All I wanted was a new Graphics card but it's turned into this huge money swallowing project. To get a new graphics card, I need a new motherboard with PCI-E, then I need a new CPU, and to run it all I need a bigger power supply...

Next problem: The motherboard I've been looking at has 1 IDE connector and about 5 SATA's. My current setup has 2 IDE's which I use to connect my DVD, CDRW, and Hard drive to. MY questionairo is what is the difference between IDE and SATA and does it matter which peripheral I connect to the IDE/SATA (like CD&DVD--->IDE and Harddrive--->SATA or viceversa).

just buy a new computer.........lol IDE hold more information and SATA drive will hold less and go faster so it is just up to you what you want to use.

...what?

IDE is the old interface. SATA has more bandwidth for faster transfers. I haven't heard of a new IDE drive for a while, but I've seen 2TB SATA drives.

The thing is new technology is faster than the older,
the new mainboards had reduced the number of PCI and IDE ports, so if U have more than 2 IDE items, it will not be easy to connect all, U may need an additional IDE ports card.
SATA runs faster than the IDE, so if U have the chance to get SATA, GET IT!.

Is it just newer technology? I thought there were pros and cons for both:

ya it just depends what you want to use one is just faster then the other. and the slower one holds more temp memory that is all