Extreme Budget - Advice needed

[wanderica]

My mobo crapped out on me, and I've decided to use this opportunity to upgrade as much as I can. I've listed the parts I need and the parts I have below. I've also done a bit of research and made a couple of preliminary choices. Even though my knowledge base is leagues ahead of where it was 5 years ago when I built my current (and first) rig, I still have a few newb questions to ask. Thanks in advance for any and all help.


Parts I need: these are just the "must haves." I would also like to add a second HDD (maybe a 500Gb), but that can come a bit later with no issues.

mobo - $109.99 Gigabyte GAMA790X

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...Gigabyte%20MA790X-UD4P

CPU - $119.00 AMD X3 710

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103648

RAM - $47.99 Kingston 2 x 2 Gb DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820134730


The rest I can reuse from my current system, or at least I hope I can. I do have one very noobish question, though. Can I use my current 8800 GTX nVidia card with this mobo without running into any issues? Having to replace the vid card right now would make this upgrade an impossibility. I'm not at all opposed to Intel, by the way. This just seemed like the most cost effective route to take. Oh yeah, one more thing. I thought I might try my hand at overclocking as well. Would this be a good budget system for that purpose? Thanks again for answering my questions.

 

[mpilchfamily]

DO you have an OS for the system.

you won't be able to use the existing install on your HDD with the new motherboard. The OS is tied to the motherboard it was installed on. So if you have to use that old install on the HDD you'll need to replace the motherboard with the same model you had before.

 

[wanderica]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that. I'm currently running windows XP pro and plan to stick with it. I should be able to install it after a wipe with no issues. Everything will be upgraded in time, but at this point, the bare essentials are all I can afford. Also, I do a lot of gaming, but I depend on my PC for school, so stability is also a bit of a concern.

 

[Jray]

I would recommend the following instead. I just built one very similar. The 720 is a better CPU, especially for overclocking.


AMD PhII X3 720 ($139): http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103649

I suppose RAM is personal preference, but this one will help you make up the difference for the extra you would spend on the CPU -

OCZ 2 x 2GB ($36 AR): http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227269

You should be able to use your current 8800GTX without problem.