My Inspiron D530 stopped working over the weekend and the tech I took it to stated that the motherboard went BAD. I'm trying to figure out my options. Buy a new CPU and have my data transferred, but then I'd also have to reload my software? Buy a new CPU that is compatible with the D530's hard drive and swap them out. Order a new motherboard? The tech is recommending having a clone built to the tune of $400. What feed back do you suggest?You just have to get a replacement motherboard from vendors such as Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, etc. and you will have a fully functioning computer. A quick google search shows that these are your specs: Intel Celeron 450, 500GB HDD, 2GB RAM.


That is an LGA 775 socket CPU.
LGA 775 MOTHERBOARDS:
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/list.aspx?s=42&jid=3&p=2&v=7
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/#/?sk=Socket%20775%20(Intel%20Core%202)
The G45 Chipset should suffice for everyday use.

CPUs are not related to hard drives-your HDD just plugs into the motherboard via SATA or IDE.
You can even upgrade your PC to the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with a new motherboard. The highest CPU you can get is the Core 2 Extreme.

You don't have to build a clone of that PC "to the tune of $400"-that sounds pretty expensive for a Celeron PC without discrete graphics. You can build the AMD PC in my specs for LESS than $313.Quote

The tech is recommending having a clone built to the tune of $400.

You just have to get a replacement motherboard from vendors such as Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, etc. and you will have a fully functioning computer. A quick google search shows that these are your specs: Intel Celeron 450, 500GB HDD, 2GB RAM.


That is an LGA 775 socket CPU.
LGA 775 Motherboards:
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/list.aspx?s=42&jid=3&p=2&v=7
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/#/?sk=Socket%20775%20(Intel%20Core%202)
The G45 Chipset should suffice for everyday use.

CPUs are not related to hard drives-your HDD just plugs into the motherboard via SATA or IDE.
You can even upgrade your PC to the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with a new motherboard. The highest CPU you can get is the Core 2 Extreme.

You don't have to build an entirely new computer "to the tune of $400"-that sounds pretty expensive for a Celeron PC without discrete graphics. You can build the AMD PC in my specs for less than $313.

No offense but you're doing her a disservice suggesting a new MBoard...even with a CPU upgrade when that cabbage could be well spent on a new machine...