OT: I need a new motherboard.

[Fyron]

1) According to the Ars system guide, the 8800GT 256MB seems to be the closest Nvidia cost/performance competitor in that price range. The 8800GT 512MB would possibly be a better long-term investment, for about $80-100 more. The Geforce 9 series cards are coming out soon, so it might be best to hold off on a video card purchase until they are out. The 8 series cards should see price drops at that time. The integrated video on the motherboard you linked won't be ideal for playing newer games, but it will be fine for older games and SE.

2) Yes.

4) 500 watts is overkill for pretty much any PC that doesn't have a SLI video card config, so you will be fine.

As for RAM's type, one way to tell is to look up the spec sheet of your current motherboard (any given motherboard can generally only use one type of RAM, with occasional boards sporting some legacy slots of the previous generation). If you run the "msinfo32" application, you can see what your motherboard is under the first page (system summary). It will be called something like "System Model."

[Xrati]

Fyrons right about the video card. I have a 8800 Nvidia with 768MB, it rocks! Go with the overkill on the power supply. A lot of the artiicles I've read while I was putting my system together was that with all the power usage of cooling fans and DVD-CD Burners plus any other toys you may want to put on. It was mentioned over and over about having a good power supply to handle it all. I have an 800w power supply on mine.

[Fyron]

800W is overkill for non-SLI systems. With the recent trends towards sane power management in the CPU and other components, modern systems don't actually generate quite as much heat, and fans don't generally have to work as hard. 450-500W is more than most systems will ever need. The 350W one in the Ars budget box config is a bit skimpy, though. The manufacturer's reputation for build quality is the most important thing, rather than raw wattage.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

It uses DDR. So I'll be buying a motherboard, processor and ram shortly (Today).

I'll have it by friday.