Motherboard + Processor Upgrade!

[Shocky]

Currently I'm using a socket 939 board(out of style!) 2 gigs of outdated 939 board ram, a 8800GS Superclocked video card and an Athlon 4200+ 2.4ghz dual core.

Now, what I plan on doing with my 400 dollars is getting the following:

-Motherboard
-Processor
-Case (with power supply)

Requirements:
I have to be able to stick everything else into the new case:
-Video Card
-External Drives (unless it comes with a dvd drive)
-Hard Drive


I think to get a hard drive to work for a new computer I just have to stick it in and reformat right? That's what somebody told me.

Also, since I know you're all tech savvy is there anyway I can have music coming out of my speakers and ventrilo through my headset? I'm almost certain I have 2 soundcards. The realtek on board and the sound card that came with my icemat audio headphones (I think it's an external soundcard, called c-media usb device.

In ventrilo I can select from the dropdown box:
Default Wave Mapper
Realtek AC97 Audio
C-Media USB Sound Device

This means I have 2 sound cards right? So it's possible, right?

Anyway, I appreciate it guys.

 

[Kharn]

I am sure you will be stuck with 939 as it was AM2 that allowed the use of DDR2 ram you might be able to find a better 939 processor but i doubt it would be cheep. BUT the price of DDR2 ram is supper cheep at the moment, so you will be able to find 3gb for around the £40 price range.

Also don't cheep out on a PSU most of the ones bundeld with cases are fine if your building a cheep email / surfing box but when it comes to anything else it's worth investing in a GOOD PSU, if you look in the sticky index you will find a PSU guid that would be a worthwhile starting point.

 

[oldskool]

I think to get a hard drive to work for a new computer I just have to stick it in and reformat right? That's what somebody told me.

I would try installing it without reformatting first, because if the BIOS recognizes your drive and sees your current partitioning scheme, you may be all set. We swapped drives at school between computers (removable hard drives), and sometimes they would boot up ok, and sometimes you would have to enter the CMOS and do some BIOS updating.

Also, since I know you're all tech savvy is there anyway I can have music coming out of my speakers and ventrilo through my headset? I'm almost certain I have 2 soundcards. The realtek on board and the sound card that came with my icemat audio headphones (I think it's an external soundcard, called c-media usb device.

In ventrilo I can select from the dropdown box:
Default Wave Mapper
Realtek AC97 Audio
C-Media USB Sound Device

This means I have 2 sound cards right? So it's possible, right?

Anyway, I appreciate it guys.

They both may be listed, but you may be only able to use one at a time. I think they share IRQ 5 (not sure, maybe 9 - too lazy to look lol) which is all done transparently by the OS.

 

[Shocky]

Upgrading Mobo+CPU

I accidentally asked this on the general boards before i did here, since my PC is high performance.

What I'm doing is replacing my case, motherboard, processor, and ram.

I want it to be able to use my external drives, harddrive, and all other accessories like my mouse, keyboard, monitor, headset (I know this is a given, but I want to specify).

I have a budget of 300 dollars and I don't think that'll get me all I want. But I'd like to see if it can, if it cannot, I could just buy a new PSU instead of the whole case. But I have a micro ATX case, so I don't think a new motherboard would fit.

 

[oldskool]

Will your gear work with a microATX board ?

 

[Hussein19891]

Re: Upgrading Mobo+CPU

"I have a micro ATX case, so I don't think a new motherboard would fit."

So just buy a M-Atx motherboard. Also the Micro Atx cases and motherboards are always cheaper.

 

[Shocky]

309.00 with shipping is my total on what I've put together so far,
how's this look?

Newegg.com - RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEBP 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - MSI K9N SLI-F V.2 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570LT ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor - CPUs / Processors

I already have this:
Newegg.com - EVGA 384-P3-N853-AR GeForce 8800GS Superclocked 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Logitech G5, Default Keyboard, The Harddrives that came with my Acer (I'm still using them, they're pretty good)

If I do get these, do I just have to put it all together? Do I need a heatsink + thermal glue for my processor?

 

[veg1992]

Raidmax don't make good PSU's (check our guide..) also its integrated... thats pretty bad..

Why don't you reuse your MicroATX Case, and buy a 780g board (its mATX board)
keep the 5000+ BE and use the money saved to buy a decent PSU that won't risk your components

You'll need a CPU Cooler and a Thermal Paste injector because the 5000+ BE doesn't come with one

 

[Shocky]

Would you mind showing me a few ideas?

 

[veg1992]

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE TA780G M2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

I personally own that board.. its really good

Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Thats a good Cooler..

Nice PSU:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Power Supplies

Ownage Thermal Paste for the price:
Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease