Overhauling Old Computer - new Motherboard

Originally Posted by Sepharite

Woah, thanks...

Now I think I made a step to early, my cousin just told me my computer might be a proprietary, meaning it can't be upgraded unless I use the appropriate motherboard. How can I tell?

Btw, my computer is manufactured by Emachines. ._.''

Some components in it will be fine on upgrade. Some will not.

You will need a new:
Motherboard
GraphicsCard
*RAM* (maybe)
PowerSupply
*Case* (probably)

Hopefully the hard drive/cd drives will transfer, but there is a possibility that they wont. I'm gonna do a quick budget build on newegg and see what I can come up with for ya.

Oh, and do us a favor and use this program
CPUID
and either post the info, or take a quick screen capture of each of the tabs. Thanks!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Considering your desire for a cheap vid card, I'm shooting for a budget build as best I can find. So, any of this hardware you could get a better version of by different manufacturer, but what I'm recommending is good enough and is not "bad", just not necessarily the "best".

Newegg.com - MSI P6N SLI-FI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
MSI 650i SLI motherboard. Comes with 2 ATA slots, so you can use your current drives with it, assuming they aren't proprietary. $20 mail-in-rebate brings it to $85.

Newegg.com - OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
With current deals on DDR2-800 memory, I can't recommend keeping your current sticks of RAM. Trying to use your DDR400 while upgrade severly limits your motherboard options into crap territory. This OCZ DDR2-800 RAM is $36 after rebate, and it's 2GB. Definitely worth every penny.

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-600-PCAR ATX from factor 12V V2.01 600W Power Supply 115/230 V Safety Nemko, TUV, cUL, CE, BSMI, FCC, CCC - Retail
Apparently this power supply is either ~$30, or it's free with MIR. Not sure but either way, 600w PSU w/ two 12v rails at that price is phenomenal.

Total Cost = $151 (or $120 if the PSU is free)

This is a good future minded system. You could upgrade to a better Core2Duo, upgrade more RAM (2 open RAM slots), the PSU can handle tougher stuff later, and you could even get SLI graphics cards if you wanted. Now you'd still more than most likely need a case, and that is something you'd probably want to find for yourself. But post a few that you like here, and we can help point you in a good direction. Also, sometimes buying a case comes with a power supply, and that might be a good direction to shoot for.

Now I took just a bit of time to look on NCIX, because you have to buy from there, right? And this is what I came up with:

NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775 P35 1333FSB 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard - GA-P35-DS3L In Canada.
OpenBox for 88.69CAD w/ the newer P35 chipset. Only 1 IDE port, but that means your current 160GB harddrive and one disc drive.

NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit - OCZ2P800R22GK In Canada.
54.99CAD after rebates. 2GB RAM, OCZ... Good to go. Rebates are gone after tomorrow.

NCIX.com - Buy Coolermaster Extreme Power 600W ATX 12V V2.01 Silent Power Supply 20/24PIN 120MM Fan - RP-600-PCAR In Canada.
37.63CAD after rebate. 600W and two 12V rails at 18amps. Great PSU.

That's about the same system for 181.31CAD. Of course add a case, and you'll be set.

There's nowhere I can't reach.