PC repair/upgrade

[zessary]

My motherboard has just crapped out on me recently leaving me with two options. I could just find a suitable replacement board or to take the opportunity to upgrade. Since my experience with the later games (specifically Skyrim) have been barely acceptable to play, I have set a budget of approximately $600-$700 for a rebuild. A side note is that the monitor that i just got is from costco and i can return it at no cost or fuss, but so far i'm really liking the picture; no gaming on it yet though.

Here's what I currently have:

Monitor
23" Samsung SyncMAster SA350 $199
1920x1080 resolution w/ 2ms response

Case
Tsunami Dream
Old faithful. Bought it off a friend like 6 years ago.

Motherboard
Don't remember, it's dead.

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (6M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 1333)

Video Card
GeForce 8800 GTS GDDR3 512MB

Power Supply
Turbo-Cool 510 ATX-PFC
This thing is/was a beast when i bought from friend in Tsunami Dream case.
http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/turbo-cool-510-atx.html

RAM
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

SSD
Intel SSDSA2M080G2GC
80GB ssd SATAII
This actually lives in my netbook at the moment. I have considered moving it into my new build if that's advisable.

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB
8MB Cache

Then i have an optic and floppy drive we don't need to discuss.

That's what i have to start with. My initial research has made me think the following would be a good upgrade at low cost:

Intel Core i5-2500K $215
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1024MB $210-$230
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $45
Motherboard - Don't know what i should get really. about $120-$150?

I would appreciate any input. I think my power supply is still going to cut it, but I haven't been really into hardware for years so this is almost like starting from scratch.

I'm not some super hardcore gamer, but I do like to get the occasional new release and I want it to look great and perform well. Otherwise i watch a lot of HD movies and sometimes use Visual Studio (resource hog) here at home. I want the system to future resistant.

thanks!

 

[janas19]

Newegg has a wattage calculator, you can plug in the parts you want and it will tell you how big a power supply you need. It's not exact but it's helpful.

 

[zessary]

thanks, looks like i'd be cutting it close. that sucks.

 

[janas19]

thanks, looks like i'd be cutting it close. that sucks.

The good news is power supplies are much more efficient and cheaper nowadays

 

[zessary]

The good news is power supplies are much more efficient and cheaper nowadays

Any additional input on my selections or an idea for motherboard?

 

[janas19]

The selection you have looks pretty good. The Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 costs $115 AR and has a 4 phase VRM. It can support overclocks up to 4.5Ghz. Since I assume you'll be overclocking, you will want an aftermarket cooler and the Cooler Master 212 offers excellent performance and value for $35.

Other than that, I can't think of anymore suggestions off the top of my head.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

The selection you have looks pretty good. The Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 costs $115 AR and has a 4 phase VRM. It can support overclocks up to 4.5Ghz. Since I assume you'll be overclocking, you will want an aftermarket cooler and the Cooler Master 212 offers excellent performance and value for $35.

Other than that, I can't think of anymore suggestions off the top of my head.

looks good

 

[mfenn]

thanks, looks like i'd be cutting it close. that sucks.

The Turbo Cool you have is also an old ATX 2.1 PSU that doesn't have a 24-pin ATX connector, 8-pin EPS12V connector, or any PCIe power connectors. All of these could be worked around individually, but when taken together, they result in a severely outdated PSU.

Given your budget and current parts, here's what I would do:

i5 2500K $205 AP
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 $115 AR
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $30
6950 2GB $250 AR AP - potentially unlockable to 6970
XFX Core 650W $60 AR
Total: $660 AR AP

 

[zessary]

The Turbo Cool you have is also an old ATX 2.1 PSU that doesn't have a 24-pin ATX connector, 8-pin EPS12V connector, or any PCIe power connectors. All of these could be worked around individually, but when taken together, they result in a severely outdated PSU.

Given your budget and current parts, here's what I would do:

i5 2500K $205 AP
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 $115 AR
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $30
6950 2GB $250 AR AP - potentially unlockable to 6970
XFX Core 650W $60 AR
Total: $660 AR AP

Is there a particular reason you're suggesting the 6950? I don't really want to get into an in depth debate on who's better, but my understanding is that it's highly debatable. I have personally had better experiences with nVidia than ATI, but that was a long time ago.

 

[mfenn]

Is there a particular reason you're suggesting the 6950? I don't really want to get into an in depth debate on who's better, but my understanding is that it's highly debatable. I have personally had better experiences with nVidia than ATI, but that was a long time ago.

Yes, the 6950 2GB is faster than the GTX 560 Ti in most games and doesn't suffer from VRAM limitations when enabling high levels of AA. This particular one also has a chance to be unlocked to a 6970, which is generally faster than a GTX 570.