Trying to find the perfect motherboard is quite a challenge especially if there are budget constraints. What I am mostly interested in is network controllers, video chips, USB controllers, SATA/SAS controllers, North/South bridge controllers & BIOS/UEFI chips. Obviously I'm not interested in replacing all of these on one board but those are chips that may be of interest.
I've seen a lot of MB's with different chips from version to version (like version 1.0 to 1.1 or even 1.1A to 1.1B) but it is pretty tough to know if the chips have the same physical layout and can be swapped.
There are many used motherboards/expansion cards available with great chips that could be swapped with a motherboard/card that is intended to be used.
I know people do swap or replace video chips on laptop motherboards when they self-destruct due to heat. These often need special equipment because of the BGA joint/connection but I think many other chips look more like simple surface mount chips that can be replaced with a heat gun (or other methods??).
I've seen some people suggest just getting a new motherboard or card but when dealing with some OS's and software they often have slim selection of supported hardware and being able to change some chips can make a huge difference in system options and or performance not to mention longevity of some systems.
I've seen a lot of MB's with different chips from version to version (like version 1.0 to 1.1 or even 1.1A to 1.1B) but it is pretty tough to know if the chips have the same physical layout and can be swapped.
There are many used motherboards/expansion cards available with great chips that could be swapped with a motherboard/card that is intended to be used.
I know people do swap or replace video chips on laptop motherboards when they self-destruct due to heat. These often need special equipment because of the BGA joint/connection but I think many other chips look more like simple surface mount chips that can be replaced with a heat gun (or other methods??).
I've seen some people suggest just getting a new motherboard or card but when dealing with some OS's and software they often have slim selection of supported hardware and being able to change some chips can make a huge difference in system options and or performance not to mention longevity of some systems.