Salvage and new parts

[2Wander]

My system of two years has decided to throw in the towel. It started with a blown vid card, and then went on to a blown motherboard. I don't doubt that it's partly my fault for using a case with less than stellar air circulation. But live and learn, right? The old case is on the curb, and I'm looking for new ones. I'm not overly hard on the comp, it's used for some games, Dreamweaver, and good old web surfing. I'd like to be able to run Oblivion on it, something that probably contributed to my old card blowing up in the first place.

My goal is to salvage as much as I can from the old system, while adding a new mobo, case, RAM, and CDROM drive to replace one that's not working. I'd like to stay under 700, which I should be able to manage. Here's what I've got:

Old Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116198 Intel 630 (LGA 775)

Hard drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L200P0 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive - OEM. No link, Newegg doesn't sell it anymore. It runs well.

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103512
Something I'm considering upgrading. It's two years old, it's time.

Keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor are all fine and don't need replacing.

New stuff:
New Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153 Open box, ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard. The link's for the retail version, the open box is around $129. There's mixed reviews on this board. Overall good, but there's a few things with folks getting defective boards.

New RAM: Corsair XMS 2x 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145015

The vid card, I bought this yesterday. During the couple hours before the motherboard gave it up, it was beautiful. The options at the store were pretty limited, but this card was decent for the money. GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133197&Tpk=PNY%2bnvidia%2b8500

I'd appreciate any thoughts you all had on this. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good idea to mix and match the parts, since my experience level is still fairly low. Thanks!

[Cricket]

Hard drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L200P0 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive - OEM. No link, Newegg doesn't sell it anymore. It runs well.[/url]Some of the newer motherboard chipsets don't have native support for IDE drives anymore (they use 3rd party controllers...some work, some are a pain) and you may run into issues if you stick with the IDE HDD.Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103512
Something I'm considering upgrading. It's two years old, it's time.Good quality power supplies last much longer than 2 years. That's an ATX 2.0 Enermax with more than enough power for what you plan to put together. I'd keep it. I have a 235 watt Sparkle Power PSU that I ran for almost 7 years without any problems. A 2 year old Enermax is still a baby and has many more years of service in it.New stuff:
New Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153 Open box, ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard. The link's for the retail version, the open box is around $129. There's mixed reviews on this board. Overall good, but there's a few things with folks getting defective boards.You sure you want an open box motherboard? That was bought and then returned to Newegg...might work, might not.

And I would get a ASUS motherboard with a Intel chipset instead of an NVidia chipset.

New RAM: Corsair XMS 2x 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145015You could actual use Corsair Value Select RAM with this set up with no loss of performance.The vid card, I bought this yesterday. During the couple hours before the motherboard gave it up, it was beautiful. The options at the store were pretty limited, but this card was decent for the money. GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133197&Tpk=PNY%2bnvidia%2b8500This is the replacement video card, right. The blown one was something else?I'd appreciate any thoughts you all had on this. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good idea to mix and match the parts, since my experience level is still fairly low.What's wrong with the old case?

:) Cricket

[Katreat]

Have to agree with cricket on the "open box". Basically, you are risking buying that defective board that someone else returned. Overall your build looks compatable and should work out fine. If it is cheaper the value select memory 667 is all that you need with your build.

Kat

[2Wander]

Something I didn't know about open box. I'll go with the full model, the risk of getting a bad board is too much from what you all have said. And the valueselect RAM is fine. :)

The blown vid card was a Nvidia 6800GT. The old case has poor airflow, and it's time for a change, so I figured I'd upgrade it. I'll look around at other motherboards tomorrow, with Intel chipsets. That's the hardest part to pick, and I hope my old hard drive is compatable. If not, I did a full data backup before I put the new vid card in, so nothing' s lost if I can't get the old HD.

Thanks for the tips, it's very much appreciated.

[2Wander]

Couple of motherboard options, if I could bug folks for advice again.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131196

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180

[Cricket]

Any of the P5K motherboard variants is fine...just pick the one that meets your requirements. If you need WiFi, get the WiFi model. If you just need a simple but good motherboard, get the plain vanilla P5K.

:) Cricket