Need advice about Mainboard, CPU and RAM

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking of upgrading my pc and the parts where I'm struggling are Mainboard, CPU and maybe RAM.
What I have now are:
MoBo: ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 (AM3)
CPU: AMD Athlon II x2 260
RAM: DDR3-1066 2x2GB
My OS: Win XP 32-bit

For the moment I'm sticking with XP. At some point I'll either get Win 7 or 8 (that's another subject)

I don't need any extra cards like sound or grafics the onboard stuff are enough for me and what I do. I do play games but as stated the onboard stuff works fine. I think you call it formfactor and that's ATX... not mircroatx but the normal one.

There are some things that I require on the Mainboard:
at least 6 SATA places
DVI "outlet" (I think that's what you call it) because of my Monitor screen
would like to stick with ASUS

If possible I would like to use the RAM that I have at the moment but that is negotiable. I just don't want everything to be that expensive.

The other thing is, if you put all MoBo in a list you could divide the list in sections - please bare with me I'll try my best to explain what I mean and then want - the first section would be the very best of the best, the very super duper of the lot and the last section would be the bare minimum of everything. What I wish/want is that the mainboard and cpu are better than the ones I have now (otherwise I would just buy the same again and have done with, but I don't want that) BUT not the best of the bunch...
Not a gamer that requires heavy duty stuff. Somewhere in the middle to end of the list would do me...
I know, I probably don't make thins easy for you guys out there.. sry about that in advance

OF CAUSE: the mainboard and CPU should work together and ram, so the suggestions should always then have a Mainboard and CPU (if my ram doesn't work) then RAM

If anyone has questions to help then ask I'll answer as best as I can

I so hope some of you can help me there and thank you for any of the posts that I get.

 

What is your specific reason for wanting to upgrade (examples: video editing, higher end gaming, etc.)?

Windows XP 32 will only recognize and use up to 4GB of memory. Until you upgrade to a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or 8, adding more memory will not increase performance.

If you need better graphics, you can upgrade from on-board video to a separate video card (your board should have a long PCI-E video card slot for this).

If you need more SATA ports on your current board, you can add an additional SATA controller card in a PCI or PCI-e slot.

Although others may disagree with me, there is no point in doing a major hardware upgrade while still running XP.

 

Well that I know, that's why I only have 4 GB of RAM now. I wrote down RAM just in case the suggested MoBo doesn't take DDR3-1066.
And I also know that 1066 isn't offered on a lot of MoBo anymore..

I have 2 reasons: the one is that I wouldn't mind something a bit better than what I have now.
and my 2. reason for wanting new parts is that something is wrong and no matter what program I use everything comes back fine - in working order...
Every 3-6 months my computer gets really really really slow and it's pissing me off.. The only thing that works is reinstallind XP... And after the last time (which happened to be no 3) I said to myself the next time will be with new parts..
I can't be forking out money on parts just to see/find out what part is wrong... also I think the grafic card is, well not broken but something wrong...
It's not a constant thing or a problem that happens every day but sometimes I get static lines (1-2cm in length) and then the screen goes grey-black and then black and after a few seconds it comes back.. when that happens it doesn't lag or hang so if I'm listening to a song the song keeps playing.. or a movie... If your thinking it could be the cables then no, I wiggle them and nothing happens. Also the Monitor is only 7 months old, got it for xmas as gift since my old one was not very good and also only had a D-Sub plug...
So if a buy ram and that doesn't help, then cpu and the same...and then MoBo... I might as well buy new stuff...

With my current MoBo the only option would be Win 7... doesn't support Win 8

 

also with the computer being so slow burning takes for ever... A normal dvd that takes normally under 6 min takes 60min now... yeah ONE HOUR..

from switching pc on till everything has loaded takes 7 min (on average)

I can gladly list the programs that I use and how often I use them... if you want

 

If it is taking that long for Windows to load the first thing I would check is a virus/malware issue.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

I own a PC repair shop and service dozens of machines each month. Based on the hardware you have, Windows XP itself should run fast. The fact it keeps slowing down every few months and you have to reload it does not sound like a hardware issue.

Even if you have an anti-virus program installed, it's possible to get infected by downloading "free" stuff or clicking on links in unknown e-mails.

 

another example is when extracting something.. a 600mb file will take 15min to extract and then another 13min to move where i want it to...

Ok, but couldn't i find it?
I use Avira antivirus (1xweek), zonealarm (always on, and only the firewall the antivirus isn't even installed), IObit Malware Fighter (1xweek), Advanced system care, CCleaner (1xweek), Smart Defrag (3xweek), Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (1xweek) and Gmer (when needed)...Hijackthis i have also and a-squared HiJackFree to see if there's any unwanted program running that shouldn't but again nothing...
Yet nothing is EVER found... ok, once 2 years ago but that got fixed and since then XP has been installed 3 times... so it ain't that...

I'll read through the link you posted, but that's gonna take some time

 

I Would still like some suggestions about the parts though, even if nothings broken.

 

Can somebody explain the different sockets to me of the mainboards? I have AM3 now but newer things are FM2+ ... I've tried to read about them but I'm just confused.

 

I'm guessing I'm posting for nothing

just in case someone decides to reply what do you think about ASUS A88X-PLUS... How good would one say that is?