Hey, my XP broke from a crash and when i start it up the scren just stays black and says no signal found.
My dad says its probably the motherboard, so im looking for a motherboard to replace the old one.

My question is, can I just buy any motherboard and use it on my computer, or do you need to buy a specific motherboard for a specific computer?

If so, I have a Medion AMD athlon 64 processor
Are there any other specs needed?

thanks

Hello Mk927,

Well, if you want to replace the motherboard without having to purchase other new components, then you need to get one that supports all your other hardware (CPU, Memory, Video Card, hard drive(s), etc.)

If you want to replace the motherboard without having to restore your operating system, then you need to buy an exact replacement.

But first, you might want to try some diagnostics before you make such a big decision. Do you have a separate video card, or is the video built onto the motherboard? If you have a separate video card, you can try taking that out and using on-board video or another video card. Or if you are using on-board video, you can try installing a video card to see if you just have a bad video port on your motherboard.

You might want to test a different video cable and test your monitor on another computer.

Also, defective hardware can prevent your computer from booting properly. I have seen a computer not even POST due to a defective modem. You can try removing pieces of hardware and getting your computer to a bare minimum and see if it boots that way. Meaning, remove all peripherals (modem, video card, network card, all but one stick of memory, even your hard drive) and see if it displays video then.

I'm not sure how computer saavy you are, but you may want to try some diagnostics, or even have a professional try to find the problem. You may spend money and time replacing the motherboard and find your computer still broken. Unfortunately, this problem is a hard one to determine without doing a fair bit of testing.

Hope that info helps you!