Intel H61 - DX11

[Whoppers0]

Hello Tom's Hardwarians. Hoping I can get some insight here. This is my current motherboard, as stated above (Intel H61 - DX11) I'm just getting into upgrading and (hopefully soon) building my own, custom built PC. First, I kind of want a 'demo' computer (my current one) for upgrading and maybe doing tests on and what not. I feel confident in certain areas, but mostly uncertain are motherboards. If I wanted to upgrade ram, dedicated graphics card(s), hard drives, how would or do I find compatible components? I obviously could physically look at my motherboard, but like I said - I'm somewhat new to this, and would like maybe an idea of what to look at, interactive images or something, to get to know a motherboard and how to make newer components working and compatible. My concern, at the time of typing this out, is the ability to add another, or upgrade my current graphics card. Although it's my biggest concern, I still am interested in other techniques, tips, etc. to advance my knowledge about building a PC in the future - knowledge is power! I hope I'm not just rambling, I do that sometimes.. All help is vastly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Cons29]

for the gpu, as long as you're not pairing a very old board with a new gpu (or vice versa) you should be fine as far as compatibility is concern. Keep in mind how much your psu can handle though, esp if you will be using a powerful gpu.

for the ram, ddr3 is the standard nowadays, it's rare to have compatibility issues here.

for cpu, well your board has to support it so be careful. For the boards, there are lots of chipsets, so read before buying. You can always check the brand website to check for supported cpu (and ram). The worst thing you could do is buy a cpu that does not even fit to your board. As for the chipsets, they cater to different type, there are cheaper ones, there are those for power users, and somewhere in between.

if you decided to pick parts, post it here first before buying.