Best upgrade path?

[Uhtred]

My current system is as follows

Abit USB 1.1 M/B
P4 1.6 @ 2.4
1gig of 3200 DDR
ATI 8500 ls

hard disks and everything else about the system is fine, except maybe the PSU.

I upgraded it before I went to uni so i wouldn't have to upgrade it while I was there, now it's 4 years later and i think it's about time to get it going a bit faster and use the old bits for a server

I've not got much money to spare and if at all possible want to spread it out over a few months. I'm liking these new dual conroe so will probably stick with intel. Can you get a motherboard that will still work with my P4 and work with the conroe when I have a bit more moeny? Same question with the RAM, 2GB of DDR2 would be nice but I'm happy to stay with my current stuff for a bit if possible.

Thanks guys

 

[Joe42]

I expect that cpu will not work in a conroe motherboard, nor will the ram.

The only things you might be able to keep with your new system are the harddisks, optical drives and if its pci the graphics card.
Be aware that many new conroe boards only have one ide port which may make keeping your old harddisks a bit of a pain.