What do I have to check, to know that I buy a right kind of motherboard? My previous board was Socket A and even though that is old and crappy, at this time I don´t want to update everything, I just need a motherboard to get the computer working again, and then buy a totally new computer within a years time. So the socket needs to match? What else do I have to know?
It also depends on all the other components you want to install. Your motherboard FSB speed must match your cpu's FSB speed. You must have the correct ram socket (DDR or DDR2) and it must be able to run the ram at its full speed eg. 533Mhz. You must get a mobo which will support your hard drive (ide, sata 1 or sata 2). You may want a mobo which a built-in sound card and ethernet card adapter. Make sure your psu can support it (20 or 24 pin). Make sure you get the right form factor for your case ,atx or micro-atx (may be referred to as uatx). You need to make sure it has all the internal connectors you need eg. agp slot or a pci-e slot (8x or 16x).
your best bet is to just get a whole new set up, minus the stuff you know will work like the monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drives and CD/DVD drives. Trying to get a new motherboard that will both conform to all your current things, and be upgradable to betther things in the future so you can update rather than building another PC will not be easy at all. I would just stick with what you have and start buying the new system piece by piece until you get everything you need. That way you do not have to put out all the money at one time. Then you can build the new one when you have all the parts. And make sure you know EXACTLY what you want to do with the new PC so people can suggest the right parts. Like a good gaming PC is going to cost around $1000 in most cases. A media PC you can probably downgrade a few parts and go around $700-$800. And a basic PC just for internet and email stuff, along with basic programs will run you under $700.
