need advice on new system

[fallerman]

hi I'm new here so thanks in advance for the help
I'd like to build a new system around one of the new intel conroe chips but would like to utilize a lot of my old stuff -ddr memory included
I found a board - the asus p5pe-vm which apparently allows me to do this
anybody know anything about this board or has any suggestions?
I don't really do any overclocking

 

[g-paw]

Why don't you list what parts you have know including case and PSU? Be easier to answer your question

 

[fallerman]

I will probably purchase the core 2 chip last when the price drops a little - I have an ati 8500 also an nvidia 6200 but i'd likely get something a little newer,also have a winpvr 150 and a
250 gb. maxtor ide hd
also have media centre 2005 w/remote and vista upgrade
I have one (1 gig) stick of ddr 3200 -would buy one more

I would need case-power supply fans etc


the old 2.4 pentium 4 would still have 750 mb ram, two 80 gb hd one of the old cards xp pro
I want to build a media centre box but i will probably play with it as a desktop machine till the novelty wears off a bit

 

[g-paw]

You may want to wait until you can get the CPU, mobo, and RAM together. It is likely you'll eventually want a new video card. If your video cards are AGP, and it looks like they are, they will not fit in most new mobo that are now using PCIe X16 slots and you'd be better off getting a mobo that takes DDR2 RAM. An Intel mobo with onboard video that takes DDR2 RAM would be around $100 give or take. Personally, I think if someone is building a new machine it makes sense to go with the latest technology, not bleeding edge, that will allow for future upgrades. The upfront cost is more but the machine will last you a lot longer and be much faster and new. programs will be able to take advantage of this speed. But if you do this, about the only old parts you'll be able to use would be you hard drive, optical drive, and PCI cards like audio or wireless card.