Will i need to get a new, better Motherboard?

Hi,
In about a months time my mum is replacing her current computer and i will be recieving her current one. The thing was built about a year to a year and a half ago and i want to upgrade it to play games, such as Crysis and STALKER.

Current specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 1.8GHz
Gigabyte 945GM-S2 motherboard
2GB DDR2 RAM
GeForce 7300 GS 256mb graphics card
350W PSU
Vista Home Premium 32 bit

Now for my main problem, i was considering getting a HD 4850 to replace the current graphics card but then i found out my motherboard doesn't have PCI-E 2.0 slots, just 1.0a i think.

Is it still going to work? If so, how bad will the decrease in performance be?

If not, then i have a bunch of questions.

What motherboard would you suggest? (I live in Australia, so a site like www.techbuy.com.au or www.pccasegear.com.au is what i would probably use). I don't plan to overclock at all and may use Crossfire in future, but not right now.

It would also have to fit in this case: http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/68804/ [...] AA-861.asp

Will i lose everything on my HDD? While it wouldn't bother me if it had to be wiped, i just wanted to know.

Also, would i need another copy of Vista? I still have my OEM copy of Vista, but i was told it can only be used for the one installtion.

I do plan to get a better PSU as well.

I'm sorry for the long post and all the questions, i just hope i put it in the right place , I'm rather new to all this and i figured it was wise to ask people who would know more than me for advice.

On that note, would it be a wiser move to get a new case for it and just move everything over?

You guys seem to have horrible prices for PSUs in Australia. Even that CoolerMaster 460W is $72 separately (you get it for 161-133 if you buy it with the RC-690). A Corsair 650TX is $160 or something like that, yikes. (It's US $72 with free shipping in the USA, that's about $116 in Australian currency). That's a much nicer PSU but I don't like the price.

Going along with what jtt282 said, I'd suggest a PSU of about 550wt if going to a 48xx class video card. If it is within your price range, a 4870 would would not only be a better card, but by taking up two slots, it exhausts the hot air outside the case. A different alternative would be to add an expansion slot type cooler, such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811999154 This would exhaust the hot air produced by the video card outside the case.

I don't know that a re-installation of the OS would be necessary even if the motherboard was replaced. I've replaced mobos in the past without any problem from the OS, having to only go through the Windows activation process. As for the OEM copy of Vista, it should work fine if you do have to re-install the OS. The only time an OEM copy is problematic is when its keyed to a motherboard from a computer company such as eMachine, HP, or the like. Even then its sometimes able to use the OEM copy. If you did have to re-install, I'd try the OEM copy before buying a new copy.

First of all, under load, at the wall socket, that system with a 4850, E6300 and just one or two drives is going to be drawing around 200 watts, max. Everyone has an inflated idea of power requirements. My 4850 crossfire system with six drives and overclocked Q6600 draws a max of 320 watts. It DOES depend how good the current 350W supply is and whether it meets its rating and maintains stability under load.

What you WILL need is more memory, 2 gigs will be completely used, resulting in pauses and jerky gaming.

So get the card, update the memory, and try it. Then get the PSU if you find it necessary. And yes a case with better airflow would be recommended.