OT: I need a new motherboard.

[Xrati]

Narf, think of the cable as a sort of splitter. You had to desiginate "master" and "slave" drives when using those cables. So one end went into the mobo and the other two went into the drives.

Old mobos had two types. The standard or desktop had one IDE floppy and one IDE controller and the "tower" had an enhanced IDE (not sure about the name) which gave you a floppy and two HD IDE connectors. With the standard you could hook up one floppy and one HD or two using the splitter.
The enhanced wouls allow you a floppy and up to 4 HD's.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Just for clarification: I know how the cable works. It's just that the way SJ wrote his answer, it sounded like he was saying the cable only had one plug-in.

It didn't help that I mistakenly put 'connector' when I meant 'cable', nor did it help that I'm unfamiliar with motherboard statistics terminology.

The other information, however, is new to me.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Thanks for all the great answers. I think I'm about ready to buy.

A few questions, though: I have a 6600GT AGP card, which means I'd have to replace it. The system guide recommends the 'Sapphire Radeon HD 3850' - Is this a good replacement?

Second, what's the difference between the various PCI slots?

Third, what's a good place to buy these from in Canada? Rough math says this'll cost $410+ (Motherboard, processor, graphics card, case), so I want to keep that down.

Fourth, how would I tell if my old power supply would be enough for the new stuff?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Hmm...May not need a new case. The 'form factor' looks to be the same.