If I were to just get a new MoBo and CPU...Compatibility With Old Parts?

CPU
MoBo

If I were to just grab those two parts to upgrade my current computer, could I expect everything to be able to run together with my old parts? Will DDR memory work with DDR2 slots? Will my HDD be compatible? Etc? I don't think posting my CPU-Z stuff is really necessary for this, but it would be great if I could make this upgrade. I would still need to get a new GPU somewhere down the line, but that can wait, as I don't really game that much on PCs anyways, and I want something that can do DX10 anyways.

Then I know you have to reformat your hard drive with a new MoBo and CPU, so how should I go about backing it up? Can I really save everything so that when I reinstall Windows, it'll be like nothing happens when I put the programs back on?

DDR memory won't work with DDR2 memory due to different pin numbers. Hard drive should be, granted that the motherboard has a ATA port and I suspect it will. You may have to reinstall windows, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem if you back everything up beforehand.

And for your second question, sort of. It won't be exact, as you cannot remember how everything is, right? I can't remember how my desktop icons are everytime I shuffle them about, so if you're going to order those parts, I suggest buying a 100-200GB hard drive as well just to back up stuff. Then when you restore your stuff, you have a load of spare storage on your comp too. : )

You can save all your documents and programs if you've kept or can obtain the installers. Technically every Windows setting can be backed up, right down to menu ordering, but locating and exporting the necessary values from the registry simply isn't worth the time. Back up your data to an external drive or a set of CD/DVDs, reformat, and restore your files to their proper places. Customize whatever Windows settings you can remember and you'll recall the rest as you fall back into regular usage.

Originally Posted by Yami

And for your second question, sort of. It won't be exact, as you cannot remember how everything is, right? I can't remember how my desktop icons are everytime I shuffle them about, so if you're going to order those parts, I suggest buying a 100-200GB hard drive as well just to back up stuff. Then when you restore your stuff, you have a load of spare storage on your comp too. : )

Well wouldn't that be nice. But unfortunately, getting another 2 sticks of memory runs me up another $110, making this situation a bit more expensive than I was looking for. I'm thinking then that I might buy the parts over time. Get the Mobo, get the Memory, then get the processor eventually, and last, as it probably will have dropped a bit in price by then if all goes my way. That or it might be a whole different type of CPU going into that slot other than a X2. But with prices, that's unlikely.

What I was going to do was buy the Mother Board and CPU, live with that for a while, then slowly start to replace the parts in my system, one by one, as money comes along, until I pretty much have a completely new system. (Starting with a DirectX 10 GPU, then memory, then the HDD.) Now that's screwed up a bit, of course. I also need to be putting away money for saving, and anything over $250 shouldn't really be in the cards already with all the games and the Wii coming out this fall, not to mention other expenses.


Do we know if DDR2 and the other prices are expected to fall in the near future?

Edit: RAM
That's the RAM I've been looking at. I know the Latency is bad, but is that such a big deal? I mean, it's already DDR2 and a high speed at that. Plus, it seems all the other higher latency DDR2 RAM have problems with AM2 boards, while this pair doesn't.

Anyways, for a dual core computing, is it still better to have two seperate sticks of 512 RAM instead of one single 1GB stick of RAM? DDR2 is "Dual Channel", so I thought maybe that has something to do with multiple cores running, but I also thought two seperate sticks would be better so that each core could use it's own full 512MB stick. Is any of that logic right, here?

And I know 1GB is pretty low for RAM amounts for Vista, but it'll have to do. I'm on a budget here, and this whole thing is a work in progress. Maybe after I get the video card and Vista, then I'll eventually grab another Gig or two for RAM. But I also plan on my new GPU having at least 256MB of V-RAM, so that'll take a little bit of pressure off the main RAM. Running XP though, I have yet to reach a situation where I'm using all of my current 1GB of memory at once. I don't game much on PC, so I've never really needed a huge access amount of it. The worst I do is Photoshop, while online, with AIM open.

Corsair XMS are some of the highest rated and praised sticks around, so you should be fine with that : )

That's good to hear. Now how about my PSU? Please don't tell me I need a new one of those too, do I? The Mother Board I'm looking at is 24-Pin. I have no idea how to find out how many pins my current PC has. If I do, could someone be kind enough to pick me out a good one that isn't too expensive? I have no idea what I need to be looking for in those parts at all.

Edit: After checking Wikipedia, I do indeed need a new PSU. Could someone please pick a good one out for me on Newegg? Preferably keeping in mind that I want to go on a reasonable budget, here. How about this?

For the hard drive, the board has ATA100, so that should work with my current HDD then, right? It doesn't matter if it's ATA100 and not ATAWhatever?

Oh, and the memory just went on sale. The total for all that is $384! I don't know. I could do that, but I really need to put money away. I'm going to see if I can get my parents in on this.

Oh, and another question, (yeah, total bombardment here): I have an old computer, if I were to put my current computer's parts into that, everything would be compatible, right? The only thing remaining in the old computer would be the HDD. I couldn't think of any hitch in that plan at all, as it basically is the same situation as with all the new parts.

I wouldn't cheap out on a PSU Mr.Wonderful. You get what you pay for and Rosewill is not a pretty good brand name when it comes to PSUs. That thing will probably blow on you for the next few months.

I recommend: OCZ, Antec, & Mushkin.

I'm building my own PC too and I just got a Mushkin PSU shipped to me the other day. I've went asking around and most people recommend OCZ and Mushkin, and one of my relatives has an Antec PSU.

As for using old parts to put in a new PC. I wouldn't, I think you should start from scratch. The only thing that I'm using from my old PC is some cables.

Here's My Layout for my own PC:

Motherboard
Processor
Memory
Hard Drive
Graphics Card
Sound Card
Power Supply

Those are my parts for my future PC, everything is compatible and I've got nothing to worry about except putting them together. Already got the case, the PSU, the HD, DVD-ROM drive, and next are my mobo and processor. All those things together plus my chosen LCD monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The whole thing will cost me $1,250 est. but I think it's worth all that money to make a master computer.

Are you sure you want to go with the 6800? Especially with Geforce 8 around the corner (few months) and if you're going with a budget around that, you could get more bang for buck with a 7600GT to be honest. A 7800GT may do, if you're willing to spend a little bit extra, but I would say it is worth it.

....I hate you, Yami but thanks for the suggestion. I'm looking at the 7600GT for just $165.99 not bad, but the 7800GT is like over $400 and I wouldn't go that far yet... That's like rent money to me going down the toilet.

Originally Posted by CT-

....I hate you, Yami but thanks for the suggestion. I'm looking at the 7600GT for just $165.99 not bad, but the 7800GT is like over $400 and I wouldn't go that far yet... That's like rent money to me going down the toilet.

The good thing about GPUs is that you can always get a better one later. It's not like they majorly affect your performance, as long as you have some kind of decent stand alone GPU.