Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

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sccrbrandon4788
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Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by sccrbrandon4788 »

So I have an HP a250n desktop, its about 5 years old or so. It takes a microATX board so I've been looking around and its going to be kinda hard to find a decent one. The thing is, I have 2 dvd drives and 3 hard drives, 2 of which are IDE. The problem I ran into was that most all the boards that you can buy only have one IDE connection. So I'm trying to figure out what to do. Should I just buy a microATX board and eventually get some IDE to Sata connectors, or should I just suck it up and get a new case and an ATX board that way I know everything will fit. I will also be getting a 9800 GTX, which might be too long for a microATX motherboard and the case. I probably answered my own dilemma, but sometimes it just takes typing it out and seeing what others say.

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cyantific
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by cyantific »

Well if you're getting a large video card, definitely get the larger case. That way you always have the ability to upgrade easily. Better airflow for all your components as well..
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HaGGardSmurf
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by HaGGardSmurf »

What about an IDE to sata converter? If your MOBO only has 1 IDE slot, convert 1 of your IDE drives to sata, then make sure your board had 4 sata ports?
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by intheshade »

i have an old hp. it has an ide adapter cord that has several connections on it. they are every 5 or so inches. im not sure what it is called but i bet they sell this same cord on ebay,
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sccrbrandon4788
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by sccrbrandon4788 »

Well I decided to go big or go home. Here will be the specs:

Antec Three Hundred case
Pioneer 111D DVD DL burner
TS-H352 Kreon Drive
500GB Sata Seagate Hard drive
XFX 750i SLi Extreme motherboard
Intel Q6600 Quad Core Processor
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
PNY 9800GTX video card

I will also be installing Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.
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sccrbrandon4788
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by sccrbrandon4788 »

Update for today.

Got the motherboard in today at 2:00pm EST. Unboxed and looked around it already. Here are some pictures.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^VIA Chipset

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^^^^^Q6600^^^^^I am planning on water cooling and I had this block for over a year and it fits perfectly
without needing spacers.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


ImageImageImageImage
^^^^^^^^This I/O board is pretty incredible. Has a CMOS Reset button on it, 6 USB ports with and adapter for 6 more with my case, Sub output, Debug LED (the clock-like counter), optical output, esata port, 5.1 output, and 1000mbps ethernet port.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am going to my friend's house to install this. I already put the hard drive in and the DVD drive yesterday. I have a 7600GS from my old computer that I am going to use to get everything installed and running until my 9800GTX comes tomorrow.

If you have any questions, ASK!
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HaGGardSmurf
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by HaGGardSmurf »

What did your processor run you?

Im looking at buying a new processor, I want an AMD Phenom II X4, but I think my board is only AM2.

Im debating if I should just buy an AM2+ board, or a 3... (I assume you can use a 2+ on a am3 board?)
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by sccrbrandon4788 »

They are selling for like $150 new on ebay. I got mine from Intel through a program at work (Best Buy) so I got a deal on the processor, and Intel board(sold), and Vista Home Premium(sold).
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Re: Going to be rebuilding/upgrading

Post by HaGGardSmurf »

Ive decided to stick to AMD as I dont need the most extreme gaming computer on the planet, nor do I want to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a board and a processor (when my current computer performs QUITE well)

Anyways, im hoping in the next couple months a bunch of AM3 boards are released. I think I am going to end up watercooling, usually my cases end up being a huge mess of cables.

I was looking at the silverstone raven case, it looks amazing, and almost clutter proof
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