[Solved] Help for a Newbie?

Brand new to computers- never touched one before 2K, graphic artist, sculptor. Built in 2K3, an Asus p5wd2, w/ P4 3.2, XP Pro, twin 74Gb raptors, twin 400Gb caviars both in raid at the time, quadro fx1300, 2Gb ram (which was awesome then). Now this once 'almost cutting edge' mb and setup is long in the tooth - as am I.

Would like to install new(er) components, reinstall XP, and bought the following components based on what I feel I need for graphics that will fit into this current asus P5WD2 board:

Pentium D 3.4, 150Gb Velociraptor for "C" drive, 500Gb Seagate for storage, Crucial Ballistic 4Gb DDr2, Noctura 120 mm case fan, Noctura NH-U12P cpu cooler for quiet.

But here is the kick: I didn't think of getting a new mb, just went ahead and bought these components to plug into this current P5 board.

It is most difficult to get info from Asus or Intel, on graphics workstations, rather than the majority of builds for gaming, which I do not do. I am an artist and interested in doing graphics and 3D design on my workstation.

Can anyone help me with suggesting a reasonable board if I were to get a new one? I don't even know if there are boards comparable to my old P5, but something like it or even somewhat better for my components, for graphics and a little internet?

I have one graphics card - the Quadro FX 1300, and may later on upgrade to the 1700 or better in future, but as it stands and will probably be only one card. I do not use dual cards, so only need One PCI-E slot on the board, not interested in a lot of the other cool stuff that gamers love, just want a fairly conservative workstation for creative work. Must be at this time, 775 socket as I already have the Pent D - and cooler for it, and must support the 240pin DDR2, not 3, as I already have the Ram --- But wouldn't mind a board that could carry 8Gb of Ram.

I know, I know, here I am talking about fixing my Model-T, maybe upgrading to a '32 roadster and the rest of the world is going anti-grav, plasma jet, ion pulse jetpods. Maybe somebody out there is old, and sympathetic.

attenurb

mongox - Thank you for replying.

I am not at all sure I want/need a new motherboard. I am already overextended on what I bought and a new 775 socket board would have been a stretch, financially.

Just wanted to upgrade a little, what I could afford, and the P5WD2 mb, when new, was ready for the Pentium D, which was not even out at the time. Since it is a dual core, one of the first, I understand, and also a tiny bit more processor speed - 3.4 v. 3.2 of my old Pentium 4, I supposed it was (almost) the best cpu upgrade suitable for this current board.

Sounds like I should just install all the stuff I already bought, run this new upgraded workstation for another year or so, and build on a new, more modern mb, w/ - by then - probably 100Gb of Ram, and 12 cores!

Until then, I will be happy with just an upgrade on an existing machine. A friend asked me why I didn't get a new mb, and that got me thinking - then the idea that I needed one pressed me to inquire here, after finding little info on Asus or Intel, that an ordinary guy like me can relate to. I know there are some places which address building workstations and all the stuff cg artists and graphic artists/illustrators need to do their work. 3D World for instance addresses this, but modern mb's and mega buck setups.

attenurb,

I replied to your PM. Hate those things because it's hard to notice when you've got a new one - especially if you have the Right Column turned off for more reading and less ad space!

I was fascinated by your website and emailed you with some glowing comments at that address, but it's not working. (edited)

My apologies for not giving feedback sooner, as mongox has helped immensely with my choices and advice on them.

I want to go to 8 Gb of ram which this board supports along with the Pentium D I am putting in, but would have to go to the 64 bit XP, and heard there were issues with drivers and some of the 32 bit software operating great, and other opinions of 'nothing but trouble', so not going there. Next build will be from scratch with a then current mb and of course the core i7 two, and 24Gb of ram. For now, content to run my 32 bit programs at 32 bits.

Thanks

David