Help with Motherboard

[dRAW_]

Hi, I have a Windows XP, Pentium(R) 4 (3.0Ghz), DDR ram 1GB, and onboard ATI Radeon Xpress 200 resies.
It's about 3-4 years old PC.

If you know the Exteel game of NCsoft, its min. requirements is:
AMD Athlon 800 MHz or Intel Pentium® III 800 MHz
256 MB RAM
1 GB available HDD space
GeForce Series 4 video card.

And now the PC is as bad that I'm not able to play the game well..So I'm gonna upgrade it, first I think I should change the motherboard. But I don't know well about hardwares, especially motherboards.

Please what is the best motherboard within 100$, suitable for ATI graphic cards and Intel Pentiums ?
And tell me If you think I should change any of others hardwares (I think the pentium 4 is weak now).
Any advices is good, thank you beforehand !

*sry for my bad English*

 

[o1die]

Use cpuid to identify your current motherboard, memory, etc. If your motherboard is a standard size, such as micro-atx, then it will be easier to pick out a newer one. If you have an hp or dell, etc. then your operating system may be brand dependant, meaning it will be harder to change without a format and new windows installation. In some cases, it's easier to sell your old system intact and start over.

 

[Mongox]

As o1die said, use the program CPUz available from www.cpuid.com to see exactly what you have now.

You can find a motherboard for less than $100 with built-in graphics good enough for that game - and that can take a separate AIT graphics card.

The limiting factor on a motherboard is one that will use your Pentium 4 processor - few of those around anymore.

In addition, you will find a board that will use your old RAM to be an issue too - although I hope it uses DDR2 rather than DDR memory.

Usually, upgrading the motherboard, RAM and processor is a single step - a major step. It's always difficult to find a "better" motherboard that will still use the older parts. In addition, unless you change out all the parts, you likely won't see any difference in performance.

I would recommend you wait until you can buy all 3 pieces at one time.

 

[dRAW_]

Here is my motherboard index.

Thank you guys. Yeah, I will probably buy motherboard+graphic+Ram at once. But do you think I should keep the Pentium 4 or upgrade to AMD (I mean Athlon II or so), or Intel Dual core+ ? I most using my PC for Photoshop painting, Sony Vegas editing movies and other edit software like Adobe After Effect.

 

[Mongox]

I would recommend replacing all 4 components at once. Get the most out of your new system by not putting any limiting factors on it, like using your old processor. You may find a good modern motherboard that will support the Pentium - it seems that more of the Core + boards support the full 775 chip line that I thought, but it's up to you.

Ahhh, AMD or Intel. I have used only AMDs for many years - more to make sure there's competition for Intel than any other reason. I think that most would say you can get more speed for your dollars with the AMD Phenom II CPUs than what you get for a comparably priced Intel CPU. I've been very happy with AMD. And Intel users are happy with their Intels!

For your movie editing I think that a faster processor and a lot more RAM would really improve your system. As you mention, the graphics you have now are limiting game ability - the faster CPU and RAM would enhance that greatly also. Photoshop isn't likely going to care about it. Generally, if something on the screens moves or changes, it likes more CPU speed and more RAM - and faster graphics ability.