Rebuilding a computer, tight on cash

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Patrick Cox

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Jan 14, 2014
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Hi, and thanks in advance for any help! I've been using my desktop computer solely for gaming for the last few years, but the motherboard crapped out. I've got some spare Christmas money to fix it with, so what I need now is a motherboard/processor combo for under $150. Any excess cash I have over I plan on throwing at the RAM.

Here's what I have so far:

600w PSU
nVidia e-GeForce 8800 GTX
2x 1Gb 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Windows 7 Home Basic

I've been doing research for a couple weeks on processors, but I've come to the conclusion that direct opinions would be best. I plan on playing things like Batman: Arkham City and Star Trek Online, and I'm worried about bottlenecking my GPU. Also, I know 2Gb is a sad amount of RAM, especially 667MHz, but one stick came with the computer (friend gifted it to me) and one stick was ten bucks, which was all I had at the time to spare.

All I need is a decent motherboard and processor, and I'm pretty sure that can be done on $150. I'm less sure about getting some decent RAM on that. Still, I can live with 2Gb if I can at least get the computer running.

Any suggestions?
 
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You could get a very decent MB/CPU combo for around or a little over 150$. 4GB of DDR3 is an extra 40$ If you manage to sell the old parts for a few $$, you might be able to do it. An AMD FX-4130 is 100$, the 6-core FX-6300 is 20$ more, and motherboards start at around 40-50$.

Your GPU is also quite old, it wont be bottlenecked by any modern CPU. I'd advise you to replace it, but that just won't be possible on that budget. Anyway, it should be fine for the games you listed, albeit with reduced quality settings.

However, if you just want to get your old PC running and don't want to invest more to upgrade later, you can probably get a used motherboard that would be compatible with your CPU and RAM for much less than that.
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Patrick Cox

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
2
0
10,510


Yeah, I was afraid of that. Been hoping to find a motherboard that wouldn't mind my RAM, but it looks like that's just not gonna happen.

I can't remember exactly what processor is in the machine right now, but as I recall it was listed as a dual core 2.5GHz. The current motherboard is an ECS 945GCT-M. My monitor displays at 1680x1050. I've no idea how to figure out what cooling system I have, but I'm not terribly worried about that and can deal with it if that becomes a problem. Hasn't been yet

Keep in mind, this was all put together by my friends several years ago, then given to me almost two years ago, and has been dead for half a year. I just got the spare cash to try and get it functional again, but I can't remember all the specs like I should. Anything else I should list out? Not sure what's missing.
 
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dav_jw

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Jan 18, 2010
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18,860
You could get a very decent MB/CPU combo for around or a little over 150$. 4GB of DDR3 is an extra 40$ If you manage to sell the old parts for a few $$, you might be able to do it. An AMD FX-4130 is 100$, the 6-core FX-6300 is 20$ more, and motherboards start at around 40-50$.

Your GPU is also quite old, it wont be bottlenecked by any modern CPU. I'd advise you to replace it, but that just won't be possible on that budget. Anyway, it should be fine for the games you listed, albeit with reduced quality settings.

However, if you just want to get your old PC running and don't want to invest more to upgrade later, you can probably get a used motherboard that would be compatible with your CPU and RAM for much less than that.
 
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