Robin Hoods Playground

So I have an HP a250n desktop, its about 5 years old or so. It takes a microATX board so I've been looking around and its going to be kinda hard to find a decent one. The thing is, I have 2 dvd drives and 3 hard drives, 2 of which are IDE. The problem I ran into was that most all the boards that you can buy only have one IDE connection. So I'm trying to figure out what to do. Should I just buy a microATX board and eventually get some IDE to Sata connectors, or should I just suck it up and get a new case and an ATX board that way I know everything will fit. I will also be getting a 9800 GTX, which might be too long for a microATX motherboard and the case. I probably answered my own dilemma, but sometimes it just takes typing it out and seeing what others say.

Brandon

Well if you're getting a large video card, definitely get the larger case. That way you always have the ability to upgrade easily. Better airflow for all your components as well..

What about an IDE to sata converter? If your MOBO only has 1 IDE slot, convert 1 of your IDE drives to sata, then make sure your board had 4 sata ports?

i have an old hp. it has an ide adapter cord that has several connections on it. they are every 5 or so inches. im not sure what it is called but i bet they sell this same cord on ebay,

Well I decided to go big or go home. Here will be the specs:

Antec Three Hundred case
Pioneer 111D DVD DL burner
TS-H352 Kreon Drive
500GB Sata Seagate Hard drive
XFX 750i SLi Extreme motherboard
Intel Q6600 Quad Core Processor
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
PNY 9800GTX video card

I will also be installing Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Update for today.

Got the motherboard in today at 2:00pm EST. Unboxed and looked around it already. Here are some pictures.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^VIA Chipset


^^^^^Q6600^^^^^I am planning on water cooling and I had this block for over a year and it fits perfectly
without needing spacers.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


^^^^^^^^This I/O board is pretty incredible. Has a CMOS Reset button on it, 6 USB ports with and adapter for 6 more with my case, Sub output, Debug LED (the clock-like counter), optical output, esata port, 5.1 output, and 1000mbps ethernet port.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am going to my friend's house to install this. I already put the hard drive in and the DVD drive yesterday. I have a 7600GS from my old computer that I am going to use to get everything installed and running until my 9800GTX comes tomorrow.

If you have any questions, ASK!

What did your processor run you?

Im looking at buying a new processor, I want an AMD Phenom II X4, but I think my board is only AM2.

Im debating if I should just buy an AM2+ board, or a 3... (I assume you can use a 2+ on a am3 board?)

They are selling for like $150 new on ebay. I got mine from Intel through a program at work (Best Buy) so I got a deal on the processor, and Intel board(sold), and Vista Home Premium(sold).

Ive decided to stick to AMD as I dont need the most extreme gaming computer on the planet, nor do I want to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a board and a processor (when my current computer performs QUITE well)

Anyways, im hoping in the next couple months a bunch of AM3 boards are released. I think I am going to end up watercooling, usually my cases end up being a huge mess of cables.

I was looking at the silverstone raven case, it looks amazing, and almost clutter proof