M2N68-LA (Narra2) First Time Mod Please Help

[toucansam]

Christmas time is here! And this year I get the old desktop because my dad bought a new one!
Time to upgrade!!.....???
....But it's my first time. It's not that I am in any way tech-impaired. I just want to be sure I'm doing it right and that all my components will work on this mobo.

SO after much research this is what I have:

Base Computer: HP Pavilion a6110n
Link- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01048277&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3436818

Mobo: M2N68-LA (Narra2)

Link- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01080282&lc=en&cc=ca&dlc=en&product=3436818&lang=en#N453

GPU: Athlon 64 X2 (B) 4400+ 2.3 GHz (65W)
Is this too sub-standard for my upgrades?



What I've decided to upgrade- HDD, Graphics, Memory, Sound Card, PSU

Budget- ~$300 (its low I know….)

Memory: Kingston 2GB KTH-XW4300/2G DDR2-667

Ports on mobo- four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
Supports PC-4200 (533 MHz), PC2-5300 (667 MHz), and PC-6400 (800 MHz) DDR2 DIMMs
Non-ECC memory only, unbuffered

Link- http://compare.ebay.com/like/221158016948?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y&bigimg=y

Graphics: ASUS ENGTX550 TI DC/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Mobo has one PCIe x16 slot

Link- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121435

HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Link- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

PSU: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Link- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Sound Card: Vantec 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card

Link- http://pcsdesign.ca/Products/Vantec-71-Channel-PCI-Sound-Card?m1track=googlebase&gclid=CNG09ZL3q7QCFQ3nnAodWBIACQ#googlebase


Pros Cons? Comments? Suggestions? Praises? Bashes? Noob GTFO? Anything is very much appreciated!

All I'm trying to accomplish here is to get my hands dirty in desktop modding and eventually building. Want to do it right so I'm here for hopefully for some conformation on what my research has given me. Thanks to all.

p.s. here is the guide I’m using-
Link-
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9134545/This_old_PC_Revitalizing_an_aging_desktop_computer_on_the_cheap?pageNumber=3

 

[Xttony]

First of all, your processor will cause a problem with the graphics card performance. Try to get 800MHz memory.
Other things are fine.

P.S. You do not need a 650 watt PSU. 500watt will suffice.

 

[toucansam]

Thanks alot for the quick reply. Me being a first timer and all I'm still just scratching the surface with all there is to know about graphics cards. It's hard for me to get all the right info for what I'm doing so I really really appreciate you helping me out on this (probably my biggest) dilemma.

how is this?- VisionTek 900181 Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Link- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129091

 

[Xttony]

That is a pretty old card even for that processor.
Try this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161337

I think the cards are a little overpriced. Try eBay. They have great prices for old items.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATI-Radeon-HD-4670-1GB-1024MB-DDR3-PCI-Express-Video-Graphics-Card-Hdmi-Dvi-Vga-/300812663761?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item4609d4fbd1

 

[toucansam]

Is there one like that with a PCIe x16? Dont think my mobo has an APG slot... :/

 

[toucansam]

oh btw how accurate is this article? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/351987-33-best-pair-4400

 

[Xttony]

Don't have much experience with nVidia cards but Ati was much better than nVidia. In the article they are talking about a hd 6550 from amd not Ati. AMD has failed to keep up the standards of ATI. Trust me hd 4650 won't be a bad card.

I would have said to get a HD 4850 it is a phenomenal card but your processor may bottleneck it.

 

[toucansam]

I also read somewhere about "effective speed"... something about how DRR3 running at 1600MHz is just really running at 800...

**edit: ignore this**

 

[toucansam]

"I would have said to get a HD 4850 it is a phenomenal card but your processor may bottleneck it."

will that f-up the card?

 

[Xttony]

You need to be considered about bus width(memory interface width)
Gt 430 128bit
Hd 4650 128bit
Hd 4850 256bit

Go for hd 4850 it is about $50-$100in ebay(buy it now)? Won't be a problem. Your CPU will drag down it a little bit.

I still have my HD 4850 512mB from Sapphire. I test all games with it. Recently I ran assassins creed 3 at full specs with no lag, no ssd, at 1080 full hd. If I use a ssd it takes on all games at highest specs(Even BF3) if you were wondering.

 

[toucansam]

You need to be considered about bus width(memory interface width)
Gt 430 128bit
Hd 4650 128bit
Hd 4850 256bit

Go for hd 4850 it is about $50-$100in ebay(buy it now)? Won't be a problem. Your CPU will drag down it a little bit.

I still have my HD 4850 512mB from Sapphire. I test all games with it. Recently I ran assassins creed 3 at full specs with no lag, no ssd, at 1080 full hd. If I use a ssd it takes on all games at highest specs(Even BF3) if you were wondering.

wow thats awesome. well thanks A TON for the help. really cant thank you enough. i'll post results here probably sometime after x-mas.

Thanks again

 

[toucansam]

Best answer selected by Toucansam.