First, let me start by saying, I want a deceent high end professional computer system. My computer has all the high end stuff on it, EXCEPT the motherboard. I want to sell off my ASUS P5B-E Motherboard and buy an ASUS Maximus II Formula Motherboard on newegg.com for 3 reasons. 1. I am getting only 2.93 GB of the 4 GB I have and I want at least 3.25 GB of RAM. 2. My motherboard is PCI 1.0 and I have an ATI Radeon 4870, which can support higher than that. 3. Whenever the Computer is starting up, it takes several minutes on 'Applying your computer settings', it took a while to determine its not the software, but the motherboard to start up. Also the entire comptuer is laggy since I am using 1680x1050 Screen Resolution. How do I plan to sell my motherboard, then buy the new one on newegg.com? Oh by the way, I have a Q6600 and PC6400, so my memory and processor seems pretty basic, but I am happy with them. I may eventually get PC8500 memory. Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower,

"I may eventually get PC8500 memory" Your CPU runs at 1066MHz FSB. If you're not overclocking, the correct RAM is DDR2-533 (or you can use higher rated RAM underclocked to DDR2-533 speed). That way you can maintain a 1:1 ratio. Although the next best RAM choice would be DDR2-1066 to reach a 1:2 ratio, the difference in performance would be minor - it's definitely not a cost effective upgrade. You'd be better off increasing the FSB to 1600MHz to run 1:1 with your DDR2-800. The other issues have been discussed before. You have less than 4GB RAM available to the system because of the other hardware you have installed. Several of them need a chunk of the 4GB of virtual address space (VAS) & they can only get if by forcing the RAM to surrender the space. Some people have 3.5GB, some 3.25, some 3.0, some less than that...it all depends on the components installed. As for the PCI-e 1.0 vs 2.0, it's really not worth upgrading for. Look at AGP...there's very little difference between 4X & 8X and when PCI-e x16 was released, there was little or no difference between AGP 8X & PCI-e x16. In fact, there are several boards with PCI-e x16 slots that only run at x8 & most people don't even reliaze the difference. PCI-e x16 1.0 has a max theroretical bandwidth of 250MB/sec, 2.0 has a max theroretical bandwidth of 500MB/sec. I can all but guarantee you're not coming close to saturating the v1.0 bandwidth. It's your money though, do as you please. My guess is that your system just needs a major tweaking. "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

To answer the question you asked, there is not much of a market for used motherboards. The "old" motherboard in your computer would be classified as a "pull", meaning hardware pulled out of a working computer (therefore, assumed to be in working order). Unless you find a buyer who needs that particular model of motherboard for a replacement or something, then your going to have a difficult time finding anyone who will pay you much more than the cost of shipping the thing. Just buy the new motherboard you want and keep the old one as a spare.

Thanks for your responses. However. What about #3, whats your answer for this: 3. Whenever the Computer is starting up, it takes several minutes on 'Applying your computer settings', it took a while to determine its not the software, but the motherboard to start up. Also the entire comptuer is laggy since I am using 1680x1050 Screen Resolution. And also, What should I do? I have PC 800 6400 Memory and a Q6600 CPU. Must I overclock it or something to go to 1600? Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower,

I assumed you knew how to overclock. Here's some settings you can try: Under Advanced > JumperFree Configuration: AI Tuning = manual CPU freq = 400MHz DRAM freq = DDR2-800 PCI express = 100MHz PCI clcok sync = 33.33MHz Spread Spectrum = disabled Then under CPU configuration: Modify ratio support = enabled Ratio CMOS setting = 7 Save your settings & exit. The CPU will now run at 2.8GHz @ 1600MHz FSB with the RAM in sync as DDR2-800. "What about #3" Your system isn't laggy because of your screen resolution setting. Either your BIOS settings are incorrect, you have a ton of apps loading at startup, or both. That's why I wrote, "your system just needs a major tweaking" "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

Jam, I did exactly what you told me and the computer wouldn't turn off the 4870 fan and wouldn't show any post screen. So, I set everyting back without being overclocked. Did I type in the ratio properlly in? Is it some setting for my 4870 Video Card? Also, why does the Applying Computer Settings be stuck for 6 minuites? It doesn't apply on my other computers and they are all joined to the domain. Any known software that would freeze the "Applying Computer Settings" during startup? Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower, Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie. Hi I'm Maddie I'm a beautiful black flower,

Well, if you actually have DDR2-667 instead of DDR2-800, that changes things. Try these settings: Under Advanced > JumperFree Configuration: AI Tuning = manual CPU freq = 333MHz DRAM freq = DDR2-667 PCI express = 100MHz PCI clcok sync = 33.33MHz Spread Spectrum = disabled Then under CPU configuration: Modify ratio support = enabled Ratio CMOS setting = 8.5 That'll run the CPU at 2.83GHz with the RAM in sync. If you wanna bump the CPU speed a little more, raise the "ratio setting" to 9 & try running the CPU at 3.0GHz. "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction