Got Screwed Need Help!

[Loki420]

Just to give a brief on what happened and the time frame, about 2 years ago I thought I was SO knowledgeable about computers I decided to have a company do a custom build for me. So I chose my motherboard and all the components I wanted from the list of options they provided, within a month of getting it the motherboard died on me, get it replaced and it seems to be working fine. Well here I am 2 years later and have learned A LOT about my pc, I just want to say this again I GOT SCREWED! I didn't get the GPU I ordered and it isn't compatible with the board. 

 

Anyway what I'm looking to do now is salvage my situation and get a proper gamming pc.

I'll have roughly $700 USD to spend, and I'll be using some parts from the old build such as ram and CPU probably the power supply.

I need a new case, motherboard, and GPU. I would like to stick to Nvidia's GPU. I need a case so that I can achieve good cable management.

 

Any and all suggestions would be helpful.

[RelentlessAF]

The Define R4 by fractal has good cable management. For a motherboard I would need to know the CPU you are using to recommend a specific socket type. As for a GPU a 750ti or 760 are pretty cheap and offer really good performance.

[dizmo]

What CPU do you have?

We'd need to know in order to make any really smart choices.
Also what do you use your computer for? What resolution do you game at, and what games?

 

Welcome to the forum

[Osmium]

Never mind. Partpicking in progress

 

is there a reason you don't want to use your mobo? Boards do not affect performance and if you are using the same CPU I see no reason to switch it up.

 

Also what is the CPU and PSU that you are keeping?

[dizmo]

I'll just throw this out there while we wait.

 

Define R4

MSI motherboard in the correct socket

EVGA B Stock GTX 780

 

And enjoy.

[Imabigmac]

Wanna tell us what you have and want to reuse?

[dragosudeki]

I'm sort of confused as to how a GPU is not compatible with a motherboard? Post what you got so far.

[Yummychickenblue]

Well I am an planning on getting the as us gtx 760 direct CU2 overclocked and it seems pretty food also what PSU/CPU do you have,and also I have heard good things about the define r4

[ForsakenLive]

Please list your components.

All current GPUs come with a PCIe x16 interface, and your motherboard shoud pretty much have it. I don't see the compatibility issue, if you are talking about PCIe 2.0 slot with a PCIe 3.0 GPU, then there is no problem, they are completely compatible and will perform the same as if it were on a 3.0 slot.

[Jobbe03]

hehe. I paid 2400$ at a retailer for a; fx-6100, 2GB 6950 2 years ago. Talk about overpaying. 

[Guest Generallee]

hehe. I paid 2400$ at a retailer for a; fx-6100, 2GB 6950 2 years ago. Talk about overpaying

 

you can't be serious

[Jobbe03]

you can't be serious

no joke

[Loki420]

Sorry I have a I7 2600k 3.4GHz

current Motherboard is the gigabyte Z68AP-D3

I have 8Gb DDR3 ram not sure of the manufacturer

160W power supply

the graphics card is the MSI GTX 520 with 1GB DDR3 so its an outdated card.

 

using the machine for games (skyrim, farcry 3, fallout NV, etc)

 

I want to replace the motherboard for better expandability.

[Thunderjolt]

hehe. I paid 2400$ at a retailer for a; fx-6100, 2GB 6950 2 years ago. Talk about overpaying. 

 

My wallet...

[Loki420]

also the reason I think that there's a compatibility issue between the GPU and motherboard, is that from day 1 the graphics card crashes once I start a game. After a couple of seconds with a black screen it recovers and works but I lose about half the frame rate after this happens.

[Loki420]

What CPU do you have?

We'd need to know in order to make any really smart choices.

Also what do you use your computer for? What resolution do you game at, and what games?

 

Welcome to the forum

Sorry I have a I7 2600k 3.4GHz

current Motherboard is the gigabyte Z68AP-D3

I have 8Gb DDR3 ram not sure of the manufacturer

160W power supply

the graphics card is the MSI GTX 520 with 1GB DDR3 so its an outdated card.

 

using the machine for games (skyrim, farcry 3, fallout NV, etc)

 

I want to replace the motherboard for better expandability.

[Ertman]

also the reason I think that there's a compatibility issue between the GPU and motherboard, is that from day 1 the graphics card crashes once I start a game. After a couple of seconds with a black screen it recovers and works but I lose about half the frame rate after this happens.

It's not a compatibility problem.

[dragosudeki]

I don't think there is such a thing as compatibility issue between Video Cards and Motherboards, though I could be wrong. Have you installed any drivers? I don't know if latest drivers will change anything. I'm unsure whether 160W will actually run your system.... Also, quote people so they can get notified of when you are responding to them

 

EDIT: I also think that what you need is a new Video Card. A new Motherboard won't increase an performance and might not even solve the issue you are having.

[Ertman]

Sorry I have a I7 2600k 3.4GHz

current Motherboard is the gigabyte Z68AP-D3

I have 8Gb DDR3 ram not sure of the manufacturer

160W power supply

the graphics card is the MSI GTX 520 with 1GB DDR3 so its an outdated card.

using the machine for games (skyrim, farcry 3, fallout NV, etc)

I want to replace the motherboard for better expandability.

160w psu can't be right. The 520 is video card not a gaming card, it's made for basic computer use or used in htpc.

Unless you really want to upgrade the everything, or have specific needs, you can achieve very good performance just by putting in a mid to high end GPU. The GPU upgrade is a better investment then a new build.

[brob]

 

Sorry I have a I7 2600k 3.4GHz

current Motherboard is the gigabyte Z68AP-D3

I have 8Gb DDR3 ram not sure of the manufacturer

160W power supply

the graphics card is the MSI GTX 520 with 1GB DDR3 so its an outdated card.

 

using the machine for games (skyrim, farcry 3, fallout NV, etc)

 

I want to replace the motherboard for better expandability.

 

 

Replacing the cpu and motherboard would be wasteful.

 

Need to know the part number on the memory and the psu. Also what case? Do you have an ssd? HDD?

[Loki420]

160w psu can't be right. The 520 is video card not a gaming card, it's made for basic computer use or used in htpc.

Unless you really want to upgrade the everything, or have specific needs, you can achieve very good performance just by putting in a mid to high end GPU. The GPU upgrade is a better investment then a new build.

I got the power supply wrong its 650W also the ram isn't anything special its just standard DDR3 1333 running in dual channel, would changing that have any benefits or be a waste.

[Loki420]

I don't think there is such a thing as compatibility issue between Video Cards and Motherboards, though I could be wrong. Have you installed any drivers? I don't know if latest drivers will change anything. I'm unsure whether 160W will actually run your system.... Also, quote people so they can get notified of when you are responding to them

 

EDIT: I also think that what you need is a new Video Card. A new Motherboard won't increase an performance and might not even solve the issue you are having.

I have all the latest drivers for it and the crashing is more frequent now than before. also starting games like skyrim and FO:NV causes the bios alarm to trigger. and its actually 650W I mis-typed that.

[Loki420]

Replacing the cpu and motherboard would be wasteful.

 

Need to know the part number on the memory and the psu. Also what case? Do you have an ssd? HDD?

not looking to replace the cpu but the motherboard alarm trigger when starting games like skyrim and FO:NV. the case is the raidmax tornado atx mid-tower. the ram is just standard DDR3 1333 running in dual channel. and I mis-typed the PCU its 650W running a 1TB HDD.

[dragosudeki]

not looking to replace the cpu but the motherboard alarm trigger when starting games like skyrim and FO:NV. the case is the raidmax tornado atx mid-tower. the ram is just standard DDR3 1333 running in dual channel. and I mis-typed the PCU its 650W running a 1TB HDD.

By bios alarm trigger are you referring to the temperature alarm when reaching high temperatures? Have you monitored your temperatures to determine if that is the cause?

[brob]

not looking to replace the cpu but the motherboard alarm trigger when starting games like skyrim and FO:NV. the case is the raidmax tornado atx mid-tower. the ram is just standard DDR3 1333 running in dual channel. and I mis-typed the PCU its 650W running a 1TB HDD.

 

The behavior you described with starting a game is the gpu overheating or failing an overclock.

 

You may need a better cpu cooler.

 

I would suggest that you consider keeping the cpu, motherboard and, at least for the time being the psu and memory. Add an ssd, a much better gpu, and a new case.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($65.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card:  Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card  ($328.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case:  Corsair Graphite Series 230T Grey ATX Mid Tower Case  ($76.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $471.96

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-05 23:59 EST-0500)