At 06:01 AM 3/19/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Bob,
>    I plan to swap motherboards (maybe I should  build a new computer).  I currenlty
>have an old 486 75 mHz.  Everything works fine, I just need more power and more space
>on the hard disk drive.
>    Consequently, a list of the web sites that give step by step instructions for
>swapping motherboards would be very helpful.

We maintain a web site for PCBUILD.  If you have the chance visit
it:  http://nospin.com      [mailing lists]

We keep a list of 15 of the best sites on the PCBUILD list site.  But,
for just step-by-step instructions on installing a motherboard, here are
two good pages that you can print off for reference:

http://www.verinet.com/pc/assemble.shtml
http://www.tyan.com/html/body_walkthrough.html


>    A couple of miscellaneous questions:
>        1.  Would you make a jump now to a pentium II motherboard?

If you mean would I do it personally??  I have not as of yet.  I am still
using my P200MMX on a pentium board.  I wait a touch before upgrading
to the "bleeding" edge technology.  Prices always drop drastically after
it has been around for about a year.

>         2.  Can this be done with a reasonable investment?

If I thought it was a reasonable expense...  I would have done it by now...
  *grin*    I probably will do it later this summer.

>        3.   If I jump to a pentium II, what other   hardware must normally be
>               replaced?

Two points:  the board uses a SLOT ONE socket for the chip.  So, you will
be investing in a PII CPU and they are very pricey as of yet.   The other
point is that due to Intel's push toward motherboards with all PCI slots,
the current PII boards have only two (2) ISA slots.  These only exist
because of the huge volume of modems and sound cards that still
require an ISA slot.  If you have other ISA cards, you will not be able
to slot them, (cards such as Network cards, video cards and so forth).
These boards still use 72pin memory and onboard controllers.  So, for
the most part it will only be ISA cards that will effect you.

You can use a PCI video card, but if you have the money for an AGP
video card it is worth the investment.  It displays quite a jump in
preformance.

>        4.   What features would you recommend getting on the new motherboard?

This depends on your choice of CPUs.  I will discuss the Pentium as there are
very few option choices with the PIIs at this time.

>                a.  Which chipset?

The HX or TX chipsets are great.  However, ASUS has a new SIS chipset
that is available.  I have used about six of these so far and the onboard
video is slick.  It will dedicate 1, 2 or 4megs of your system memory for
the onboard video.  No video card to mess with...

>                b.   Which caches and what capacity?

The standard now is 512K pipeline burst cache.  This is excellent for 64mgs
of ram.

>                c.   Univerasal serial bus?

This is like SCSI.  If you have a device that uses it... it is great.  If you
do not...  it is a waste for most people.  I am still waiting to see if it will
catch on.

>                d.   number of and type of slots?

Same issue...  depends on the number and type of cards you use or
intend to use.   Personally, I only use three ISA slots for modem, bus mouse
 and sound blaster cards.  So, for me the more PCI slots the better.  I have
a PCI SCSI card, PCI video, PCI network card and PCI television card.
You need to decide what you intend to have in the box and what you
hope to add later.

>                e.   Other features that one should look for?

Bios type is important to many people.  I prefer AMI Bios.  I have friends
that prefer PHOENIX bios and of course there is Award Bios.  Each offers
different features...  though today the differences are minor.

>
>          Are motherboards sold by Fry's reliable?

I do not know Fry.  This must be a vendor.  There are only about
two dozen motherboard manufacturers...  but, vendors are everywhere
like corner convience stores.  The quality of the board is the most
important and not who sells it, (though if you have a problem in the
sale or the first 30 days, a fly-by-night vendor is a nightmare).   The
larger mail order houses are usually great with returned materials if
you have a problem and they deal in such large volume that the pricing
is very reasonable.

  I hope this helps...  have fun

     Bob