My brother gave me his old 7800GT and COD4. The problem is that I need to switch motherboards since I don't have PCI-E. I figure I'd might as well use the opportunity to upgrade. So, I'm looking for a CPU and motherboard combo. Any recommendations considering the following?

-I want to play COD4
-I'm probably going to switch to Vista Home Premium or Ultimate (OEM)
-Already purchased 2gig of 800MHz RAM (OCZ gold, can return)
-Already purchased 320GB hard drive with 16mb cache (can return)
-The rest of the computer's use will just be applications (Excel, Word, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) and usual browsing and playing various media.

Disclaimer, I know almost nothing about computers. Educate me and recommend products por favor. h: Thanks.

 

Define budget.

 

:doh: Forgot about that. $300 max. Preferably under $200 but would be willing to spend more if the advantages are worth it. :hs:

[edit] Guess I should say that I would like the video card to be the limiting factor when it comes to gaming and I'd like to allow myself enough upgradability to last me a few years (apparently MS only allows the OEM versions of Vista to be associated with one motherboard).

 

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpos...54&postcount=2

 

what type of RAM did you buy? DDR2 or DDR1?

I say get the ECS Mobo + E4500 Combo that Frys usually has on sale for 110 + 2GB OCZ DDR2 Ram ($40) + 8600GT or GTS Video card + CM eXtreme Power 500W and you're set.

If you have money later, just upgrade the mobo to Abit IP35 and you'd be balling.

 

get this case if you need one
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4991611

MSRP of $149, now $70, -$25 MIR = $45 shipped

 

get this RAM.
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/5439699

OCZ 4GB, $85 - $30 MIR. (SD.net)

 

damn, i might have to hook it up with some deals, been thinking about a media pc.

 

I just got my Mac MINI....Smallest and best HTPC.

 

Thanks, I'll look through it.
Got DDR2. This is what I got:
http://www.ocztechnology.com/product...2_dual_channel

Thanks, I've been checking Fry's ads for combo deals and was told about a Q6600 combo deal for $280ish. I think it's over now though. Would that have been good? As for video card and power supply, I think I'm just going to stick with the 7800 and my brother's old power. :hs:
Looks slick but I'm just going to continue using my Lanboy case that I picked up a couple Black Fridays ago. h:
Hmm... seriously considering. With RAM, what do timings of 5-4-4 or 4-5-5 stand for? And is one necessarily better than the other?