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After four years, I figure my computer, though still respectable, needs a replacement. Also because I made a few poor hardware choices on this one. And because I can without damaging much, financially.

Most important question - the motherboard. I am clueless about mobos, which is lame, I know, but I can't pick one to save my life. Rather than ask for names, I figure I'll ask more generally for criterion - what's a good motherboard, what are it's 'specs' so to speak?

Assume that I'm probably looking at a Dual-Core CPU(bandwagon, LOL!), but I'm not fussy about what company. Since I anticipate needing a lot of HD space, a lot of drive slots would be nice.

Graphics - I'd like a reasonably sane price on this score, but I'd rather not be underpowered for 2007 either.

Monitor - Currently, I use a pretty bulky CRT. The size, weight, constant angle adjustment and picture getting out of sync are begining to annoy. What's the trade-off in switching to an LCD? I know low resolution's an issue, but how big an issue? Further, what else is problematic in them?

RAM - Again, companies are nice, but I'd like to know more about the hardware itself. Last time I was following hardware, RAMBUS was on it's way down. Yeah, pretty dated. What should I look for, avoid, etc?

Ah, yes - the CASE. Are there any good cases out there that don't require 30 different screws to get open, yet CAN stay closed?

I anticipate using this new beast for: coding(Visual Studio 2005, mainly, that may change) video work and the occasional game(not a lot, but I like to be ready for 2007 in that respect. And run Total War stuff..... ).

Umm, yeah. Any help is welcome, and I realize this is a lot of questions. Answers will be rewarded with much thanks. And cookies. Maybe.

Faqa wrote:After four years, I figure my computer, though still respectable, needs a replacement. Also because I made a few poor hardware choices on this one. And because I can without damaging much, financially.

Most important question - the motherboard. I am clueless about mobos, which is lame, I know, but I can't pick one to save my life. Rather than ask for names, I figure I'll ask more generally for criterion - what's a good motherboard, what are it's 'specs' so to speak?

Nowdays you want a motherboard with a PCI-E 16x slot, 4 slots of DDR2, etc. I assume you want to keep your old hard drives so you want atleast one IDE slot(I think this rules out the 965 chipset).
Also, socket 775, Intel Core 2 Duo compliant.

Assume that I'm probably looking at a Dual-Core CPU(bandwagon, LOL!),

Core 2 Duo. repeat that. Theres the E6300 at 1000NIS in KSP.

but I'm not fussy about what company. Since I anticipate needing a lot of HD space, a lot of drive slots would be nice.

Not a problem nowdays.

Graphics - I'd like a reasonably sane price on this score, but I'd rather not be underpowered for 2007 either.

Midrange, hmn, prices are all over so I'd currently wait abit. Or try and find a sale, but not sure how likely that is here in the mid east.

RAM - Again, companies are nice, but I'd like to know more about the hardware itself. Last time I was following hardware, RAMBUS was on it's way down. Yeah, pretty dated. What should I look for, avoid, etc?

DDR2 RAM isn't that fast, don't go paying for DDR2-1000,it's practically worthless.

Ah, yes - the CASE. Are there any good cases out there that don't require 30 different screws to get open, yet CAN stay closed?

Quite a few good cases now out there, just avoid buying one with a PSU included, those are usually shitpiles.

As far as memory/ram is concerned, Corsair is one of the better brands on the market imo. It has a generally higher clock speed, and with a lower latency than most ram you'll be getting a nice bang for your buck in terms of performance.

SH/SC has a pretty decent parts guide, as well as a really good Power Supply Guide.

What's your total budget?

Core 2 Duo definitely. P965 chipset boards typically have 1 IDE channel. You'll end up with a bit of contention between a HDD and a CD drive, if you stick both on that channel. However, most drives are made in SATA nowdays, and you'll be able to connect more in than you have drive bays. You'll be buying DDR2, speed depending on whether you'll be OCing or not. C2Ds overclock fairly well (mine is at 3.0 GHz at less than stock voltage). I recommend the Antec Solo case. Few things to manipulate to open (and largely toolless at that).