So, you can upgrade most of the hardware parts of your PC! Wait - there are a few constraints. Let's talk more before you jump out and buy a new Motherboard.

1. Is your problem a BIOS that is too old? That cannot be updated?
2. Is your motherboard old and constrained by an ISA bus?
3. Is your memory proprietary?
4. Is your memory your main constraint?
5. Is your system just slow?
6. Is your graphics adapter out of date?
7. Is your modem to slow?
8. Is your hard disk drive too slow?
9. Is your hard disk capacity too low?

Only some of these items, by themselves, would cause me to buy a new motherboard; however, all of you are modern PC buffs and you will want the latest and greatest. In my opinion, the BIOS and ISA bus constraints are the primary reason for purchasing a new motherboard!

FINISH ASAP!!!

WHY? Because, there are many capabilities available that cannot be used with some of the older BIOS chips, and some of the older BIOS chips cannot be updated or it is very inconvient to do so. Also, even if you can update your BIOS, you may still have many problems caused by the 8 and 16 bit ISA bus.

Some of things you will normally want to upgrade, especially if you have an older 486 or an early Pentium, and to a degree even more recent PCs are: RAM, BIOS, Hard Drives, CD-ROM, and probably a Removable High Capacity drive such as a JAZ (1 GB) or SyJet (1.5GB) drive.

First, some considerations: You cannot change a 486SX into a 486DX3, or a Pentium P75 into a Pentium II. You will have to observe some specifics or just buy a new system. You cannot change from a 30-pin SIMM to a 72-pin SIMM memory configuration without a new motherboard. You cannot change from FPM RAM to SDRAM or EDO RAM without a BIOS that accepts them, or a new motherboard. You cannot change from from an ISA bus to a PCI bus without purchasing a new motherboard or a new PC! Sorry. You also are limited in many cases as to what you can do because of only a few expansion slots on your motherboard.