please help before i commit hara kiri

Hello.

All I need for my computer is a Firewire port to plug my Presonus Firebox into so that I can record onto my PC running Cubase. I'm going for CD quality sound hear, ya know?

I have an IBM Netvista Model 8311, P4, 1.80 GHz

I used Everest Home Edition to detect my motherboard. All it tells me is:

Motherboard ID <DMI>
Motherboard Name IBM 8311KDU

... whatever that means. So I don't know which Firewire card will be compatible with my stupid motherboard.

For the past 3 days, I've been googling and googling stuff about Firewire and it's all a big bunch of confusing retardedness!

There's IEEE 1394 cards and PCMIA cards. Then there's PCMCIA (extra C?). According to all the techies, i MIGHT want to get OHCI-compatible cards for sound recording and video editing, but then again I MIGHT NOT?!?!?!?!

Some guy on a Sound Recording forum told me to get one with a Texas Instruments chipset. When I google "firewire TI chip" i get NOTHING.

Now I google firewire and see they are selling a "IEEE 1394 to PCI expansion card." What the goddamn hell?!?!?! Could they have made this shit any more confusing?!?!??!