[Dalton Greynolds]

Originally by Powerslide
LET'S MAKE THIS WORK PEOPLE!

Okay, now as anyone could see there are HUNDREDS of tech threads floating around in CD - ranging from questions about graphics hardware, to questions about pricier graphics hardware and other tech such as monitors, hard drives and Processors to announcement threads of new technology and more. (I accede - I'm not being very eloquent here)

Any questions you have, tech news or ANYTHING related to buying/selling/information/announcements of new hardware should go here.

For example, if you come to the forums to ask "What is the better graphics hardware" or "What sort of RAM should I put in my PC?" then it should go here - I'm a little hazy, I know - but please keep all those graphics card and tech questions to one thread! Please!
So here's the summary, all:

• Announcements and queries on new or unreleased tech
  
• Benchmarks and results of hardware/discussion
  
• Questions on what sort of hardware you need/want for your machine
  
• Questions about existing tech and/or function
  
• Pricing and recommendations

Should be kept to THIS THREAD.

This has been A-okayed by CCNA for all who were wondering - it's up to you to stop filling CD with the same topics again and again that ask what the most powerful card in existence is so you can (not) buy it.

If you feel you have a question or can answer one - please feel free to do so.


Thanks all.
Adding more links shortly, thank you for your patience.

(Threads 1-85 have been all pruned, may they rest in peace)

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1079401-the-community-tech-thread-%2386/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1084024-the-community-tech-thread-no-87/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1090141-the-community-tech-thread-no-88/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094900-the-community-tech-thread-no-89/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102258-the-community-tech-thread-no-90/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1108118-the-community-tech-thread-no-91/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112884-the-community-tech-thread-no-92/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1118559-the-community-tech-thread-no-93/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1145193-the-community-tech-thread-no-94/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1153130-the-community-tech-thread-no-95/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1160717-the-community-tech-thread-no-96/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1167952-the-community-tech-thread-no-97/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1176772-the-community-tech-thread-no-98/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1180239-the-community-tech-thread-no-99/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1188969-the-community-tech-thread-no-100/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1199194-the-community-tech-thread-no-101/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1207079-the-community-tech-thread-no-102/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1217232-the-community-tech-thread-no-103/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1224422-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1227492-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1228926-the-community-tech-thread-no-106/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1233177-the-community-tech-thread-no-107/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1241366-the-community-tech-thread-no-108/

Do I also have to put a big glowing neon sign to this in my signature? THERE ARE TOO MANY TECH THREADS - THIS IS NOT A FORUM FOR YOUR TECH WOES!

But we will gladly help you anyway.

Honour list:
Nottheking
Lord Athanar (SUPER-PINK!)
Insaneturbo13
Anothercanadian
Tig Ol' Bitties (Moderator)
Dogsbody
CCNA (Moderator)
Níeh?ggr
wolfpup
Wierd
Softnerd
wingus
DEFRON
Qwaxalot
iGuess
Starforce9


Oh and PLEASE, if you want us to "Build" you a PC, please indicate the following:
1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.
5.) product preferences, preferred seller, and intended aim

but please, no "I want teh superererest Peecee evar1!!!!11!1", because really, only Bill Gates has that much moolah.


And, speaking of building your own PC, two sets of good how-to videos from Newegg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok&feature=related

Thanks to SpankyTheElf for finding these additional ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CStOC0hET8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3buj5cIh2Bs&feature=related



Other useful links

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/983941-a-freeware-guide/page__p__14225246__fromsearch__1#entry14225246
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2
http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/502403-graphics-card-ranking-5th-time-last.html
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/articles.php?articleid=132
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/
http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm
http://www.irfanview.com/
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/183810-faq-recommended-power-supplies.html
http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/715889-psu-articles.html#post9110838
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
http://tftcentral.co.uk/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/
http://www.fraps.com/
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12

[Emilie M]

Thanks a lot. It's for christmas(christmas and my birthday money in my case) my dad said I can gave up to ￡900. Would the Window optimised option be better or the flight simulator? This is the first time I have seen such an option(WFS option) and not quite sure what it is.http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=17827

[Jeneene Hunte]

EDIT: After some scrabbling around/begging to people I know I managed to get hold of another known working PSU. It did the exact same thing....

So, I removed the RAM (It only has one 2GB SODIMM stick in it) and it powered on properly. I re-seated the RAM into the other slot and it also booted fine. Dodgy motherboard DIMM slot? Obviously haven't tested the system very much yet, who knows how stable it will be...?

Gah, now it's booting up but not displaying anything on the monitor I hooked up to it. It's not picking up the signal. I'm just connecting using my normal VGA cable.

Anyone have any ideas about the above? There's no POST either - or if there is there aren't any beeps.

[Maddy Paul]

Hi everyone, I'm looking into buying a new monitor for gaming, and have no idea what to get, or even what to look for.. I'd like to spend no more than $250, and would like a 23 or 24 inch. One final thing is I don't want an IPS monitor, I had a Dell Ultrasharp for a bit, but returned it because of the slow response time. Thanks in advanced.



Edit: Forgot to say this, but I'm in Canada, so newegg.ca, amazon.ca, ncix.com would be preferred sites.
Edit edit: I found a few, would any of these be good? http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-VH238H-23-Inch-LED-Monitor/dp/B004J6BIJ8 http://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-ML238H-23-Inch-Ultra-Slim-Monitor/dp/B003XU73KY/ref=pd_cp_ce_3

[Kay O'Hara]

Anyone have any ideas about the above? There's no POST either - or if there is there aren't any beeps.

Nevermind, sorted it.


Thanks anyway.

[Terry]

Anyone know how to get rid of the tunnel adapters that show up on Windows 7 when you run ipconfig? I disabled all the 6to4 adapters and the tunnels in device manager and disabled IPv6 for all network interfaces but still have one showing up, its a bit annoying to see.

[zoe]

I have a quick question about Event viewer:

Say I want to log all account login/logoff events (That's easy) but then I want to export these logon events on a daily basis and have them in a semi-easily readable format, can I automate this?

Ideally I'd like to have the contents of the log E-mailed to myself every day at a certain time - is this possible?


Cheers

[Alessandra Botham]

Hey guys. My old Microsoft wireless mouse broke, the scroll button doesn't work, and I'm looking for a new one.

I want wireless because I sit in a recliner/recline and the cord is too much of a hassle. I've never noticed any lag with my Microsoft mouse either, so that's not a concern.

Things I'm looking for in this mouse:
Laser, wireless, more then three buttons, reprogrammable. My budget is 75$, but cheaper is fine. Also, I may want a new keyboard, so any reasonable combos are fine, but not north of 100$. Thanks!

[Scotties Hottie]

Alright guys, these damn BSOD's hit 1-2 times a day now, and I still haven't found the source of it. I ran memtest like this forum said to do, I let it sit for 12 hours, 7 passes, with no errors, yet they keep coming. I am totally confused, heres an image of the BSOD;


http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/295711_509638464872_160100387_30195635_2051105289_n.jpg



Help, please? I want these gone before Skyrim comes out =(, any help is much appreciated.

[Benito Martinez]

Sorry to here nikkone. I'm sure thiswas asked, did you do any overclocking? If so revert to vanilla settings and see if it still crashes. Go to all your hardware manufacturers websites and download pages drivers and bios too. I had the same issue btw, after downloading a firmware update for my gtx570 sc fixed the problem. Good luck!

[Flesh Tunnel]

It was an evga card too btw, just in case you have one. Sorry for double post and not editing!

[Rachyroo]

Alright guys, these damn BSOD's hit 1-2 times a day now, and I still haven't found the source of it. I ran memtest like this forum said to do, I let it sit for 12 hours, 7 passes, with no errors, yet they keep coming. I am totally confused, heres an image of the BSOD;


http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/295711_509638464872_160100387_30195635_2051105289_n.jpg



Help, please? I want these gone before Skyrim comes out =(, any help is much appreciated.

If its not the memory itself, then its a device driver causing the issue. 0x0000007E is a SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED; The first argument 0xFFFFFFFFC0000005 is a STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION.

Resolving the Problem

If you are not equipped to debug this problem, you should use some basic troubleshooting techniques.

Make sure you have enough disk space.
If a driver is identified in the bug check message, disable the driver or check with the
manufacturer for driver updates.
Try changing video adapters.
Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates.
Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.

Personally, I would check your graphics device driver (IE. ATI or nVidia driver).

[Robert]

If its not the memory itself, then its a device driver causing the issue. 0x0000007E is a SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED; The first argument 0xFFFFFFFFC0000005 is a STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION.



Personally, I would check your graphics device driver (IE. ATI or nVidia driver).

Interesting, well I'm actually ordering a new card, if I install that one with its drivers, would that in theory correct this?

[Verity Hurding]

Interesting, well I'm actually ordering a new card, if I install that one with its drivers, would that in theory correct this?

It might, STOP Error are very vague unless it told you the exact process that caused the error.

[Robyn Lena]

It might, STOP Error are very vague unless it told you the exact process that caused the error.

Ok, so say after install the card, I still get the BSODs, what would be the best course of action from there?

[NEGRO]

Hey guys. I'm wanting to get a headset that has a mic, for my PC. problem is, I don't like the kind that sit on the top of your head (most headsets) and I have glasses. I was looking at some http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104213, though I'm not sure if that would work with my glasses. Preferably under $20, thought that can stretch a bit.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[SWagg KId]

Hey all, I have some questions on upgrading GPU.

First off, I definitely want to upgrade my GPU as I currently have an Nvidia GTS 450.

Everything else on my PC should be good to go, as I have a Phenom II X4 920 2.8 ghz processor (quad), 8190 MB of RAM, and plenty of HD space.

Anyway, I can't decide whether to get the following cards: HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5, MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5.

My understanding is the HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon HD 6950 2gb would be slightly better than the MSI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1gb. However, the 560 Ti is slightly less pricey. Also, I've always got Nvidia chips, so I'm worried about the HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon HD 6950 2 gb, because it's an AMD Radeon. *edit* I'd also like to add that the 560 Ti (MSI Twin Frozr II) has two fans and optimum cooling, and since my case doesn't have THE BEST (it's still decent) cooling, maybe that would be better? Not sure.

The links to the fore-mentioned chips are here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372

Are these cards any good? I'm assuming with either and my other components I'd be able to max if not have very high settings for Skyrim, but I'm also looking at these cards for future games as well. I'd need to get a new PSU to support these cards, but I'm more worried about which GPU to get currently.

Thanks in advance.

[Niisha]

I would appricate some feedback on this system.

Case: Cooler Master HAF X
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
DVD-rw: Samsung SH-S222AB
GFX card: Asus GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DirectCU II
HDD: Intel SSD 510 120GB
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme7 GEN 3
Powersupply: Silverstone Strider 1000W Silent 80+
RAM: Corsair 16GB (4x4096MB) CL9 1600Mhz VENGEANCE
Soundcard: Asus Xonar Essence STX

1.) your budget in your country's currency

About 17500 SEK (swedish krona)

2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area

Sweden

3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?

I can get someone to build it for me and I definetly don't want a pre-assembled one.

4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.

I only need the PC tower.

5.) product preferences, preferred seller, and intended aim

Not really sure what I should write here other then what I intend to use it for or hope to do with it.
* Music production (which is why the Asus Xonar Essence STX is in the build instead of a soundcard designed for gaming)
* Run most games via a ramdisk application so I want really fast ram and lots of it .
* Overclock CPU to about 4GHz.
* An overall silent computer.
* Run skyrim with"ultra" high graphics (this isn't a high priority though, aslong as I can run it and it looks good).
* I don't need any additional storage other then the SSD right now but I will put in 1-2 7200rpm disks later on.

I do have a few questions that I'm hoping someone can anwser for me:
1. Do I need more fans in there since I plan on overclocking the CPU or should I get watercolling instead? Or perhaps you could recomend a different case alltogether? I don't really care how it looks alsong as it's functional and keeps the PC temperature down.

2. Is there a good MotherBoard that works with Intel Core i7 2600K and has 6 or more RAM slots?

3. Is the GTX580 worth the extra money over the GTX 570 (in your oppinion)?

Thanks for your time and sorry for the essay, wanted to give as much info as possible .

[Ana]

For Christmas I'm thinking about upgrading my CPU, but in order to do that I'd need a better motherboard, and in order to get that I'd need a new case.... so if I wanted to, could I get a new case, motherboard, and CPU compatible with all my other parts? Thanks.

[Racheal Robertson]

For Christmas I'm thinking about upgrading my CPU, but in order to do that I'd need a better motherboard, and in order to get that I'd need a new case.... so if I wanted to, could I get a new case, motherboard, and CPU compatible with all my other parts? Thanks.

What are your other parts? It should be possible, but there are a few caveats.

[Daniel Lozano]

I have a choice between a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150 and a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&Tpk. Which should I get? My CPU is a 2500K. My mobo is a GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD4.

Edit: Actually, I may be able to buy a heatsink off Newegg. Besides the two I mentioned above, is there any other good coolers? Budget is roughly $60.

[Laura Richards]

Hey guys. I'm wanting to get a headset that has a mic, for my PC. problem is, I don't like the kind that sit on the top of your head (most headsets) and I have glasses. I was looking at some http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104213, though I'm not sure if that would work with my glasses. Preferably under $20, thought that can stretch a bit.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

For under $20 and the non over-the-head requirement, you're looking at Logitech and Plantronics type headsets.

Hey all, I have some questions on upgrading GPU.

First off, I definitely want to upgrade my GPU as I currently have an Nvidia GTS 450.

Everything else on my PC should be good to go, as I have a Phenom II X4 920 2.8 ghz processor (quad), 8190 MB of RAM, and plenty of HD space.

Anyway, I can't decide whether to get the following cards: HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5, MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5.

My understanding is the HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon HD 6950 2gb would be slightly better than the MSI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1gb. However, the 560 Ti is slightly less pricey. Also, I've always got Nvidia chips, so I'm worried about the HIS IceQ X Turbo Radeon HD 6950 2 gb, because it's an AMD Radeon. *edit* I'd also like to add that the 560 Ti (MSI Twin Frozr II) has two fans and optimum cooling, and since my case doesn't have THE BEST (it's still decent) cooling, maybe that would be better? Not sure.

The links to the fore-mentioned chips are here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372

Are these cards any good? I'm assuming with either and my other components I'd be able to max if not have very high settings for Skyrim, but I'm also looking at these cards for future games as well. I'd need to get a new PSU to support these cards, but I'm more worried about which GPU to get currently.

Thanks in advance.

They both trade blows with one another. You wouldn't really go wrong with either one

I would appricate some feedback on this system.

Case: Cooler Master HAF X
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
DVD-rw: Samsung SH-S222AB
GFX card: Asus GeForce GTX 570 1280MB DirectCU II
HDD: Intel SSD 510 120GB
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme7 GEN 3
Powersupply: Silverstone Strider 1000W Silent 80+
RAM: Corsair 16GB (4x4096MB) CL9 1600Mhz VENGEANCE
Soundcard: Asus Xonar Essence STX



About 17500 SEK (swedish krona)

Sweden

I can get someone to build it for me and I definetly don't want a pre-assembled one.

I only need the PC tower.

Not really sure what I should write here other then what I intend to use it for or hope to do with it.
* Music production (which is why the Asus Xonar Essence STX is in the build instead of a soundcard designed for gaming)
* Run most games via a ramdisk application so I want really fast ram and lots of it .
* Overclock CPU to about 4GHz.
* An overall silent computer.
* Run skyrim with"ultra" high graphics (this isn't a high priority though, aslong as I can run it and it looks good).
* I don't need any additional storage other then the SSD right now but I will put in 1-2 7200rpm disks later on.

I do have a few questions that I'm hoping someone can answer for me:
1. Do I need more fans in there since I plan on overclocking the CPU or should I get watercolling instead? Or perhaps you could recomend a different case alltogether? I don't really care how it looks alsong as it's functional and keeps the PC temperature down.

2. Is there a good MotherBoard that works with Intel Core i7 2600K and has 6 or more RAM slots?

3. Is the GTX580 worth the extra money over the GTX 570 (in your oppinion)?

Thanks for your time and sorry for the essay, wanted to give as much info as possible .

System looks plenty powerful and for your music production and other intentions, could probably make use of a 2600K and its extra threads. However, you don't need a 1000W PSU for that system. If you're planning SLI, a quality 750-850W PSU would be plenty already.

1. If you're only OCing to 4.0GHz, that can be done on the stock fan. Don't really need that Noctua unless you were planning 5.0GHz or something. To keep things cool, can go with something cheaper like the CM Hyper 212+.

2. Not that I'm aware of

3. The GTX 580 is the fastest single GPU right now. Only you can answer for yourself if it's really worth it:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/306?vs=305

For Christmas I'm thinking about upgrading my CPU, but in order to do that I'd need a better motherboard, and in order to get that I'd need a new case.... so if I wanted to, could I get a new case, motherboard, and CPU compatible with all my other parts? Thanks.

Would be nice to know what the other components are....

I have a choice between a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150 and a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&Tpk. Which should I get? My CPU is a 2500K. My mobo is a GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD4.

Edit: Actually, I may be able to buy a heatsink off Newegg. Besides the two I mentioned above, is there any other good coolers? Budget is roughly $60.

Why not one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Cooling-Hydro--High-Performance-CWCH60/dp/B004MYFOE2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320147611&sr=8-1

[ILy- Forver]

Two things this time

Whenever I boot up, I get an error message saying there is a CPU fan error. However, the CPU cooler is plugged into the proper power source that clearly sayd CPU FAN, and it is spinning correctly. I can't tell if it is speading up or slowing down correctly with the heat, but it's clearly spinning and is keeping my CPU around 30c

Another question Right now I am running off of a 550w PSU by BFG. Now that the Black November sales are rolling around, I'm looking to upgrade my GPU (A 4770). I supposed I will be needing to upgrade my PSU as well? I'm guessing around 750w should be good? I don't know what I'll be upgrading too yet since it depends on the sales, but I think it will be somewhere around the Nvidia 500 series and the ATI 6800 series, maybe the 6900 series if there is a great sale. Any of these would put my 4770 to shame right?

[:)Colleenn]

What are your other parts? It should be possible, but there are a few caveats.

Would be nice to know what the other components are....

Alright I used PC Wizard to find out most of the other components, is that fine or do I need to find all the pages for them on newegg?

<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : Dell 0X8582
> Chipset : Intel 945P
> Processor : Intel Pentium XE 830 @ 3000MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096MB (4 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3500320AS (500GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24LS70
> Monitor Type : NS-32L430A11 - 32 inches
> Network Card : Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) I/O Controller Hub LAN
> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3 (32-bit)

[jess hughes]

Alright I used PC Wizard to find out most of the other components, is that fine or do I need to find all the pages for them on newegg?

<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : Dell 0X8582
> Chipset : Intel 945P
> Processor : Intel Pentium XE 830 @ 3000MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096MB (4 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3500320AS (500GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24LS70
> Monitor Type : NS-32L430A11 - 32 inches
> Network Card : Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) I/O Controller Hub LAN
> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3 (32-bit)

Well, you have DDR2 RAM so you'll have to get new RAM for your new Mobo, since it'll only support DDR3 (unless you buy a quite antiquated one)

If your computer is also a Dell still using the stock OS, your current OS of Windows XP won't activate on the new mobo as the copies of Windows used by OEMs are volume licensed and tied to the BIOS. So you'll need a new copy of Windows if you buy a new mobo