Availability of Acer F672CR Motherboards

[Acharn]

I've got a five and a half year old Acer Aspire M-1610 desktop that just gave up the ghost. It uses the Acer F672CR motherboard. I've been googling for a replacement but all I seem to get are offers of memory to install in the F672CR or discussions of how to install the motherboard.

Does anybody know if this board is still in production? I'd like to find out before I go to my friendly neighborhood computer store because I'm not sure I trust the guy.

Another option is to look around for a secondhand computer that I can just plug my hard drive into. I haven't been that happy with this computer anyway -- the CPU is only 1.8 GHz. In any case, I won't have money even for a new motherboard for a couple of months, and if I decide to go for a new computer it'll be next year (I can use a gaming shop close to home for $0.30 an hour). Oh, I'm living in Thailand, so ordering over the internet is dicey.

[Yellow Pasque]

Does it have to be the original mobo? Really, any mobo with the following characteristics should do:
- microATX
- Socket 775 (aka Socket T)
- DDR2 (and support the speed of your RAM, which I can't tell from the tech specs)
Also, if you were using the integrated graphics on the old mobo, then the new mobo would also need to have integrated graphics. Look for 945G chipset boards.

[Acharn]

Ah, thanks. This is the kind of information I needed and didn't know how to ask for or search for online. I think from what you've given me I can make some progress. One thing I've been wondering about, how can I tell beforehand if the various sockets (usb, ps1, speaker jack,etc.) will fit my existing case? Basically, I'm looking for the cheapest solution to keeping this clunker working well enough until next year when I expect to be able to replace it?

[Yellow Pasque]

Motherboards come with their own rear I/O panel shield. Your existing one should pop out (bonus points if you don't break any skin and/or draw blood).

[Acharn]

Oh, swell. That's great news. I've had this sucker opened up several times. I've replaced the hard drive. I've replaced the CD/DVD/ROM drive. I've replaced the power supply, and I upgraded the graphics card to a better one. Somehow I've never looked closely at how that pack panel connects to the case.

[user_of_gnomes]

Did you check Ebay?

[Acharn]

Did you check Ebay?

Not yet. I've looked at Amazon and Newegg, and neither one has that particular Acer motherboard. I'm not too enthusiastic about ordering over the Internet. I live in Thailand. My credit card is issued by an American bank, so payment shouldn't be a problem, except I don't have the money right now, but other things I've checked the shipping costs are huge. At this point I'd rather look around and see if I can get an equivalent replacement board, and, if not, see if I can find a cheap, cheap second-hand old clunker to tide me over until next year when I expect to be able to buy a new one. Luckily I'm not into gaming, so I really don't need a really fast super-machine. Just something to browse the Internet and read ebooks offline.

[user_of_gnomes]

Not yet. I've looked at Amazon and Newegg, and neither one has that particular Acer motherboard. I'm not too enthusiastic about ordering over the Internet. I live in Thailand. My credit card is issued by an American bank, so payment shouldn't be a problem, except I don't have the money right now, but other things I've checked the shipping costs are huge. At this point I'd rather look around and see if I can get an equivalent replacement board, and, if not, see if I can find a cheap, cheap second-hand old clunker to tide me over until next year when I expect to be able to buy a new one. Luckily I'm not into gaming, so I really don't need a really fast super-machine. Just something to browse the Internet and read ebooks offline.

You're right, it is probably a better and cheaper idea to find a processor and RAM compatible mainboard by Asus or Gigabyte because even if you can find an Acer replacement, it's probably second hand. Since your current one only lived 5 and a half years, I doubt the life expectancy is going to be very high.

Chances are you'll have to fit it into another case if Acer did not quite adhere to the ATX standards or if it's M-ATX, though.

As for the clunkers ... Just make sure they don't suffer from capacitor plague and that the hard drive S.M.A.R.T status is O.K.