Need help picking out a power supply

[venatrix]

hi, i have a few questions. i have a acer am1641-u1521a and im upgrading the ram/video/processor. i was trying to look on google to see what type of power supply i needed and i read somewhere that it might be a atx type but im not sure. can anyone help me find out if that is true? also if it is, i found this power supply with decent reviews http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5079834&CatId=1078 but i have a question about it. it has a huge fan on the top but my case doesn't have a huge hole, would pointing into the case ruin the hardware? also, would you guys recommend that? i read on a lot of reviews that power supply burns out computer components and don't last long but I don't have very much money. my last question is, can anyone point me in the direction for some good ram? i would really like 4gb (currently have 2gb) but i don't know what brand to get and what is good for my budget (around 20-30$ for this yea.. :/ )

e/ also what would be a good lga 775 cpu cooler for around 20-30?

 

[bennaye]

well what components are you looking to upgrade to? what power supply you get depends very much on what components it's powering. if you're upgrading video then you definitely need to consider it's requirements, as that will draw the most power.

for ram, this should do:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

 

[Guest]

well what components are you looking to upgrade to? what power supply you get depends very much on what components it's powering. if you're upgrading video then you definitely need to consider it's requirements, as that will draw the most power.

for ram, this should do:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

He can't use ddr3 memory his mainboard supports ddr2 which unfortunately because of supply and demand is double the price http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006042%20600006066&IsNodeId=1&name=4GB%20%282%20x%202GB%29&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20

Upgrading your outdated computer is not a good idea. The difference between ddr2 and ddr3 memory is $25. A h61 mainboard will cost you $50. You can get a better computer if you replace the mainboard and get a sandy bridge cpu which will cost less and give you more performance over any 775 cpu. Another thing is that you only have 2 ram slots so you have to throw away 2 gb to get to 4gb.

I don't know what your budget is but if you get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332 and let's say this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116397

 

[abekl]

Unfortunately, that PC is not worth upgrading. You'd be much better off saving for a new PC.

 

[venatrix]

your right about updating this old computer, but would I be able to build a decent one for around 200$ max? so if I decided to get the motherboard you listed, would the motherboard fit in my case? and would my hard drive and cd drive work for the motherboard? I can stick with 2GB ram for awhile longer (actually, probably don't even need more than that) but I need a better processor. right now I use my computer for gaming (i play skyrim, vindictus and some shooting games, would like to play bf3 on low settings but that is probably a really far stretch) and I also use my computer for working. I use a sign program called flexi and I use photoshop and I use them at the same time for designing and vinyl cutting etc etc. right now my current setup has the computer i listed above but I also have a graphic card (that shouldn't probably be in my computer). the graphic card is a geforce GT220 1GB memory but its not as wide as other desktop cards its a little smaller but fits in the slot. i have the area of the card where you put the plugs just enough in the back to be able to stick a hdmi cable into it (just barely plugs fully in!). so if I upgrade my computer I dont want to test my luck taking the video card out of this motherboard to stick it in another, so I need a new video card that is at least as good as the current one. thats why I was searching for a better processor (e8400) and a power supply. but if you could help me build something around 200$ that is an decent improvement from what I have now that would be awesome, I don't mind spending a little bit over 200$, like 250$ at the very max but I don't really want to because I'm on a tight budget but I really need a better computer.

 

[Guest]

your right about updating this old computer, but would I be able to build a decent one for around 200$ max? so if I decided to get the motherboard you listed, would the motherboard fit in my case? and would my hard drive and cd drive work for the motherboard? I can stick with 2GB ram for awhile longer (actually, probably don't even need more than that) but I need a better processor. right now I use my computer for gaming (i play skyrim, vindictus and some shooting games, would like to play bf3 on low settings but that is probably a really far stretch) and I also use my computer for working. I use a sign program called flexi and I use photoshop and I use them at the same time for designing and vinyl cutting etc etc. right now my current setup has the computer i listed above but I also have a graphic card (that shouldn't probably be in my computer). the graphic card is a geforce GT220 1GB memory but its not as wide as other desktop cards its a little smaller but fits in the slot. i have the area of the card where you put the plugs just enough in the back to be able to stick a hdmi cable into it (just barely plugs fully in!). so if I upgrade my computer I dont want to test my luck taking the video card out of this motherboard to stick it in another, so I need a new video card that is at least as good as the current one. thats why I was searching for a better processor (e8400) and a power supply. but if you could help me build something around 200$ that is an decent improvement from what I have now that would be awesome, I don't mind spending a little bit over 200$, like 250$ at the very max but I don't really want to because I'm on a tight budget but I really need a better computer.

Yeah I see what you mean. What is the resolution of your monitor?

 

[abekl]

GIGABYTE GA-H61M-DS2 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128527
$55

Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996586
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146748
$23

Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
$125

XFX HD-455X-ZAFR Radeon HD 4550 1GB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150582
$45

Total: 248.

 

[venatrix]

the display is 1440 x 900, dell monitor. i have a hdmi to dvi adapter plugged into it. i plan to upgrade the monitor but not any time soon in the near future and not to something much bigger ( i think its like 17inch wide)

is that gigabyte motherboard better than the biostar above? the reviews on it arent that great but i dont know anything lol

also, i found this neat website while looking for power supply on youtube. what do you guys think? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6jHQ

 

[Guest]

the display is 1440 x 900, dell monitor. i have a hdmi to dvi adapter plugged into it. i plan to upgrade the monitor but not any time soon in the near future and not to something much bigger ( i think its like 17inch wide)

is that gigabyte motherboard better than the biostar above? the reviews on it arent that great but i dont know anything lol

also, i found this neat website while looking for power supply on youtube. what do you guys think? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6jHQ

I'm not a fan of coolermaster psu's but at your price range you could do worst. At your resolution i would get a 6670. You will notice a huge improvement over the gt 520. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952 .

There is another thing to consider if your windows came with the computer it's OEM, meaning that it won't activate on a new motherboard.

 

[Guest]

you can look through these websites to see the differences in fps between a gt 520 and a 6670

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GT_520/6.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6670/5.html

the 1280x1024 resolution is the closest to yours.

Without upgrading your gpu you won't notice much of a difference in gaming.

 

[venatrix]

I'm not a fan of coolermaster psu's but at your price range you could do worst. At your resolution i would get a 6670. You will notice a huge improvement over the gt 520. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952 .

There is another thing to consider if your windows came with the computer it's OEM, meaning that it won't activate on a new motherboard.

what power supply would you suggest given with the amount of money i can spend? also, is that graphic card worth the extra 20$ or so? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6jPR im a bit over D:

 

[venatrix]

you can look through these websites to see the differences in fps between a gt 520 and a 6670

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GT_520/6.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6670/5.html

the 1280x1024 resolution is the closest to yours.

Without upgrading your gpu you won't notice much of a difference in gaming.

i guess ill be getting the amd one but what about everything else? can it fit in my case? the motherboard looks so tiny

 

[Guest]

what power supply would you suggest given with the amount of money i can spend? also, is that graphic card worth the extra 20$ or so? http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6jPR im a bit over D:

This corsair is $5 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 . With the $25 of MIR you will go under budget. If you don't wont to worry about MRI you can get this psu and put yourself under budget http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182022 , it's about as good as the coolermaster psu.

 

[Guest]

i guess ill be getting the amd one but what about everything else? can it fit in my case? the motherboard looks so tiny

Yeah everything should fit, the acer motherboard looks like a standard atx case, a micro atx board should fit in fine