I thought how slick...but now?

[linnemeyerhere]

I replaced my first self built rig's case with a new Thermaltake Element V case. Leaving behind a perfect Ultra mid tower case which I had grand plans to install the mobo and many other components from a nice? Gateway GT5220 desktop. But as I did more due diligence getting ready to switch it out I see the Gateways mobo is a uBTX style? Looking at it closely it appears it's not compatible with this Ultra X-Blaster mid tower. I guess manufactures choose these odd ball configurations just so the end user can't do upgrades and is forced to buy a new machine. What say you? Best to just leave the mobo where it is, after all the machine works well enough and look to get some combo CPU-Mobo combo deal to put in the Ultra?

Gateway Support - 1009151 Gateway GT5220 Media Center Computer

Ultra X-Blaster Black ATX Mid-Tower Case & Diablotek PHD 650W ATX Power Supply Bundle ULT33178 w/PHD650 at TigerDirect

 

[ken9122]

"What say you? Best to just leave the mobo where it is, after all the machine works well enough and look to get some combo CPU-Mobo combo deal to put in the Ultra?"


Yes I think so.

 

[boohbah]

thats beyond me friend ,but i do think its a nice tower and deffinately a keeper.
i dont normally step in this forum,so im going to creep back out ...quietly. nice to see you alan

Doh! ,door banged

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Yeah I think your both right, I'm just bummed as I was hoping to recycle and reuse this Gateway. But really I will just leave well enough alone and look towards a new build, it's just that I don't really need or use all seven computers in the house...lol. Time to sell some off.
Cheers, the Cheese

 

[Outlander]

If there is physical space in the case for the board you can always drill holes and install new brass stand-offs to match the new board. Done it a couple of times and it's not that hard......Just practice a couple of times on a piece if scrap sheet metal.

 

[Lordbob75]

If there is physical space in the case for the board you can always drill holes and install new brass stand-offs to match the new board. Done it a couple of times and it's not that hard......Just practice a couple of times on a piece if scrap sheet metal.

Not a bad idea, but needs to be EXACT.

~Lordbob

 

[Outlander]

Correct. Alignment must be precise but that's do-able.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

It's a thought and I may still give it a go, but I'm thinking that it could be kind of an exercise because it's not like the board is that great and it has zero overclocking or even faster chip upgrade potential, although again this is what Gateway wants me to believe?! They tell me the 45 watt 2.0 mhz dual core is it for the board.

 

[Everlong]

I thought BTX was completely different and not as simple as just drilling holes. The whole placement is different on the actual motherboard for components.

 

[thefabe]

I thought BTX was completely different and not as simple as just drilling holes. The whole placement is different on the actual motherboard for components.

I think you are definitely correct. Here is a Asus B5LD2-TVM Intel 945G Socket 775 UBTX motherboard.


As you can see the orientation of the I/O is upside down as well as the card slot locations. Looks like a daunting task. Fabe

 

[madtownidiot]

Anyone with a pencil, a drill press, and average woodworking and metalworking skills can make a plywood jig to drill and tap mounts for a motherboard in a case that wasn't designed for it so long as the motherboard will fit.

 

[Sprockett]

Everlong is totally correct, the I/O panel and the card slots on a BTX board are upside down compared to an ATX mobo, so you would have to reverse the whole back of the tower. In regular practice they are not compatible but I guess it could be do-able on some level, if you had the right tools and a LOT of time to burn, but it would be a CRAZY amount of work. So...call it a 'mod project'?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

This is what I noticed as well. The IO's are totally different. I'm sure these things are done to keep the form factor smaller and to cheap out to maximize profits and keep upgrading to a minimum.
Gateway Support - 4006136R NVIDIA GeForce 6150 AM2 uBTX 1394 Motherboard