thinking of upgrading my mobo

[hofulstrof]

hey guys im new to the forum.

a few months ago my computer got infected with a virus and would no longer function. it was a win 98 p2/celeron 333 128 mb ram and a gforce 2 mx400 video card. 8 years ago it was a sweet system lol. but it worked for me. i only used my computer for music internet and designing speaker boxes ( using a program called sketch up)

so i bought a new computer for $399

mobo : asrock k7vm3 (only supports a 4x gpu card)
cpu : sempron 2400+ socket a 462
ram : 256 mb
power : 450 watt max


thinking that was all i was going to need. it ran all my box programs and stuff good but when i upgraded to the newest version of sketchup things ran a bit choppy so bought a stick of 512 ram and bought a radion 9800pro video card. now everthing ram smooth and sweet. so i decided to try out a few newer games (quake 4 halo ) everything runs smooth as long as the quality setting are on low. but now im addicted to the games and want things to run better .

i think my next logical upgrade would be a new mobo and processor
my budget is $120 + shipping and taxes. for the mobo only. my goal is to have something that will be easily upgraded as i will buy a new video card and faster processor down the road

i was looking at this one:

SRock 939Dual-SATA2 ULi M1695 AGP 8X PCI-E 16X Socket 939 ATX Motherboard.

what other kind of sugggestions do you guys have?

 

[Mr. Switch]

If you buy a PCI-Express motherboard, you'll need a new CPU and videocard. and $120 is nowhere near enough money for all three.

 

[hofulstrof]

yes i realize that.
the mobo i i suggested also has an agp slot so i can use my current 9800 card and i have yet to decide on what processor i will get

120$ is for the mobo only

 

[hofulstrof]

i want to upgrade to a mobo that has alot of expansion calabilities so i can play games. should a maby wait till i find something that has 2 pci slots?

are amd's new quad core processors going to fit into the socket 939?

 

[Mr. Switch]

Get a motherboard with 2 PCI-E slots like a DFI Lanparty SLI-D or DR.

 

[hofulstrof]

looks intresting doesnt have an agp slot. will look into it more tomorrow,
thanx for the help and keep the suggestions comeing

 

[cyrax]

If you get a DFI though, you'll have to wait until you buy a new GPU and CPU before you can use it, since your CPU is the wrong socket. Just save up enough for the mobo, cpu, and gpu, then buy them all at the same time.

 

[hofulstrof]

yeah it looks like im going to have to do that. but i deffenaly cant afford that right now.
i plan on selling my current stuff on ebay i figure i can get $100 for my mobo and processor. and then 75 for my video card plus the 120 i have leaves me with about $225 not near enough. might have to wait a few months

 

[cyrax]

Yeah, you're in the same boat as me. Cept I might have to wait for a little longer than a few months.

 

[hofulstrof]

Get a motherboard with 2 PCI-E slots like a DFI Lanparty SLI-D or DR.

i did some reading on the mobo you listed and it seems like a good one to get. except it seems to have problems sending enough power to the video card without a direct power tap.