26th March 2016
Lets take the Gigabyte GA H61M motherboard and take a closer look.
First of all the main socket for the processor has 1155 pins. The motherboards that came afterwards had different pin counts. Which means that their processors have different pin quantities. This makes fitting a more recent processor to an older board impossible. The H61M also known as socket H2 supports the Sandy Bridge processor. After the year 2011 the socket configuration changed. There was socket R with 2011 pins. Then socket G2 with 988. And So on until currently there is the Intel Skylake with 1151 pins. There doesn't seem to be any pattern in the number of pin counts used throughout the last few years. It's just that it is not possible to put a modern processor onto an older motherboard. So upgrading this board is limited to the processors that were produced at the time and designed to fit.
First of all the main socket for the processor has 1155 pins. The motherboards that came afterwards had different pin counts. Which means that their processors have different pin quantities. This makes fitting a more recent processor to an older board impossible. The H61M also known as socket H2 supports the Sandy Bridge processor. After the year 2011 the socket configuration changed. There was socket R with 2011 pins. Then socket G2 with 988. And So on until currently there is the Intel Skylake with 1151 pins. There doesn't seem to be any pattern in the number of pin counts used throughout the last few years. It's just that it is not possible to put a modern processor onto an older motherboard. So upgrading this board is limited to the processors that were produced at the time and designed to fit.
Upgrading RAM follows the same path as the processors. Currently there is DDR4 RAM available for the latest machines. DDR4 will not fit on DDR3 machines. Just like DDR 1,2 and 3 are all physically different. It just doesn't fit. Upgrading these boards is limited to the chips that are designed to fit that specific location. And the latest chips just do not work with the older boards.
Power supplies are one thing that can be upgraded. Using an increased wattage does not draw more power. The only power drawn is the power needed to run the circuits. Leaning to a larger power supply is generally good advice because future upgrades that draw more power will still be within the range of that PSU to supply effectively.
The PCI cards on motherboards can be upgraded. Firstly make sure that the card has the space to fit in the case. Secondly, if running a low end processor like a Celeron then that may end up being a problem. As said above choose a power supply above the necessary wattage rating for the whole system and pick a PSU that's reputable. Do the homework here. Read the fine print. I prefer full modular units. They cost more but there are no left over cables in the case. Just use what's needed. The case internals look much neater and just easier to work with.
Finally there is the case. All the gear has to fit in and it has to look great. However if the whole case has to fit into a certain area it may be too big. Measure up first. Full ATX is the way to go for gamers.
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