Hello fellow community members,
I have recently undertaken a task of updating my Dell 435MT desktop with a new case, GPU, CPU cooler, etc. Overall it has been challenging, but exciting task and I can honestly say I learned a lot. I was a little taken back by number of nonproprietory and non-compatibility issues that Dell motherboard has with aftermarket upgrades. For example, at this time I have a CoolerMaster 212H laying around, because the motherboard has a build/glued in backplate that will not allow me to swap it. So I thought maybe it's time for an upgrade? The PC runs well, and I'm hesitant to upgrade it, because I have the "if it's broken then fix it mentality", otherwise leave stuff alone.
I have an i7 920 intell chip, and was thinking of upgrading to a motherboard that can support an SLI mode for current and future video cards (current mobo has only 1 PCIe). Is it worth doing at this point? Do I need to find a motherboard that is specific to the i7 920 chipset, and will I be able to upgrade to other more powerful Intel's in the future? (I would like to stick with the Intel). The 2600, 1366 etc are just a soup alphabet that doesn't make sense to me, and I really can't find straightfoward guides that are in lay men's terms.
Thank you, and sorry for a lengthy and complicated question