Urgent Tech advice and Guidance

You must have a compaq or hp pc. I used the compaq "live chat" feature and got some answers free online with a technician, But If he says the board doesn't support the 9550, then you'll have to change it out. Any hp or compaq board is too expensive, as compaq forces you to send in the whole system for them to change out the board. My compaq came with an msi board and celeron cpu. I swapped out the board for a cheap ecs model with 4 memory slots and replaced the celeron with an e4500 cpu. You can do a similar swap with just about any micro atx board. I suggest a g43 board with 4 memory slots. Check the specs of any board you're interested in at newegg.com. Newegg has excellent photos of all it's boards. I use ecs or asrock boards, but they don't overclock as well as asus or gigabyte. With my ecs g33 board, I found all the compaq case connections work and fit perfectly. That board has been discontinued, but Fry's may still have a few in stock, if you have a store nearby. If you replace the hp motherboard with any other brand, you'll have to reinstall windows with a windows dvd or cd. I used a dell oem vista dvd. Some software venders like 9 software carry them for $16 shipped. Check pricewatch under "operating system" for other venders. After installation, use your old microsoft coa sticker number on your case to reactivate windows. For video, newegg had a 4650 for around $50, or the 4850 for about $105. Get the 4650 if your power supply is 350 watts or less. For the 4850, you'll need at least 500 watts. I use antec, seasonic, corsair, pc power and cooling, or enermax ps. All are good brands.