Pentium 3s

What motherboard & graphics card combo should I buy?

I have a Pentium4 processor. I want to upgrade it to Core2Duo. I also want to buy a new motherboard and a graphics card so that I can play games like FEAR2, NFS Undercover,etc.I have a 4GB RAM. Can anyone help me with the motherboard and graphics card combo? Which one is better- Asus or Nvidia? My budget is not much high. How much will they cost? Plz help.

Public Comments

1. Nvidia is more expensive but, its superior to ATI For great combos that work: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=14&name=Motherboard-CPUs
2. Well I have been building, repairing and upgrading computers for at least 7 years now and I have had lots of motherboards fail and I can tell you now that I have yet to see an MSI or Tyan motherboard fail... I have seen all the others go wrong! but MSI and Tyan never seem to go wrong. Tyan are expensive but MSI are fairly priced! As for graphic cards everyone says Nvidia are better but there's very little in it! You can get the same spec ATI to a Nvidia card and save a fair amount of cash! :D So i'd say pick an MSI and an ATI card.. If you get a new hard drive get a Seagate!
3. Get yourself an Asus P5E Deluxe. It's the best motherboard out there for a C2D. As for a video card go with a Radeon HD4770. On April 28, 2009 they will release this card for $99. It currently beats a 9800GT hands down when using AA and AF. Something you want to enable in your games. Below is a link for benchmark results