rofl repair shop...how unbelievably stupid am I?

Anyways, nice knowing ya. My life is over.

I would think about building a new computer.

There are many people here that will offer advise etc.

Here is one of my favorite pages and I have thousands of links on specific items.

http://www.pcguide.com/topic.html

If you like your case then the first step is a new motherboard.

Then so on and so forth. You have the RAM and Graphics Card and PSU.

Maybe you need a new CPU. If you are upgrading you might as well consider it.

Your hard drive appears fine as well. You can always extract that data on a new or on another computer.

Anyway sorry for your loss but it is a chance to move forward.

In that case I would need to find a motherboard and processor that support everything else in my system, preferably a good motherboard that won't let out on me and a processor faster than my current 2.6ghz, perhaps HT. But my system:

Retail Plus 465W PSU
Western Media 80GB HD
Nvidia GeForce 6600GT 128MB DDR3 AGP 8x
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-Bit
2x 512MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM

And of course, the motherboard needs to fit my current case as well. Is there a universal case size that motherboards are measured by?

All I can find on TigerDirect.ca are Mobo+CPU combos that either have integrated sound or graphics or only 2 RAM slots. Plus I can't find any that have a powerful AGP slot.

Basically, I need a very good motherboard+processor at a VERY low price (CDN $), it can't have integrated sound or graphics (they only cause problems) and be almost the same motherboard as I have currently so I can just reconnect my computer and continue working.

TigerDirect.ca is my only option at the moment because I don't have access to other stores and cannot purchase online. No credit card

I'm still shocked over the fact that my beautiful computer is done for. I can't believe it...

This may look good:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...8843&CatId=191

It's really expensive though...

And this processor fan:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6092&CatId=795


Or perhaps this motherboard, but I don't think it's the correct size for my case:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...028&CatId=1234

First off the Form Factor:

http://www.formfactors.org/formfactor.asp

Both those boards look like standard ATX to me.

Standard ATX will fit Mid & Full Tower cases. The Mini ATX is generally for desktop (flat) models.

Most new boards will have on-board Audio but it can be disabled. Most new boards will Not have any on-board Graphics.

I am not sure what you mean by: a powerful AGP slot. Both of those boards have the latest AGP technology that I know of.

The Processor is probably the most drastic difference in those two boards.

The ASUS has a 3.40GHz processor with HyperThreading

The Mach Speed a 2.80GHz processor without HyperThreading

The RAM capability also: ASUS: 4GB

Mach Speed: 2GB

ASUS is a very well known manufacturer. I have never heard of Mach Speed before.

I would suggest the price difference here is worth it. See if you can find something similar to the ASUS (even if it is not available to you) just to compare prices.

As to the heat sink fan I am very into liquid cooling but won't bring it up here unless you want to check it out. That being said this is a good review site for fans/heatsinks:

http://www.systemcooling.com/index.html

Here is a TigerDirect page for the 478 socket:

http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applicati....asp?CatId=795

Hopefully I'll be taking the computer to Staples tonight and leave it there for their tech support to diagnose the problem. Since it most likely is the motherboard, I found this great site that has shown a motherboard installation is very possible indeed without a reformat:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/replace_motherboard.htm

Looks like this is the motherboard I'm going for:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...6716&CatId=182

BTW, what if my hard drive is ATA? I'm not sure, but it may be. Will it still be compatible with this mobo?

The Elder Geek is a great resource!

ATA is the same as IDE; generally referred to as ATA/IDE; so yes it uses the standard Primary and Secondary IDE connectors.

SATA is the latest technology. Most new boards support both. As the one you point out does.

Ok, I'm worried, frustrated, angry, depressed, you name it!

It's been in Staples for almost a week now. Yesterday I called the technician and he told me he thinks the HD is BUST! HOLY HECK! He said he booted up the computer and before XP loads up, it gives him a BSOD! THAT NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!

I told him that I'd only get BSODs in games and that when the computer finally died, it would freeze in BIOS after I reset the CMOS. So he said "hmm".

HAS THAT SON OF A ------- WRECKED MY HARD DRIVE????????????

I swear, 2 years of my life's work are on that box of metal and plastic and I will NOT tolerate it being wiped out by some stupid moron who calls himself a technician. Was he just messing with me when he said my HD is bust? Is he being lazy?

I mean, I was always able to perfectly use the computer for anything except games. Games were the only things causing BSODs. When the computer died, it froze in Internet Explorer when I was doing nothing but scrolling down a computer forum. Please tell me it can't be my HD, considering the fact that everything always worked, noting the fact that every scan and diagnostic on my HD always turned up successful. I can't call that bum today because he's not working. I'm taking my computer to MDG, the place I bought it from. What do I do if the technician has caused more damage to my computer WITHOUT even letting me KNOW what he was going to DO?

I hate people...

Hmm, I guess he just threw an uneducated guess at me. I picked up my computer from Staples tonight and they let me turn on some games there when it was plugged in. One of the computer associates showed me a recovery XP CD that the technician had created. Looks like he was able to salvage my computer with it. No data has been lost, I feel as if a gargoyle just leaped off my shoulders. It was biting my head for a week now...

I have to test for BSODs in games now. Can anyone throw me a "100% certain a new motherboard will fix everything" if I crash again?