Hey cerebus from reading all this it seems you are having a few problems so thought id clean up a fewo f them for you.
Mobo (Motherboard) This is the centre of everything, makes sure everything works together. If any thing is going to notbe compaterable it will not be so with your motherboard.
CPU (Porcessor) This do's all the brain work, calcualtions, the faster the chip the faster your PC. The processor has a certain FSB (Front Side Bus) You need to cheack with your motherboard that it supports that FSB. Also the socket wil paly a part in if the chip will fit. It you have a 64bit processor then it will either need a socket 754, 939 or 940 compatible motherboard (each number is how many pins the CPU has/how many holes on the motherboard).
RAM (Memory) Comes in a few forms as Sandra mentioned speeds. 266, 333, 400 which are also known as PC2100, PC2700, PC 3200. Once again cheack with your mobo that it supports that speed of memory (Think the latest is 550 PC4400). Its general job is to store the last bunch of calculations so when needed again it cant exicute them a lo faster than the CPU working them out again. The more RAM the faster the computer will go.
GFX Cards (Graphics Cards) Do's what it says on the tin, puts the output to the monitor. Now some mobo have it onboard but its very poor if you want gaming, but just for internet and office use its fine. Two things to look out for the amount of onboard memory and the speeds. The latest have 256mb onboard the more memory the more it can rember quick the computer. And memory and VPU (the processor chip on the card) speeds, these are givin in MHz the bigger the better. There are 3 types, PCU, AGP and PCIe. PCI is prob the most uncommon as its not really much good any more. AGP noe comes in 4 speeds 2x, 4x and 8x, each AGP GFX Card has a AGP rating so cheack with your motherboard that it supports that rating. And PCIe this is the latest (PCIexpress) your motherboard needs a PCIe slot if your planning on haveing a PCIe card but most people still ahve AGP as its more freindly on the pocket
Just one more thing you aint touched on yet it is a CPU cooler (Heat Sink an Fan) you need one of these to keep your CPU cool. Each cooler has a rating up to what chip it can keep cool so make sure that the one you buy can keep cool the chip you got. Also some coolers only fit certian sockets so make sure it fits the socket on your motherboard.
Hope this clears a few things up any questions just ask.
That sounded ok didn't it pc-pals?
