Maximum PC

hi all!!!! i have some questions for you all. i have a hp m8226x and the motherboard took a dump on me. the computer was all stock except for me adding a 1tb hard drive last year. is the computer worth saving or should i just rebuild or build a new one? the only gaming i really do is the total annihilation series, counter strike, half life, age of empires, unreal tournament and supreme commander. id like to stick with amd. here are the specs for my computer except for the hard drive thats a 1tb. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc [...] =c01217546

I would say yes, one more PC that is not in a landfill - you can still get the am2 / ddr2 boards like this one ASRock A785GM-LE AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX $54+$7shipping the only downside the original MCP61PM-HM (Nettle2) motherboard has 4 dimms and most likely 3gb in 2x1g and 2x512m config so with 2 dimms on the replacement you are only left with 2gb total (hard to find 4dimm boards in ddr2 nowadays, would be ideal replacement). Another downside, the Vista OEM license may not be transferable to the new motherboard BUT I have heard of people calling MS for reactivation after explaining the system board failure and all is well.

If not, then:
- win7 home is a welcome upgrade
- win home server will work well, the 1tb drive will make for good backups of all other windows desktop/laptops you happen to have
- linux should work no problem on that hardware
- make a decent HTPC (since it has DVI output) with whatever OS and XBMC running


hope this gives you some ideas, cheers

well right now im debating on the AMD Phenom II X4 955 or the 965 be. the mother board i plan on getting is the ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS