rebuilding my old pc, need help!

[guinelle1]

so my old comp decided to take a crap on me, so now i plan on upgrading/rebuilding it. i would just like for you guys to check my parts for me and make sure thats all okay. i plan on reusing my nvidia 9500 gt graphics card, and my two HDD so i dont need those i guess. im trying to do this as cheap as possible. please let me know any suggestions. thanks!

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9030/screenshottbe.png

[guinelle1]

from my research i should probably go with a better brand PSU, anyone have any other input?

[zburns]

Hi guinelle1,

I have looked long and hard at your list this morning and some things just do not match up. So I am going to give you a starting point and then you get back to me, and, we go from there.

1. Here is the url for the motherboard Asus cat # you specify: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A88TM/#specifications

Please pull up the mobo from this URL, then go to 'memory/device support' and pull up the QVL ('qualified vendor list' for memory) I do not see your choice of Gskill memory on this QVL. That being the case you need to pick new memory from this QVL list.
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Back at 1:45pm.

2. The graphics card you are planning to reuse requires very little power; here are the power specs from the invidia product page (invidia url: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-9500-gt/specifications ):
Thermal and Power Specs: 105 CMaximum GPU Temperature (in C), 50 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W), 350 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W). Note the very low overall total system watts of 350 watts.

I suggest a new power supply of about 500 watts or 550 watts max. I would also suggest you look at Antec for the psu and get a non-modular psu.

As a general rule of thumb on psus, it is best to at least use them, at a minimum, in the 50% power level. If you stayed with 700 watts, you will use less than 50 % of the total capacity -- just better not to go that low!!

-----------------

Last question. Is there any reason you would want to overclock this build? Do you plan for the 9500 gt graphics card to be the permanent card or the card for the next three or four years?

3. As far as the case and dvd burner, they should be fine. The case is a micro ATX. It is interesting on the Asus motherboard page, I only saw micro X at the very bottom of the spec page and in lower case type -- no where else. Does not mean anything but it is strange that 'micro atx' would be 'so minimized'.

[guinelle1]

Hi guinelle1,

I have looked long and hard at your list this morning and some things just do not match up. So I am going to give you a starting point and then you get back to me, and, we go from there.

1. Here is the url for the motherboard Asus cat # you specify: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A88TM/#specifications

Please pull up the mobo from this URL, then go to 'memory/device support' and pull up the QVL ('qualified vendor list' for memory) I do not see your choice of Gskill memory on this QVL. That being the case you need to pick new memory from this QVL list.
-------------------
Back at 1:45pm.

2. The graphics card you are planning to reuse requires very little power; here are the power specs from the invidia product page (invidia url: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-9500-gt/specifications ):
Thermal and Power Specs: 105 CMaximum GPU Temperature (in C), 50 WMaximum Graphics Card Power (W), 350 WMinimum System Power Requirement (W). Note the very low overall total system watts of 350 watts.

I suggest a new power supply of about 500 watts or 550 watts max. I would also suggest you look at Antec for the psu and get a non-modular psu.

As a general rule of thumb on psus, it is best to at least use them, at a minimum, in the 50% power level. If you stayed with 700 watts, you will use less than 50 % of the total capacity -- just better not to go that low!!

-----------------

Last question. Is there any reason you would want to overclock this build? Do you plan for the 9500 gt graphics card to be the permanent card or the card for the next three or four years?

3. As far as the case and dvd burner, they should be fine. The case is a micro ATX. It is interesting on the Asus motherboard page, I only saw micro X at the very bottom of the spec page and in lower case type -- no where else. Does not mean anything but it is strange that 'micro atx' would be 'so minimized'.


First of all, thanks for your help :) im sorry im such a noob at this, its my first "build". but i have worked with computers alot before. i have already been looking at using a antec PSU from my resarch, and i do plan to upgrade the graphics card in the future, when my funds allow. i do NOT plan to overclock. ill update my list and see what you think. thanks again

[guinelle1]

im having trouble finding Memory on that list that is actually availiable for purchase on newegg. does it have to be from this list or others may work?

[RickyTick]

Why are you going back to an old generation of cpu and motherboard?

If you feel compelled to use AMD, then at least go with their latest architecture.
Look at the Asus M5A97 motherboard, and the AMD FX-4100, or better yet the FX-8120.

[guinelle1]

haha, yeah i actually planned on upgrading a while back so i just used the wishlist that i had saved.. i made a new list now and i checked MSI's website to make sure my memory is compatible.

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/3888/screenshotudo.png