Upgrading PC Help

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newton1812

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Hey how are you guys doing? I'll go into specs in a second. First lemme explain. I got this set up from a friend who was getting rid of it. I been using it for about 3 months with no problems. I'd like to upgrade it a bit, I'm wondering if it would be viable to do so.. or scrap it and try for something newer. I would like to the stay in the price range of 100 USD$ to 350$ MAX. I dont wanna spend 350 but if its the difference between some great and something ****ty I'll do it. Cheaper is better tho, I'm not a hardcore gamer or anything. :) I do not know if I should upgrade the power supply.

I'd like to keep my current set up just tweak it abit definitely a new case, is it hard moving everything into a new one? Mine has led lights and a neon cathode but I'd like to make upgraded one quite as possible with power supply gaskets, and fan mounts I have a general idea about them just no specific knowledge;)

I am completly lost on cables to connect motherboard to hd, or dvd, to ANYTHING lol, I'd like to revamp that whole mess in my box

My Current specs: pics to follow.

Motherobard: Foxconn 925xe7aa
Ram: 2x512 ddr2 533
Power supply: ATXpower 400 * not sure how to find out what exactly, says that on it.
HD: Maxtor 6y12p0 scsi-0
Video card: radeon x800 sapphire i think.
OS: windows vista 32bit I might be able to upgrade without spending money tho.



The Case: ****ty been dropped or kick or something prolly my back in the day partying with my friend. I'd like to get something with a side window if possible.

I'm looking at Amazon.com: Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case External 3 X 5.25; Internal 6 X 3.5 2*Usb2.0: Electronics

and

Amazon.com: Cooler Master RC-310-BWN1-GP Elite 310 ATX, MATX Mid Tower Case with Window (Black/Blue): Electronics

The Heatsink:
ORB Newegg.com - Thermaltake CL-P0257 Blue orb II CPU Cooler for LGA775 & K8 - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

or

zalman cool looking
Newegg.com - ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

The Memory:

Corsair Newegg.com - CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS2GBKIT533D2 - Desktop Memory






Objectives- New Case, CPU heatsink upgrade, RAM 3gb or more, Power supply? Cables to connect HD and DVD


THANKS FOR ALL THE FUTURE HELP

-Newton
 
either of those cases should work well for you.

its not hard at all to move parts from one case to another as it mostly consists of unscrewing and re-screwing parts and reconnecting some cables.
 
The cables in the case are pretty shot, and its missing a hd cable, i took one from another computer and it worked i tried another and it didnt.

is there a specific cable for this motherboard to connect to hds?

Should i get a bigger power source?
 
it depends on what kinds of drives you have because your mobo supports both sata and ide.

just incase youre not sure about which you have, heres an example of both
http://blog.taragana.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sata-pata-cables-295x3001.jpg

the top half of the pic shows an ide drive. if your hdd or optical drives use that wide cable, then you need an ide cable.
Newegg.com - Link Depot 36" 3 Connectors Yellow ATA133 UV Cable Model UV-ATA36-YE-3 - Cables
if you need an ide cable i would get a round one like that one because its easier to work with and doesnt block airflow.

the bottom half of the pic shows a sata drive. if your hdd or optical drives use that thinner cable then you need a sata cable
Newegg.com - OKGEAR 24" SATA II Cable Model GC24AKM12 - Cables

if you have the some extra money, yes i would upgrade the psu too.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies
i would get this one because youre not running particularly demanding hardware in your rig, but this is a strong psu for the money from a good brand so it will handle some future upgrades, but nothing extreme :p
 
I went with the antec case, awesome case. and blue orb 2. I'm waiting on cables and silica gel dampeners for the 4 120mm fans, and top 140mm fan. artic silver 5 thermal compound and 4gb 4x1gb ram. It wont be the best computer out there, but for under 150$ it'll be awesome.

thanks for all the help


one more thing, I been looking up for instructions how to install everything, i got cpu ram, psu covered. The mobo itself will be the hardest thing, are there any tuts out there that anyone would recommend?
 
Build a PC - Fitting the Motherboard - PCitYourself.com

not hard at all. that video basically covers what to do:

you pop out the rear i/o panel shield that comes with the case and put on the rear i/o panel that came with your mobo.

line up your mobo inside the case and take note of which holes it will use but dont screw it in yet. you need to put in mobo stand-offs first in the holes that you will be using, and then screw your mobo in place ontop of those.

the mobo stand-offs should come with the case.
 
i still gotta do some cable management. but for my first time I think it went pretty well. I have 3 120mm fans coming as well as dampeners and 4gb of ram. The clearance for the top 140mm wasnt enough with the orb so i opted for take it out. aswell as the 4extra usb2.0 in the back(the case has 2 in front and 4 in back.)

1001286o.jpg


1001287.jpg


as for the clearance with chipsetheatsink, it was close. !cool

1001271a.jpg



Also I was looking into buying a new hd maybe sata, is it alright to mix ide with sata? which is better any suugestions on newegg products?
 
20-50$ i think. sata is better. cool thanks

I'm thinking to dremel maybe a 1/4 inch flat off the orb so the top 140x140x25 fan fits. is this a good idea? or should i just invest in a slimmer fan? I been looking and the only slimmer one i could find is still 140x140x20mm

also. The 3 connector i bought for my 2 ide drives dont work, not even when its hooked up to one. I think the smaller hd is broke or something because when i plug them to gether my computer cant find any HD's. I have 1 hd connected by ribbon its ugly and minimizes airflow. ideas?

Video card, i am dumbfounded how to clean INSIDE my video card is there a way to open it?

software updates and drivers, are there any good programs to monitor cpu temps, update all drivers, and optimize computer performance?

thanks again.
 
hdds
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

no, i wouldnt cut the heatsink because it might affect how it cools.

i also couldnt find any 140mm fans slimmer than what you found, but i did find a slim 120mm
Scythe "SLIP STREAM SLIM" 120 x 12mm Fan - High Speed Products Model: SY1212SL12H [SY1212SL12H] : Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
(also available in medium speed, low speed, and ultra low speed.)

but i dont think the the top fan mount holes support a 120mm fan. if you have a drill you could make your own holes, or ghetto mount it with some cable ties.

The 3 connector i bought for my 2 ide drives dont work, not even when its hooked up to one.

can you explain this a little more?

to clean the gfx card; if you have a can of compressed air you can use that.

to monitor temps, you can try CPUID

i dont think theres a program that will update all your drivers and optimize your pc. i will have to get back to you on that one.
 
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