need motherboard suggestions

herbalt

Prominent
Oct 26, 2017
4
0
510
took my PC to Geek Squad and was told I need a new motherboard (I was afraid it was my gpu or psu, both of which I just bought last year, so I guess I'm glad it at least wasn't one of those). I'm not very tech-literate, so I'm looking for suggestions. preferably something that will work with my current setup (which is a Frankenstein homebrew of parts I've upgraded over the past few years, used to be a Dell, but basically nothing is left of the original, not even the tower/case), as well as being relatively future-proof (getting kinda sick of buying new components every couple years or so).

My current setup is as follows:

-old motherboard was a Gigabyte 970a-ud3 with 2x4gb ddr3 sdram

-gpu: EVGA GeForce gtx 950 (2gb)

-PSU: Corsair RM650x

-CPU: AMD fx-6100 Zambezi 6-core 3.3ghz socket am3+ 95w

I do some PC gaming (mainly League of Legends and Hearthstone), photoshop, and electronic music production. I don't necessarily need super high-end (nor can I afford it), but like I said, I'd like it to last me a while. My main concern is that it work with my current setup without modification or having to do additional upgrades (or minimal, at least). Last time I changed MBs, I had to get a different case because all the inputs on the back were aligned differently. I also had to do some modification on the case when I upgraded my PSU (took some tin snips and cut out/extended the opening for the power cord to reach).

Anyways, been putting this off for several weeks, and I'm not tech-savvy enough to pick the right component myself. I typically come check out Tom's "best of" lists whenever I get ready to upgrade components, but I'm just afraid of buying something that turns out to be incompatible and/or require additional upgrades (though I am aware I might have to invest in upgrades to memory or cpu depending on what I end up getting). Figured this community was a good place to start looking for suggestions.

Thanks in advance!
 
Solution
Something like this would be much stronger:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xw3w2R
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xw3w2R/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($193.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - STRIX B350-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $361.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-27 15:31 EDT-0400

herbalt

Prominent
Oct 26, 2017
4
0
510


Maybe $200-300? Not super tight budget-wise. I'd love to spend less than that, but I'm trying to stay realistic and am prepared to spend more if necessary. Especially if it keeps me from having to dump more money into this box for at least a few more years (my previous MB lasted me about 5 years, iirc). I'm just afraid of getting something that won't be compatible with my current system and require additional upgrades, but I realize that may be a real possibility.
 

herbalt

Prominent
Oct 26, 2017
4
0
510


That's probably feasible. Any specific suggestions? Sorry if I sound helpless, but I've been extremely busy with work lately, and I have very limited time on my day off to cram in all the things I need to get done. It doesn't really leave me time to shop around online and look into specific products and verify their compatibility.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions so far. Worst case scenario, I might just grab that Gigabyte on Amazon just so my rig works again until I have time to look into upgrades (but I really hate the idea of blowing $90 on a temporary solution).
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
Something like this would be much stronger:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xw3w2R
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xw3w2R/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($193.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - STRIX B350-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $361.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-27 15:31 EDT-0400
 
Solution

herbalt

Prominent
Oct 26, 2017
4
0
510


Thank you SO MUCH for all your help! I've decided to go with this option. Even splurged for 3-day shipping so I can get back up and running asap! X)