motherboard/pcu upgrade?

Current motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

NOTE:Only Socket AM3 processors are supported with this motherboard.

AMD Phenom II X4 9xx/9xxe/8xx Quad-Core (Deneb core)

AMD Phenom II X3 7xx/7xxe Triple-Core (Heka core)

AMD Phenom II X2 5xx (Callisto core)

AMD Athlon X4 6xx/6xxe (Propus)

AMD Athlon X3 4xx/4xxe (Rana)

AMD Athlon X2 2xx/2xxe (Regor)

AMD Sempron Single Core Processor 1xx (Sargas core)

Form Factor of your current motherboard is:

Micro-ATX: 24.4cm (9.6 inches) x 24.4cm (9.6 inches) ... therefore your "new" motherboard would need to be the same size.

Since you have an OEM vesion of Windows 7, you might need to reinstall the operating system if you change the motherboard/processor. It all depends on how different the new setup is from the old one.

The max supported RAM on your current motherboard is 4GB (DDR3 204pin) which by today's standard is low for MAX RAM.

You might be looking at getting a Motherboard and CPU upgrade to be honest...and yes you will need a new licence key if you change the motherboard....having said that, ebay are quite cheap and also phoning microsoft will get you a key too :(

Budget-wise try:

Asus M5A78L-M lx v2

Phenom II x4 965

2x2GB DDR3 1333mhz RAM

Saying that changing the motherboard opens up the INTEL route too...

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If you dont want to upgrade the motherboard then:

Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:

"NOTE:Only Socket AM3 processors are supported with this motherboard.

AMD Phenom II X4 9xx/9xxe/8xx Quad-Core (Deneb core)"

The Phenom 965 should be fine, couple this CPU with 2x2GB DDR3 1333mhz (204pin) and you'll be good to go.

contact http://www.alame-computers.co.uk/ and tell them what you need and as long as you keep the same hdd you wont need a new license :)