You don't think a newer motherboard and cpu, would be faster than my years old set up?
Only if what's slowing it down is the processor or something on the motherboard
With my set up, I'm noticing it hanging more starting applications, slow to boot and shut down (about 3 mins each way).
Application loading and boot times for example, are generally determined by the hard drive. If you wanted to speed them up then the best way would be to spend money on an SSD for your OS and programs and keep the hard drives for storing the media files.
A faster processor for HTPC use would generally mean you could play high quality video formats (although unless you're a 4k early adopter there's probably not much practical use if your current setup handles Full HD), use more post-processing (if that's your thing) and convert video to other formats and sizes faster (for streaming to other devices or putting on mobile devices).
Motherboards are generally about the technologies they contain rather than any performance on themselves, such as USB3.
Also, since I started this thread, I upsets the chipset from gigabyte, (from 2006 drivers, to 2010), from that, the core temp has risen from an average of 30c to 45, yesterday it just shut down, and today watching tv through wme7, the picture froze, sound kept repeating, speakers, also made buzzing sounds. Took near 10 mins to shut down and start up.
The temperature is neither here nor there, I'd only start getting worried if it was close to 70°C. It may simply be that the temperature measurement was adjusted to be more accurate rather than it being worked harder and getting hotter.
Have the crashing/shutdown/freezing problems only started with the new drivers or were they happening anyway? If it's just the drivers it's likely to be a problem with them and it's worth going back to the old ones, if not then it may be a bit of failing hardware.
My initial intention was to see how 'good' my cpu was, and if a newer motherboard and cpu, would increase performance, perhaps give better graphics and sound, as this is where we watch tv, dvds and use the net, play music etc
Still can't find a motherboard bundle with AMD and 2 pcie slots!
A couple of points that I'm not sure whether you're aware of:
1. PCI-E cards can go in higher rated slots. For example if you've got a 16x card (the graphics card) and two 1x cards then a motherboard with two 16x slots and one 1x slot will work fine.
2. A 'motherboard bundle' generally refers to a pre-assembled set of components that's shipped with the CPU, heatsink and memory already installed in the motherboard rather than a discount given if you buy stuff together. You'll generally pay more than if you buy the components separately in fact - the £200 bundle above can be had for £175 if bought individually.