suteck :
If you are considering a new build, and if you are looking at a new mobo and cpu you are, then let us know how much you're willing to spend. If you were hoping to upgrade the mobo and cpu and then stick those ide hard drives in it and just boot up and have all your stuff then I hate to tell you it won't work. When you change out the motherboard & cpu, especially to something that different it won't boot. You will have to reinstall your windows operating system onto one of the drives. If you can save everything on to one and reinstall on the other then that should work. However, it's been by experience that the newer boards don't like the ide as the primary drive units and will constantly give you problems. Not always, but usually. If you want one with the ide so you can attached your cd/dvd drive(s) to them that will work, but you will still need a sata hdd.
On top of that, most boards that support the am3 socket are going to be DDR3 ram compatible and you will need a pci-e grachics card. Coupled along with increased power draw, different motherboard power connections and pcie graphics card power connections you will most likely need a new psu also. As I mentioned earlier, You're looking at a new build.
You could possibly add some additional ram to your current system but if you're already running 2.8 GB's? And your board only supports 4 GB's and you're running a 32 bit system it will only see 3.35 GB's it's mostly a waste of money. I was hoping the video card would help out a great deal with it's own onboard memory but if you already have a very good video card then that's a no go also. If you still want to upgrade only what you have let me know and I will look into it further now that I have the service tag.
So, what parts and stores do you prefer and what is your price limit? We can go from there. You don't have to buy anything to look so it won't hurt. I have built systems for as little as $500. I have seen other people do it for less so ask, What operating system do you have and do you need a better one? $100 for an OEM win 7 64bit. You will want 64 bit for a new system. If you already have that - even xp 64 you're good there.
Only other thing I can add for now is that if you want to build a new one start a new thread so when people see the title for help on a new build and the people with that experience will see it and hopefully respond. Sorry, I can't find the link for the procedure they like to follow.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I suspected this could be a problem, and I am glad I asked before I ordered the mbo and cpu.
I will try your suggestion to go to a different thread. I am willing to spend $500 max, so I might build my own. I have been building my own computers for years, but stopped several years ago when I ordered the Dell. I didn't realize how much the technology had changed since I bought the Dell.
I have Win xp now, and it doesn't matter if I keep it. Most of my work requires AutoCAD, so the operating system doesn't have a big impact on my decision.
If you have any recommendations for where to look for "build it yourself", I would appreciate your reco. I have ordered from New Egg and Tiger Direct before, but I am by no means an expert in the current technology.
If I ordered a SATA HD, is there a way to clone the info off of the existing IDE for boot? I would want to re-use the two disk IDE drives as if I can. The second HD can be removed. I have two external USB HD's that I use to store large files, and use as a back up. For the main HD. I also have off site back up (Mozy) for critical files.
Once again, thank you for your valuable time. I truly appreciate it. Who knows. Maybe I can return the favor some day...but no in the field of computer construction.
Bill Philcox, PE
President
Engineering Professionals, LLC
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram