NEED to upgrade my pc, help me find stuff that fits!

[ghonosyph]

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i got a buncha stuff together after you all helped out! near the end of this thread is the pics and stuff of my first computer building experience :D let me know what you think! :D

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Hey guys its that time of year again, pc upgrade ! Been toiling over what/how to upgrade and am at a loss with what info i've gathered and i need help bad! :)

Here's the short story to help understand what im goin for and what i need. I bought this pc from best buy a couple years ago, put a new vid card and network card in it, upgraded the ram, added a couple fans and a new power supply to it. Recently upgraded to 4 sticks of 8 gig ddr2 and realized after installation that the mobo only uses 4 gigs of it. "oh shit" is the reaction i got when i realized that i had just wasted 300 + dollars on ram at bestbuy on a whim! lol

here's what i need to do now, I have a very limited budget, with combined cash/credit card from best buy, and my birthday money(i just turned 30! YAY!) What i'd like to accomplish is to
A: upgrade the motherboard and processor so that i can make use of the 8 gigs of ddr2 that i just bought(at christmas time)
B: Do this without upgrading my tower(ie will the new shit fit)
C: Find an upgrade that will work with my ddr2 ram and still fit both my 9800gtx oc AND my little network card(pci express slots i think**
D: Anything i can buy from the best buy website is going to be over priced yes, but if i can, i'd like to get the higher dollar options there with my credit card instead, as the cash is the limiting factor.

Keep in mind i'm very willing to buy used parts that will work if you're willing to part with them cheap, i live in south carolina so shipping in the US is best. :D


With all that said i'll "TRY" to list what i have in my pc and hopefully you "the community" can help me find upgrade options that fit! :)


Ideally i'll be looking to get as a rough estimate shopping list: New motherboard +processor, a cheap small ssd as i heard thats all the rage, and anything else that i might need to put it all together. I MIGHT have to buy a new tower to fit it all in, if so i'd like to disassemble this box, and build up the new computer using the parts /drives/usb port thinger on the front :) and possibly being able to get a sound card unless the onboard sound works on the new mobo, i dont remember seeing one in my system but i'm not the brightest bulb in the box lol

I used the bel-arc advisor tool to pull this info off my system:

HP-Pavilion RT641AA-ABA a1720n
System Serial Number: CNX7011BQ8
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.87 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded Board: ASUSTek Computer INC. LEONITE 5.00
Serial Number: MS1C6CS11201210
Bus Clock: 266 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 5.08 12/08/2006
Drives Memory Modules c,d 320.07 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
92.64 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H652M ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

Generic- Compact Flash USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
Generic- MS/MS-Pro USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 5
Generic- SD/MMC USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
Generic- SM/xD-Picture USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
Sony Storage media USB Device [Hard drive] (4.05 GB) -- drive 1, s/n `
WDC WD3200JS-60PDB0 [Hard drive] (320.07 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WCAPD3280114, SMART (http://www.belarc.com/smart.html) Status: Healthy 3584 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'A1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'A2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'A3' has 2048 MB
Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 313.34 GB 91.71 GB free d: (NTFS on drive 0) 6.73 GB 935 MB free
Network Drives None detected Users (mouse over user name for details)
Controllers Display ATA Channel 0 [Controller]
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ [Display adapter]
HP w1907 [Monitor] (19.1"vis, s/n 3CQ8220NGZ, May 2008)
HP w2207 [Monitor] (22.0"vis, s/n CND7381D76, September 2007)
Bus Adapters Multimedia Intel(R) ICH7R/DH SATA RAID Controller
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC Realtek High Definition Audio


IF we need more info let me know otherwise, happy hunting for parts that will work! <3 thanks in advance fellow boxorz

PS i 4 and 5 box on this pc with dual monitors and i know a little bit about computers, but not much!

[alcattle]

Motherboard is almost not replacable. Most pre-builts are like that.

The RAM comment confuses me as it shows your system has 8 gigs installed.

You might be able to get a quad cpu, most likely is a 775 socket, a Q6600 should fit.

I would not put any money into it, save up and upgrade when you could afford a new system

[ghonosyph]

The ram part is simple, I do have 8 gig installed but the motherboard will only use Max 4 gigs of it.

what I'm thinking, with new motherboard cpu and then gut the rest of this system to build the new in a new case, not sure if its possible tho lol I need help ! Need to figure out what else I'd need to have to get that done. asap !

anyone able to help ? =)

[alcattle]

You said the secret word. or 2 I guess, NEW CASE takes care of most of your problems. DDR2 RAM will limit your choices some but you can get any 775 socket motherboard (a P45 is best) and everything else will work in the new case. You just need to figure out what cost you want to put into the CPU. a e8400 was good for 2 cores, I have a Q6600 which runs 5 toons no problem. Then there the Q95xx series which is more but is newer and runs a little better than a Q6600.
Hope that gets you a better idea, just go drool through Newegg and check your wallet. Find what looks good and then see if Best Buy has it.

[ghonosyph]

Yea I was hoping to still keep my tower as its somewhat compact and has all the nifty little card reader thingy on the front oh well, new tower really isn't that much cash, and if I get a new cpu and mobo I could almost just keep this one and build new! Lol I think, as I have an extra power supply and ram, I guess I'd need an new graphics card too lol

[ghonosyph]

Cool so I went and bought a new antec 902 case a velociraptor hd new mobo and processor all for under 600 so now alls left is to build it! ... Oh shit I don't know how! Hahaha fml!

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2793/partsforcompuyrt.jpg

[F9thRet]

IF this is your first home build, Let me make a humble suggestion .

First, Install MB, Memory, and Video card.

See if it posts. If it does, your doing great, with the new Case. If not, you might have the MB hitting something, Or possibly bad memory, video, etc.

To check the memory, go down to one Piece, and switch them out.

Anyways, start adding your Drives in, one at a time, always checking to see if it posts.

Finally any cards.

It is a long and slow process, but Better safe then sorry if this is your first build.

Stephen

[spannah]

The ram part is simple, I do have 8 gig installed but the motherboard will only use Max 4 gigs of it.

what I'm thinking, with new motherboard cpu and then gut the rest of this system to build the new in a new case, not sure if its possible tho lol I need help ! Need to figure out what else I'd need to have to get that done. asap !

anyone able to help ? =)

This may be a little late but here it goes ...

The MB recognized 8GB of RAM, what version of Windows are you using? Is it 32 or 64 bit? if 32-bit, the OS is the problem since will not recognize even the full 4 GB.

Which OS are you installing on your new system?

[ghonosyph]

Nah its not my os as I use win 7 64 bit and I've already figured out that the motherboard is what was not good enough/cheap and it can only utilize up to 4 gigs anyways.

So I did what others recommended and just got it all put together last night but couldn't figure out where/how to plug in the tiny little plugs for the power button and front usb leads. Taking it to a computer help clinic this afternoon to get some help with that and overclocking it and then installing the bios and then i'll fire it up! I'll post some pics tonight for everyone to see it in its final stage! :)

[spannah]

Nah its not my os as I use win 7 64 bit and I've already figured out that the motherboard is what was not good enough/cheap and it can only utilize up to 4 gigs anyways.

So I did what others recommended and just got it all put together last night but couldn't figure out where/how to plug in the tiny little plugs for the power button and front usb leads. Taking it to a computer help clinic this afternoon to get some help with that and overclocking it and then installing the bios and then i'll fire it up! I'll post some pics tonight for everyone to see it in its final stage! :)

Your motherboard manual should tell you were to plug those ;)

[ghonosyph]

new photos for you all of my new gaming rig!! :D
first one here is the old tower all stripped down, still had to remove the graphics card but couldnt get it off till i unscrewed the old mobo lol
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/8582/oldpcgutted.jpg

second pic here is the final position of the hard drive racks and components, i had to move the dual intake fans so that they would blow over the top of the graphics card all the ram and the cpu, this created a tunnel effect right through the mid of the machine for maximized air flow, the pc keeps super cool even after 8 hours of multiboxing lol
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/6387/newcomputer232.jpg
this next pic is of the wiring pile at the bottom, the case has holes in the rear for all the wires to run through, and tie up behind the back panel. I did a good job of cleaning it up, but this pic shows the moments prior to me pulling out all the slack of all the wires here at the bottom. Tied it all up and made it a little neater after this one
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4595/newcomputer231.jpg


next two pics here are just showing off the lighting set up, the middle center fan and cold cathode lights, with the case cover on and without. I intend on adding another fan(green) in the side panel to round it out, and i might add a light controller if i can find one that works good(to make it sound reactive) They dont make it anymore tho, its called a sunbeam lightbus. i cant find one anywhere! :(
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4531/newcomputer230.jpg
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/804/newcomputer229.jpg


next bunch of pics is just components and such, in various positions. I ended up having to move my disc drive and the hard drives a few times to make them fit around the graphics card, and to be able to utilize the super short ribbon round cable i bought. I hate ribbon cables so that was my only option lol! Couple of the case after i finished up the first night and of the front,side, and back of the case before start up and lights
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2534/newcomputer228.jpg
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6458/newcomputer227.jpg
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3239/newcomputer223.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6170/newcomputer221.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3955/newcomputer220.jpg

Last few pics are of the pc in my build phase :) after just installing the cpu/mobo, and ram
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6921/newcomputer219.jpg
http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/2907/newcomputer217.jpg
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/7913/newcomputer216.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9071/newcomputer214.jpg





Final incarnation, AMD Phenom 9950 quad core processor 2.60 ghz Asus M4A77D motherboard, 8 gig of ddr2 800mhz corsair gaming ram, 9800 Gtx OC vid card with 1024 onboard ram, antech 902 case, one western digital 500 gb harddrive, one western digital velociraptor 300gb 10,000rpm hard drive, 2 blue cold cathode lights, one red, an extra 120 mm antech blue fan in the middle of the machine(mounted off the back of the extra harddrive rack, BfG 650 watt power supply gs series.

clocking in at a whopping 5.9 windows experience index! lol nows all thats left is to get my friggin wow mouse to work :(