I want to upgrade my PC Gateway FX6840-23

[linenpaxon]

I basically want to build a new gaming rig using the old parts from this PC. I want to replace the motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM if necessary, put and SSD in there and I want to keep everything else if possible. I have replaced graphics cards before but this is the first time I would take on a project like this.

I think that the case is pretty big, never seen a bigger case in my life it must be full size and I am not trying to spend more than $400 on this. My biggest question is though how do I match up the components?

 

[flamefire999]

Budget?
You need to buy a new copy of Windows if you get a new motherboard.

 

[nikoli707]

if it has windows 7 you dont need a new copy. only win8 is serialized to a mobo bios.

knowing your budget would be nice. are you trying to reuse your case? would be nice to know how big it is. reusing your power supply, especially one from a store bought pc, is not a good idea. depending on your budget you can reuse the ram if you have 8gb of ddr3. but the only thing you would be keeping is the hard drive and possibly the case.

 

[linenpaxon]

if it has windows 7 you dont need a new copy. only win8 is serialized to a mobo bios.

knowing your budget would be nice. are you trying to reuse your case? would be nice to know how big it is. reusing your power supply, especially one from a store bought pc, is not a good idea. depending on your budget you can reuse the ram if you have 8gb of ddr3. but the only thing you would be keeping is the hard drive and possibly the case.

Yes I want to keep the case the DVD writer and hard drive I don't want to spend more than $400. Also I need to have a good sound card in it as well for music production, MIDI ports are not necessary.

 

[nikoli707]

if it has windows 7 you dont need a new copy. only win8 is serialized to a mobo bios.

knowing your budget would be nice. are you trying to reuse your case? would be nice to know how big it is. reusing your power supply, especially one from a store bought pc, is not a good idea. depending on your budget you can reuse the ram if you have 8gb of ddr3. but the only thing you would be keeping is the hard drive and possibly the case.

Yes I want to keep the case the DVD writer and hard drive I don't want to spend more than $400. Also I need to have a good sound card in it as well for music production, MIDI ports are not necessary.

without knowing your specific music production needs... this is just a guess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($128.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $376.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-03 12:31 EST-0500

are you recording?.....
http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2

 

[linenpaxon]

if it has windows 7 you dont need a new copy. only win8 is serialized to a mobo bios.

knowing your budget would be nice. are you trying to reuse your case? would be nice to know how big it is. reusing your power supply, especially one from a store bought pc, is not a good idea. depending on your budget you can reuse the ram if you have 8gb of ddr3. but the only thing you would be keeping is the hard drive and possibly the case.

Yes I want to keep the case the DVD writer and hard drive I don't want to spend more than $400. Also I need to have a good sound card in it as well for music production, MIDI ports are not necessary.

without knowing your specific music production needs... this is just a guess.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($128.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $376.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-03 12:31 EST-0500

are you recording?.....
http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i2

I record in Cubase using an MIDI keyboard, thanks I think this looks solid I might go with a different motherboard though. I can always also get a different sound card with enough power. I think I can take it from here one last thing though, if I am not getting a new copy of Windows than how is it going to start up after I hook everything up? I know the windows is on my drive C but I imagine it's not going to start because of the drivers being out of whack. Also my gateway has the factory reset option so I can always restore my pc if something bad happens or it just needed to be cleaned. Will that be possible with the new gear? I doubt it since the factory reset is specific of the pc model.