Need MB/CPU Advice - video upgrade went bad

[LeeJend]

My new EVGA 8800 GT will not work in my ECS K8t890-A PCI-e 1.0 MB! I just got off the phone with EVGA (who have the best tech support I've ever encountered!!!!!!!!). Some of the older PCI-e 1 MB's are not compatible with the latest generation PCI-e 2 cards.

EVGA does offer a firmware flash to make the 8800 GT a PCI-e 1 card. I graciously declined shooting my new card in the foot. Some MB makers may have bios upgrades to support the PCIe- 2 video cards, ECS does not.

Since I already upgraded the PSU to support the new card thinking the 400W PSU was the problem, I've bit the bullet and am going with a full system upgrade.

Seeking ideas on the new MB/CPU.
-I can get an AMD X2 4600 w/MB for $100 locally. I know this is stupid, but I am cheap and need to be talked out of it. This would be a 1 year stop gap to reduce additional investment at this time.

-Core 2 Duo 6750 look$ good.

-What MB? So many to choose from and somebody has complaints about all of them including ASUS (quirky memory compatibility).
--What chipset? I've lost track with all the new ones
--FSB 1033, 1333?

-RAM looks easy enough, DDR2 800 mHz, 2 GB for $50, 4 GB for $75 Corsair or OCZ.

Current system is an AMD 64 2500, X800XL, 2GB 800 Mhz DDR, POS ECS MB.

Money is not that much of a concern. I shorted the tech stocks just after Christmas and they politely dropped by 18% over the last 3 weeks (especially Intel today , which is why I can be pried off the ATI fanboy wagon). But remember I am inherently cheap so I want to stay under $200-250 for CPU/MB/RAM! ( I have $350 into the PSU and video already.)

 

[zapoqx]

heh. Well... I was just thinking... Because of that AMD CPU article, shouldn't the CPU's be getting cheaper since this is the last quarter of selling a majority of the CPU's available? I mean, just a thought.

Chipset... well... that is a dependent one... just because I would easily love to see development on the ATI CrossfireX under spider platform, that nVidia Hybrid might also have a chance of pulling out if they succeed over the CrossfireX video cards.

Everything else... I say wait for the more pro-like people as my MB is nice just the way it is.

 

[chastity]

Well I would think your issue would be what boards/chipsets support PCI-e 2 cards like your video card.

Me I would go Intel at the middle of the road price range, along with the motherboard that would work the cpu and your psu.

 

[LeeJend]

Lacking anyone calling me an idiot I went ahead and bought the ECS MB w/X2 4800 and 2 gig PQI RAM, I can add more latter.

Works fine with the 8800 GT and ECS seems to be putting a little more quality into their MB manufacturing. Now all I have to do is put the everything in the case and try and do a MB change without reformatting. This will be an interesting weekend...

Thanks for the comments.