on the motherboard assuming the case had one, but I don't think this one does, the only wire that runs from the case is for the power button, it's just one green button smack-dab in the middle of the front panel, nothing else. The only reset button I can think of is the reset on the optic drive.

This post has been edited by 1californiarepublic: 26 February 2012 - 08:36 PM

[LiveBrianD]

Can you post a picture of the case? Typically, the reset button is a small button next to the power button, which is a lot bigger and obvious. For instance, earlier, I was messing with overclocking, and accidentally turned up the GPU clock speeds too much, and the PC blew up. (just kidding about the last part) I got a bunch of visual artifacts, windows froze, and I had to hit the reset button with a pencil (my finger wouldn't fit in it, it's purposely designed to be hard to push a lot of the time). Look at what the wires from it lead to (on the connector that goes to the motherboard).

[1californiarepublic]

Yeah, I can't find anything that resembles a reset button, or any button besides the power button for that matter, but here are 2 pictures of the front and back of the case:


http://i.imgur.com/URl37.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/N074Z.jpg

[1californiarepublic]

Hold on, I do believe I have found some options for replacement

http://thirtyday.com/spwifrpapobu.html

http://www.google.co...395134572032536

[waldojim]

Maybe this will help: http://www.amazon.co...T/dp/B00213KDQK

[LiveBrianD]

I find it kinda funny to look at - the old design in front, and multi-channel audio ports and dual-slot graphics card in back. I guess we could say you're doing a slight system upgrade - from a 600MHz celeron and 32MB or something ram to more modern ones like a quad-core i5 or i7 perhaps. However, I worry that the lack of a rear fan could be an issue. How many vents are there in this case?

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 27 February 2012 - 09:03 PM

[1californiarepublic]

I'm putting rear fans in the case, 2 in fact. Two more in the bottom, one in the front, and 4 in the side. The vents are just random little holes in the case, just for natural airflow. I'll probably try to utilize some of the existing holes, but will most likely drill my own. I'm putting an APU inside (a quad core with integrated 6000 series AMD graphics) I didn't intend to get the APU version of the motherboard I was getting, but my mom was rushing me and at this point I'm fine with it. So basically this APU deal can run graphics and be a processor on its own, (definitely not for gaming though) but if you add a discrete graphics card to one or both of the the two PCI-E ports, and you can use the BIOS to choose which card will be dominant, and if you have a 5750-6570 then it will work in crossfire with the APU, but any card that exceeds the power of said units will override the APU and the integrated GPU will shut down making the APU a standard quad core CPU. Pretty cool I guess, and they're not much more expensive, and come with all of the overclocking features as well. I have 12 Gb of RAM, and like I said earlier I will have a 6970 in there too. I'd say it's a pretty substantial upgrade
And plus the APU thing may come in handy in the future, like If I ever have a defect in a graphics card I can still use the computer without one while I get it replaced

This post has been edited by 1californiarepublic: 28 February 2012 - 04:21 PM

[LiveBrianD]

The APUs are good as a standalone thing, but keep in mind that your crossfire options (with the APU's graphics) are quite limited. If you disable the onboard graphics, you basically have an older AMD CPU. Now, 4 side fans? Really? By the way, the Sandy Bridge CPUs have graphics built in, though they are crappy. (particularly with the AMD APUs setting a new standard for integrated graphics) They'll work though if you need them temporarily (dead graphics card, for instance).

[waldojim]

If that thing can actually keep up with a 5750 (and not hurt the performance in x-fire mode), then not only am I impressed, I think that might be a significant consideration for my media center. If you go that route, I would be more than a little interested in how things go.

[1californiarepublic]

Yeah, I'm fine with having an "older" CPU, think a 3.0 ghz quad core is just fine. And ill see whether or not it hurts the 5750, if not, then ill leave it in crossfirex, but, if it makes it slower, i can just disable the GPU in the BIOS, and i don't think the sandy bridge processors fit in the FM1 slot...and yeah the case is just so small and the easiest place to put fans is on the side its best to have all the airflow I can get, ill keep you guys updated

This post has been edited by 1californiarepublic: 29 February 2012 - 03:07 PM

[LiveBrianD]

The FM1 socket ONLY fits the AMD APUs (A4/A6/A8; E2 is integrated into the motherboard like Intel Atom). Not the AM3 Phenoms or Athlons, not the LGA1155 Sandy Bridge CPUs, not any other Intel CPUs...