Planning on getting a new Mobo. What type should I get? Will it be compatiable?

B

BlueMan

New Member
Hello everyone. I'm planning on upgrading my computer that I've had for a while for gaming purposes. I'm not a master with computer hardware and I don't know how to find out a lot of information about my computer hardware. Here are my system specs to the best of my ability (could someone let me know how to get more info about my hardware?):
  • CPU - Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.93Ghz
  • RAM - 1.5GB DDR2 SDRAM (not sure if its running at 333/400/etc. Mhz)
  • Hard Drive - 140 GB, 10 GB Free. (Not sure it it's SATA/IDE/etc.)
  • Video Card - ATI Radeon 9250 PCI 256MB. (A lot of people on other forums are telling me its lousy, and I agree)
  • Motherboard - No idea. I do know that the RAM is expandable to 4GB and there are only 3 PCI slots (no AGP or PCI-E:eek: ).
I'm almost certain that my RAM is sufficient for now and I think that my CPU is decent enough that it doesn't need upgrading (does it?). At this moment I don't really care about getting a new HD. What I want is a Motherboard that has PCI slot(to hold my old video card until I can get a new one) and a PCI-E slot (I heard that the better video cards that are coming out are only made for PCI-E). Other people I have asked online have suggested I get a Mobo that has "Serial ATA", 5.1 sound compatibility, and LAN. I've seen two different types of LAN when searching for video cards (Gigabit and Ethernet). I have no idea what the difference is but my computer is connected to the internet by a cord in the back going into a slot saying "Ethernet", so I assume I'm going to need a Mobo with "Ethernet LAN". I'm also worried about compatibility issues. First, when I get a new motherboard will I have to buy a new CPU or a cooling fan? What about ram? Are computer tower cases "one-size-fits-all" when it comes to motherboards or will I have to buy a new tower case?

In total, the maximum I can spend is about $400 (for motherboard + anything else I will need but not including a video card). I'd prefer to pay less than $300 but the most important thing for me is that I want a motherboard that will last a while and be compatible with my hardware and any new games that come out in the near future. Suggestions or comments? Thanks so much in advance, guys.:)
 
I'm not sure what socket my processor is. I did talk to a guy at micro center and said that there would be no motherboards that can hold PCI-E and my current processor though. (My current processor has been phased out). I'm thinking I might have to get a new cpu along with a mother board.
 
Do you feel like taking the processor out to take a look at the socket it should say something like SOCKET 478 or something like that. I bet it is a socket 478. Why don't you go ahead and take a look. You could probably get a nice mobo and processor for 400$. My dad spent 500$ dollars for an AMD 64bit dual core along with MOBO PCI-E
 
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