Rashiki

I'll make a few suggestions.

First, on the RAM, most motherboards nowadays are dual channel, meaning they use two memory piplines to the CPU, helping to speed performance and ease the bottleneck caused by the comparatively slow system bus. Usually two sticks of identical ram are used, and most manufacturers produce 'kits' containing matched sticks. This is far faster and would benefit you in your gaming and 3D editing tasks.

On salvaging components, I would salvage the WD Hard drive, but only use it as storage. The hard drive you're looking at is faster than anything you have now, and wouldn't bring out the potential of your new components. The old seagate is up to you, it's even slower than your WD drive, as it works at 5,400 RPM. The 'standard' nowadays is 7,200 RPM or higher. The 4.3gb seagate i'd leave out. Also, if it works out to be in your budget, i'd consider getting a HDD with a 16mb cache. This will help in your 3D editing as well, as recent/frequently accessed data will be in the cache, instead of your computer having to get it back off the spindles, and cache is much faster.


For optical drives, you should be ok with the components you have, unless you plan on watching or using DVD's. The Lite-On and Magicspin are what i would put in out of the choices. The lite on will read, and the magicspin will write all your CDs. Having two drives makes it easy for CD to CD copy. If you're planning on using DVD's, NEC makes a nice all in in one unit for about 30 bucks. 'tis a little noisy, but it does everything but litescribe and blu-ray.

To answer your questions:

1: I have no idea what model/any specs on that board. Good motherboards are pretty cheap these days and for getting all the performance out of your machine, i'd suggest a new board. Make, model and features will depend on how much you want to spend and what you want to do. Most boards nowadays will be able to do what you want without much trouble, it'll be a question of how fast.

2: There is a max amount of RAM on any motherboard. It will vary with chipsets, but most board you can at least cram 8gb, with some as much as 32gb. There are other factors that go into it, but i wouldn't worry about maxing your RAM capacity anytime soon.

3: As for processors, it's a tight battle. Intel chips are usually better for day to day operations, whereas AMD are better for graphics. The intel Core 2 Duo chips are probably the best you can do right now, but that's a matter of opinion. If you're going to game more, go intel. If you're going to do your 3d modeling more, head to the AMD camp.

4: Basic requirements for a good case IMHO are nice rounded edges, a good thickness in the metal making up the case ( some are pretty thin and flimsy, bleh ) plenty of open bays for expansion, a bay for an intake fan at the bottom front of the case, and an exhaust port, ideally for a 120mm fan. The bigger the fan, the more air they move with less noise. Other than that, it's up to you.

*whew*

Your turn!!