CoolKD

Just to have more to compare. I run a older Corsair RM750X (750W) on a power hungry Asus ROG Strix RTX3080Ti 12G OC and AMD Ryzen5 5600X with no issues. (running problem free for about 2 years) PSU rating on mine is 62,5A on the +12V rail. So I also think your fine if the ratings is a true useble 700W PSU

Cant complain

Think nothing of it . This is no problem as long as the cables is not pressed hard against it so it could damage the insulation on the cables.

Over the years (first PC in 2000) I have "future proofed" my rigs with the best or almost the best cards every time I upgraded. Last year I got myself a GTX1080Ti, the upgrade was from a GTX680 direct CU2 TOP card that has served me well and long.(before the 680 it was a GTX285 and before that 8800GTS) So as you can see I always jump over many generations of cards. So going for the top cards has usually worked for me. But things have become so expensive now a days that going for a flagship card is out of most peoples budget. The RTX cards was out when I got the 1080ti, but was reluctant to pay the idiotic price for 20 or so more frames. So my logic is buy big and upgrade less often. Doing this I always have a card that does all the games good enough at the end of its life and always get a huge boost when I finally do upgrade. So save up your money and go as big as you can afford. It's better to jump over some generations and save up money for a flagship card or close to it then to piss money away on some half upgrade thing.

Was flipping trough some old backup files and came across screenshots from Battlefield 2142. Actually does not look half bad considering it's from 2006.

I have almost the same mobo as you, so this is what I would have started checking: Go in to bios(advanced mode/view) then go to monitoring and check voltages for any abnormalitie. The voltages should be VERY close to described voltage on the sensor you are looking at. If you see values that are abnormal? Clean PSU and try that first. second you can try reseating all the connectors in the system. By that I'm talking about video card, RAM and power connectors. Is the voltages still bad, get a new PSU(around 600w + is good) Do a memory check. One stick at a time with memtest or similar software Feel around on the heat sinks on the motherboard for any super hot-spots. Running this mobo hot will make it do weird things. This I have experienced my self while running a bit high OC. Do a HDD check of file structure and health. A bad storage system can do some bad things Hope you get it fixed.

LOL.. Did not catch that pic for some reason.. I had the E8400 @ 3Ghz so I would call this sys with the E7300 good for entertainment and internet browsing on your TV. How high video quality this system would manage will reflect a bit on what graphics card you put in it. But I would not spend allot of cash to get this up and running because even a E84-8500 with mem and motherboard can be bought very cheap used. I see allot off these systems with LGA775 E8400, memory and motherboard selling for as low as $50 up to around $102. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-GA-X38-DS4-LGA-775-Intel-E8400-3-0GHZ-Geil-4GB-RAM-/321353338401?pt=Motherboards&hash=item4ad226ce21

For gaming NO, but for media and you get the rest of the parts cheep/free.. Go for it. The Core2Duo is a solid CPU and I still have it fresh in my memory how it performed. Had it in my prew system some years ago now, when I think about it the one I got now is starting to get old(i7 2600K) Do you know witch Core2Duo it is?

I keep it down, cos I want all the air getting sucked out through the top and also cooling the rad. This is in a Corsair 550D so the filter under the case takes care of most of the dust.

Can I just say something... Go Win7 64bit. Have Windows 8 on my laptop and I do not see it winning my vote.. I run Win7 on my main rig

OK people.. I did the "put both drives in my main rig and HDD clone" and it was a complete success. Thanks for your input guys

I have not done it. And yes a USB to SATA would be the thing, but I'm looking to do this now.

My only concern is that Windows7 changes the drive somehow so it doesn't boot when it's back in the laptop. Thanks for quick response man