Need information on Acer M5630 Motherboard
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(Before I begin, let me just say I'm returning to SGForums.com to ask for help regarding my issue, and once it's resolved I will leave again. Any posts unrelated to the topic, such as anyone asking for why I left the forums in the first place, will be ignored. I could have used HardwareZone if not for the fact that they asked for too much personal information.)
I had been suspecting that I have somehow managed to break my Acer M5630 desktop computer recently, and I believe the problem lies in the motherboard as the onboard sound card had been giving problems as of late (I had already ruled out the speakers), such as static and stuttering whenever there's a high CPU load. Performance has also seemed to be slowing down as of late.
Not too long ago I went down to Sim Lim Square and asked around for the potential cost of fixing my computer problems; I came upon this shop that gave me some additional information: it might either be a sound chip problem, in which case they are offering me a new sound card as the solution, or it could be the entire motherboard's problem. In the latter case they said the only resolution is a new motherboard. As I want to replace the existing motherboard I have with the exact same one in case it's the latter situation, I tried looking for information on what motherboard is in there. Trouble is, after some digging I only had conflicting information and dead ends: one source suggested that the motherboard is an Acer-made replica of Gigabyte's GA-EG31M-S2 motherboard, while other sources indicated an ECS G31T-M motherboard. I have looked at pictures of both motherboards and they look nothing like what appears to be the motherboard I have. I wonder if anyone here might definitively know which motherboard does Acer use in their M5630 desktops.
I know, I could just send it in to Acer for repair, but the trouble is that the warranty had expired and Acer's service charges are beyond what I could afford. I need to locate the exact model information for my desktop's motherboard so I could ensure that they replace the exact same model into my computer should they need to do so
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since the warranty has expired, you can just change the whole motherboard to others. You do not need to still get the original mobo.
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I know I could use a different motherboard, but what worries me is the potential incompatibility with some of the other system components, the casing, or the operating system (I'm planning to make a "ghost" image of my hard drive in the event that I need to reformat the disk, and I'm planning to restore that image to the disk once a new motherboard is in place) that might result. Plus, I'm afraid that I might lose some ports or features that originally came with my computer - unless the new motherboard improves on them.
If the exact same motherboard is not available, then please advise on which motherboard is the most similar to what I have in my Acer desktop right now.
Edit: link to the page where I found some information about Acer's motherboards: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/277188.aspx
Edit 2: maybe some pictures of the rear panel of my motherboard might help:
I know they are a bit dark and blurry, but that's the best I can manage now. My camera's batteries are running low, so I couldn't use flash.
Note that one of the serial ports is covered up. I could do away with those and use a few more USB ports though. The port above the ethernet port is a Firewire port, and the third PCI card from the top is what I believe to be a TV tuner card.
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Bumping up the thread a bit...
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even if the mobo is a new one of the same model, you will still need to have an image of your hdd to boot from.
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to add on, your casing seems like the general mATX chassis size used widely by all those consumer desktop pc manufacturers..
just make sure when you purchase a new mobo, the basic requirement is to have an mATX sized mobo, 9.6inch by 9.6inch.