Need Help Finding Good Parts

yunori2011

New Member
I won a Nvidia GTX 480 awhile back, and tried using it with my current PC to find I didn't have the correct power supply to support it, so I bought one. Then I tried plugging it in, everything worked fine, until I had finished installing the drivers for the graphics card, and had just rebooted, to have windows tell me my motherboard was incapable of supporting 3d graphics rendering with this card. Wonderful.

So back then, I had about a $100, which I wasted on a tablet, and now I have $240, that for reasons unspecified, needs to shrink to $140. That is my budget, I am in need of a new motherboard, and it would be great if it supported a Pentium 4, but could be upgraded later, and needs to support a Nvidia GTX 480. And I know I'll get flamed for having a Pentium 4, but I cannot upgrade on this budget, so unless some person proves me wrong, I'm stuck with this. I also need a new case, and possibly new ram, and if its too hard to find a motherboard that supports both pieces, a new processor, preferably dual-core.

I already have a genuine windows 7 ultimate, a 32 and 64 bit, as well as one 200 gb hard drive, and one 2 tb hard drive, and my ram is in good condition, I'm just not sure if it would support a new motherboard, and I have a 600 watt power supply that I know supports my GTX 480 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EYV690/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details), and all the current parts in my PC.

My current specs:

Pentium 4, 3.4 ghz
AMD HD Radeon 5400
2 gb ram
600 watt power supply
a generic hp motherboard
one 200 gb drive, and a 2 tb drive
23" Acer screen (1920 x 1080)

My intent for this PC is high performance gaming (with the most intensive game I play being borderlands) and just want more performance overall in my games. Suggestions welcome, and my budget can go up maybe $5-$10 for shipping, but not any more than that.
 
I won a Nvidia GTX 480 awhile back, and tried using it with my current PC to find I didn't have the correct power supply to support it, so I bought one. Then I tried plugging it in, everything worked fine, until I had finished installing the drivers for the graphics card, and had just rebooted, to have windows tell me my motherboard was incapable of supporting 3d graphics rendering with this card. Wonderful.

So back then, I had about a $100, which I wasted on a tablet, and now I have $240, that for reasons unspecified, needs to shrink to $140. That is my budget, I am in need of a new motherboard, and it would be great if it supported a Pentium 4, but could be upgraded later, and needs to support a Nvidia GTX 480. And I know I'll get flamed for having a Pentium 4, but I cannot upgrade on this budget, so unless some person proves me wrong, I'm stuck with this. I also need a new case, and possibly new ram, and if its too hard to find a motherboard that supports both pieces, a new processor, preferably dual-core.

I already have a genuine windows 7 ultimate, a 32 and 64 bit, as well as one 200 gb hard drive, and one 2 tb hard drive, and my ram is in good condition, I'm just not sure if it would support a new motherboard, and I have a 600 watt power supply that I know supports my GTX 480 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EYV690/ref=oh_o02_s00_i00_details), and all the current parts in my PC.

My current specs:

Pentium 4, 3.4 ghz
AMD HD Radeon 5400
2 gb ram
600 watt power supply
a generic hp motherboard
one 200 gb drive, and a 2 tb drive
23" Acer screen (1920 x 1080)

My intent for this PC is high performance gaming (with the most intensive game I play being borderlands) and just want more performance overall in my games. Suggestions welcome, and my budget can go up maybe $5-$10 for shipping, but not any more than that.
Like linkin said above, the CPU would bottleneck the GPU.

If you're going to upgrade, you're going to need a new motherboard, CPU and GPU.
 
i would sell the 480 and grab a low end mobo, a i3-2100 or amd Phenom II 960t, and then whatever is left for a HD6870/6950, or a GTX 560ti
 
Alright, that's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. So I assume I can probably get about $400 out of this (haven't sold it yet, so just need to find some good parts) and would increase my budget to $520, what would be the best computer to build from scratch with this budget?

I would need a new everything except hard drives, and copy of windows 7, as I have ones that are perfectly fine. If possible, I would like this to be a gaming computer, as I currently have a Pentium 4, 2 GB ram, and a AMD Radeon HD 5400, so whatever would give me a signification boost from those specs would be fine with me, thanks for the help.
 
I wouldn't sell it. The 480 is one heck of a performer. Way better than a 6870 or 560ti.

Look into getting a H61 and a cheap processor, or a 970 board and a Phenom II x2 to go with it. You can always upgrade later.
 
I wouldn't sell it. The 480 is one heck of a performer. Way better than a 6870 or 560ti.

Look into getting a H61 and a cheap processor, or a 970 board and a Phenom II x2 to go with it. You can always upgrade later.

Alright, I looked into what you said first, and these are the parts I found, can you tell me if they are any good/in conflict with my other parts I provided links for please? that would be much appreciated.

Motherboard: http://www.amazon.com/Biostar-H61MU3-Micro-DDR3-Motherboard/dp/B004XHPCAY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_2

Case: http://www.amazon.com/10-Bay-Tower-Computer-Front-Panel/dp/B0049QGSR0

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103988

Thanks in advance.
 
no on the biostar, pick an asus or gigabyte

cpu is not compatible with that mobo either

case...id go with something nicer,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131758 - mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148476 - mem

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995 - cpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023 - case

- might cost a bit more than you expected spending, but, i think the quality of parts is far better, could drop the cpu to a dual core, and put 4 gigs of ram instead of 2, most you might save is 60 bucks, mostly from the cpu, id keep 8 gig of ram myself
 
no on the biostar, pick an asus or gigabyte

cpu is not compatible with that mobo either

case...id go with something nicer,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131758 - mobo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148476 - mem

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995 - cpu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023 - case

- might cost a bit more than you expected spending, but, i think the quality of parts is far better, could drop the cpu to a dual core, and put 4 gigs of ram instead of 2, most you might save is 60 bucks, mostly from the cpu, id keep 8 gig of ram myself

Oh how I would love to pick those up, but unless I can get a card that comes dang close to the 480 in performance for cheap, I cannot go even a penny above $150, or I'll be eating oxygen for the next few months (and that extra $10 needs to go to shipping on a place without free, which is why I prefer amazon, as I have prime membership there)

So is that a no on the motherboard though? As in it won't work at all, as I don't need insane performance out of the motherboard itself, just to work for the moment, and maybe get another $200 to enhance it later this February.
 
save, honestly spending only 150 on parts...id be disappointed, with that right there it would be more solid, was suggested earlier hold onto the 480, and build around it, thats what those parts were for.
 
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save, honestly spending only 150 on parts...id be disappointed, with that right there it would be more solid

I know I will be, is there any cheap cards that would get me a solid performance standard in modern gaming at 1920 x 1080? Cause if that the case, I can just sell the 480, and bump my budget to $540 but I have a AMD HD 5400 right now, and get a good 24 fps in borderlands maxed out when there are no npc's on screen, load times are murder though. So I would look for something to boost that, and other games significantly. I'm no good at hunting for graphics cards, as me ending up with a 5400 shows.
 
if you look on newegg they have a preferred account thing where 250+ has 6 months interest free, 500+ has 12 months interest free to be paid off, if that's more manageable, although idk how good it actually is, i looked it up and it's done through chase, and i think it was if you went past the 6/12 months it went to like 23% interest.
 
Alright, I looked up how much a 480 sells for, and its no where near $400, more like $200, if I'm lucky :(. So I'm back my $140 price point, as I need doubt I could get all of the new parts, as well as a good graphics card for $340. So I'm back to my old list, and my old question, will the following pieces work together, even if they're not the best, will they work?:

Motherboard: http://www.amazon.com/Biostar-H61MU...04XHPCAY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_2?tag=5336653510-20

Case: http://www.amazon.com/10-Bay-Tower-Computer-Front-Panel/dp/B0049QGSR0?tag=5336653510-20

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...na&AID=10521304&PID=4169961&SID=1cizst50brirk

Please, I need to know. Thanks in advance.
 
here's the problem, new mobo means new operating system which adds 100 bucks, plus you most likely need new ram, and that cpu has no cooler, and it isn't compatible with the motherboard, and i don't see what brand your power supply is, and if you got a rig that could use the 480, and it started going 100%, it would prob blow it if it's a cheaper one, and take other things with it. really you're sort of in a bad position, you're best bet is to find out what your current motherboard can take, then get a used core 2 duo or whatever you can that is suitable, up the ram all you can, and start saving.
 
here's the problem, new mobo means new operating system which adds 100 bucks, plus you most likely need new ram, and that cpu has no cooler, and it isn't compatible with the motherboard, and i don't see what brand your power supply is, and if you got a rig that could use the 480, and it started going 100%, it would prob blow it if it's a cheaper one, and take other things with it. really you're sort of in a bad position, you're best bet is to find out what your current motherboard can take, then get a used core 2 duo or whatever you can that is suitable, up the ram all you can, and start saving.

Well, its not like that for me for 2 reasons:

1. My cousin gives me the key his company uses, so he'll give me an ultimate disk, with a key, for 32-bit or 64-bit

2. I use Linux most of the time and only run Windows when I need to game, as WINE games in Linux don't quite cut it most of the time.

But I see what you mean when you say that things could get hot in there, but I forgot to mension my current rig has a GREAT fan, it runs so quitely, and I take it out, and this stuff gets to like 90+ degrees, but with it there, it runs at like 30, so I imagine with everything at 100%, it probably be like 70-80 degrees in there (except the 480 itself, since it has big overheating issues, and that is well documented, so I imagine that being at 90 degrees with everything else in 70-80 range).

So I looked, and I can actually get a AMD motherboard even cheaper, but now I just need to find all these parts on amazon, so I can use my Prime membership to get the parts quicker. And I posted my power supply awhile back, 600 Watts is more than enough. I know it works, cause I can plug it into my current motherboard, and it runs perfectly, except anything 3D crashes, giving me the error that my motherboard doesn't support the graphics card 3D acceleration. This includes the Aero desktop, which was my first give away as to why it wasn't working.

Edit:

So I looked into this further, and the parts I want that are in the price range I need are not prime eligible, so I decided to look on newegg for better deals, and this is what I came up with, tell me if this is any good:

Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103873

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130241

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233067

I think these are pretty good for the pricing, 3.2 dual-core for $65 dollar? I don't think I could get a 2.1 ghz. Intel Dual-Core processor for that much. So tell me if you now anything else I absolutely need, cause I still have $10.04 in the budget if a new fan is in order, or ram.
 
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the cpu has to have a cooler, the fan in your case won't do anything for it, you try to run it without one and the comp can't even turn on thanks to failsafes they see there is no cooler so it says no.
 
...dont get the newegg perferred account unless you plan to pay it off, the interest WILL rape you. i know, due to having one...interest is like 40 percent or something...rediculous, if you do plan to finance it with a card, use a real card, not the newegg.
 
...dont get the newegg perferred account unless you plan to pay it off, the interest WILL rape you. i know, due to having one...interest is like 40 percent or something...rediculous, if you do plan to finance it with a card, use a real card, not the newegg.

I'm not paying off like that, I'm actually paying for the parts, all at once, I have the money. So I'm good :D I finally found some good parts for cheap, I got my friend to finally pay me the $10 he owes me too, so I can buy a cpu cooler as well, will this do:

Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103087

with this CPU:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na&AID=10521304&PID=4169961&SID=cdgxgeor70c0

Thanks in advance.
 
You don't need yet another standard AM2 cooler. That is a boxed CPU, and johnny should have noticed that. It will come with the CPU, a sticker for your case, and a AM2 cooler with paste preapplied.
 
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