Asking advice on Intel board to buy

Hey guys.

My experience is in AMD processors and I am not too familiar with the different types and nomenclature in the Intel universe. Please share some of your knowledge on the matter.

I bought a Dimensions 2400 series from Dell (with a good deal) for a friend of mine. She wants to game. I figured she can just buy a vid card to go with it and shed be able to install it and play away. She bought a GeForce 6200GT which is a PCI express card. It turns out that the Dell Dimensions only has 3 PCI slots, no AGPs, no PCI express. After talkting to her about what she wants to do in the future (possible overclocking), we decided it would be good if she just buys another board, a better one, with overclocking potential and a PCI express slot for her card.

Could you please advise me on what mobo to order for her (keeping the above ideas in mind - PCI express and overlocking potential)? She is willing to spend in the $100 dollar range. Here are the details of the Dell order:

Order Details
Dimension 2400 Series, Intel Pentium 4 Processor at 2.80GHz
512MB DDR SDRAM at 333MHz
Dell Quiet Key Keyboard
Dell 2-button Scroll Mouse
15 in E153FPb Flat Panel Display
Integrated Intel 3D AGP Graphics
40GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200RPM)
No Floppy Drive Requested
Dell Application Back-up CD, Factory Install
Generic Dimension Dell Support
Image Restore
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition,Service Pack 2,English
Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
Mouse included with Keyboard purchase
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0
48X CDROM and 48X CDRW
Integrated ADI 1885 Audio
No Speaker Requested
SYMANTEC NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 2004,90 DAY TRIAL, OEM
Dell Jukebox powered by Music Match
Dell Photo Album Standard
AOL DHS
Dell/My Way Home Page
Broadband Icon for Inspiron
NETZERO ISP
Money 2004 Standard Version for Dimension
Word Perfect Productivity Pack
No Warranty After 90 Days
Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 90 Days
Soft Contracts - Banctec
Technical Support, Initial Year
Dell Media Experience

Thank you much,
cb

Well... all the PCI-E mobos I know about are also socket LGA775 which means you'll need a CPU upgrade too (see my green system listed in my signature). The other thing to watch out with Dell is that sometimes they have a non-standard power supply. You'll probably need a better PS anyway. If that's a single stick of RAM, she'll need a second stick to match for dual channel. Might as well get faster RAM if you need to buy more. It's almost looking like she should sell that system and just build another from scratch.

I would suggest returning the video card and getting an AGP slot type card, as PCI express comes on LGA socket boards and that would require a new processor. A good Intel chipset for overclocking is the 875 series boards. Asus P4C800 boards are great for OCing. Find out what core her processor is Northwood or Prescott. DL CPU-Z from here and run it to determine her processors core type. Prescotts run much hotter and require a beefier power supply. I would suggest nothing less than a 400w name brand PS such as Antec or by OCZ. Some generic 350w PS is not gonna cut it. Get a couple of case fans for cooling, preferbly Vantec or Panaflo fans, as too much heat can destroy a CPU. Post back with the core type.

Good luck,
Bo

It has been my experience with Dell that some of their MOBOS and PSU's are proprietary. Meaning just any MOBO may not fit.

But if you want PCI-EXPRESS you pretty much will have to start over regardless.

Most of those boards not only have the new LGA slot type, but also use the DDR2 ram. So you would have to upgrade the PSU, Ram, and CPU.

You might get a Dimension 4700 motherboard that will fit the Dell case. That particular Dell case will accept a standard ATX powersupply. If you want to go with an AGP motherboard the 4600 motherboard should fit. I don't think you will find an aftermarket board that will fit a Dell case. Cost wise, you probably would come out ahead by buying an aftermarket motherboard and case.

There are Geforce 5700le PCI cards.... Not the best, but it would play some games.