Motherboards can be classified by a few common bus types & processor support:

ISA - Indusrty Standard Architecture , accepting 8 and 16-bit expansion cards.
386 and 486 processors only.

VESA  local bus - accepts all ISA cards and local bus cards.
386 and 486 processors only.

PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect, a high performance bus system.  PCI slots can
only use PCI expansion cards.  Typically, a PCI motherboard will have a few ISA slots for a modem, sound card, or other older expansion cards.  The high speed of a PCI bus is used for the the video and disk controller interfaces.  Some mother boards have these two interfaces integrated into the motherboard, reducing the number of add-on expansion cards.  Many PC users need better video performance than the built-in video interface offers, and most motherbaords will automatically disable the built-in video when a video card is installed.  PCI motherboards support "pentium" type processors.

All modern PC's employ PCI motherboards, running at bus speeds of 66 or 100MHz. The highest performance PCI motherboards also have an AGP slot, a special slot for high performance video cards.  PC users involved in graphics, video editing and high-graphic games should consider purchasing an AGP-equipped motherboard.

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Processors

Athough there are still quite a few 32-bit 486 and even 386 processor equipped systems in use, these processors and the motherboards that support are difficult to find, except in "surplus" sales.  Prices on PC components have dropped dramatically over the past 5 or so years, and new 64-bit "pentium" processors and motherboards cost less than the old 486 systems did back then.  Even the slower speed "pentium" chips are mothballed as processor speeds climb to 450 Mhz and beyond.  Consider 266 Mhz the lower limit for now.  Nearly all "pentium" type processors are MMX (mutimedia extension) equipped, and some brands and models have additional enhancements.

AMD - Advanced Micro Devices - http://www.amd.com
AMD produces the K6, K6-2, and K6-3 processors.  Available in speeds of 266 Mhz to 450 Mhz, AMD processors perform very well against Intel's considerably pricier Pentium, Pentium-II, and Penitum-III chips.  The K6-2 and K6-3 support 100 Mhz bus speeds and includes AMD's "3D-Now" enhancement, usable by software written to take advantage of this feature.

Cyrix - http://www.cyrix.com
Cyrix produces the 686MX series of processors, with speeds of 233 to 333 Mhz.  Cryrix chips are the least expensive, with performance levels below AMD and Intel chips.  Cyrix chips seem to have captured the ultra-cheap "bargain" computer market.

Intel - http://www.intel.com
Producers of Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, and Celeron processors.  Intel has maintained the lead in market share, but AMD chips have eroded that lead considerably.  Speed for speed, Intel chips genrally outperform AMD by a couple to several percent, but are also the most expensive.   Attempting to regain sales lost to AMD and Cyrix, Intel recently released the less expensive Celeron line of processors.  Essentially a scaled-down Pentium II, we'd probably recommend an AMD chip over a Celeron.

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Memory

All we can say is "the more, the better."   For Windows 95, we'd suggest 32MB as bare minimum.  If you're working in hi-resolution graphics,  video, or playing the latest 3D game or simulation, get 64-128 MB or more.  Depending on the new motherboard, we may be able to use some or all the RAM from your "old" machine.  Even if we can't, memory is relatively inexpensive.  A few years ago, 4 MB of RAM could cost you $60 - it's less than one-quarter  that now.  Most motherboards support up to 256 or 512 MB of memory, and adding memory is one of best ways to increase performance.  For example, a 266 Mhz system with 64MB of memory would, in many aspects, outperform a 350 Mhz system with only 32MB of RAM.  The more memory, the less time the system spends "swapping" data to and from the much slower hard disk.  If you're not quite ready to buy a new system, adding more RAM will enhance your present system's performance.

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Hard Disks

For memory, the more the better.  For hard disk space, you can't get enough.  If you're used to a 486 system running Windows 3.1, a 1 GB disk sounds unfillable.  How could I ever use 1000 megabytes of disk space?   The answer is very quickly.  With many applications using 250-500MB of space, a couple apps and Windows 95/98 will fill it.  We suggest at least a 3 to 4GB drive for starters.  And if you're into graphics, video, or big games, start looking at 6-10GB drives.  Most hard disks sold today are EIDE (enhanced IDE), theoretically able to transfer data at 33MB/second.  That's good, but if you want maximum performance, consider using a SCSI disk system.  SCSI drives and controller card are more expensive, but their performance can't be touched by an IDE disk system, and SCSI controllers can support up to 7 SCSI devices like hard disks, Zip or Syquest drives, and scanners.

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Graphics Adapters

For many users, a video adapter with 2 or 4MB of memory will suffice.  But if you use a large monitor or need high speed with high color, a graphics adapter with 8MB or more will be more suitable.  Graphic design, video production, or 3D hi-graphic games can benefit from video adapters with 8MB or more of display memory.  If your motherboard has an AGP slot, then an AGP graphics adapter with lots of memory will provide the highest performance.  A high quality graphics adapter will speed up your PC, since the adapter will lessen the burden on the system processor.  Even if your motherboard doesn't have have an AGP slot, there are lots of very high performance PCI video cards available.

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Monitors

The standard 14 inch VGA monitor is dead.  All modern monitors are SVGA (super VGA), supporting resolutions of 800 x 600 and higher.   As for size, a 15" monitor or larger is suggested.  Once you've used a large monitor, it's hard to go back down in size.  A quality monitor should have a dot pitch of .28mm or less.  The terms 'cheap' and 'inexpensive' are not synonymous.   There are some fine quality monitors that are inexpensive, and there are low-priced monitors with .31 and even .41mm dot pitches that we'd call cheap.  We don't sell cheap monitors, but we do offer some inexpensive quailty models.  Windows 98 supports multiple monitors, so you could have two monitors with different views of the same work (or game).

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CD-Rom / DVD Drives

Nowadays, a CD-Rom drive is a neccesity.  Since operating systems and aplications have become so large, CD's have become the default media.  Who wants to insert 100 floppies to install Windows 98?  As for speed, anything over 16X is fine for nearly any application or game.  With 24X and 32X drives being standard, that no problem. If you just need a CD-Rom to install software, even your old 2X or 4X drive will do.

If you're interested in making your own CD's, for data or music, you need a CD-R or CD-RW drive.  CD-R drives can record up to 650MB of data or 74 minutes of audio one time onto CD-R media disks (about 5-$8 each).   CD-RW drives can rewrite a CD-RW media disk (about 11-$20 each) up to 1000 times.   If you make a mistake on a CD-R disk, it's a coaster.  On CD-RW drives and media, if you make a mistake, or want to replace data, no problem.  Keep in mind that you will probably want a CD-R or CD-RW drive in addition to a standard CD-Rom drive since recordable CD drives have slow play speeds of 2X or 4X (although this is improving).

DVD drives offer the ability to playback full-motion video.  They come with a special MPEG decoder card that does the video processing.   Although there is software that allows a standard CD player to read DVD disks, you'll need a fast K6-2, Pentium II or better processor and an AGP graphics card to do the job.   If you want DVD capability, the hardware solution is much better and more reliable.

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Sound Cards

Sound cards come in a fairly wide range of prices and quality.  For an office or casual home user, an inexpensive sound card and mini-speakers might do.  But if you're an audiophile, or big on games, you'll want something better.  High performance cards with wavetable sound and split speaker systems with subwoofers bring the sound alive.  Like large monitors, it's hard to go back to a basic sound subsystem once you've heard a high-end one.  Simply adding a good speaker system to an inexpensive sound card yields dramatic improvement.  You can even add a graphic equalizer/amplifier to you system if you wish.

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Fax Modems

If you're on the Internet or want to be, you need the fastest modem available. 56K.  With all the graphics, sound, java, and other bandwidth-hogging elements of an average web page, anything less than a 33.6Kbps connection will be agonizingly slow.  Of course, nearly all modems also have fax capability, so you can send off a word processor document or a graphic easily.  Many modems come bundled with a simple fax application, and of course you can purchase a fully featured fax program, such as WinFax Pro if you wish to fax on a large scale.  Keep in mind that all fax transmissions occur at 9.6 or 14.4K, not at the 33.6K or 56K speed your modem transmits data.  Back to the Internet, if you need faster connections than a modem can provide, your cable company probably offers such a connection, although it might cost you 30-$60 a month - worth it if you transfer lots of data, probably not if you're an occasional "surfer."

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Removable Disk Drives

If you need to store 100Mb or so of data, either for backup burposes, or to transport data between PC's, it's hard to beat a removable disk drive.  Iomega's Zip drives are popular among PC users, and Syquest drives are popular with Mac users - with software, your PC can read and write Mac formatted disks.  These removable cartridge drives are great for storing an application or project "offline" - freeing up precious hard drive space, but available quickly.  Sure beats floppies - by 100 to 1!

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