Looking for a new motherboard or maybe a new pc

Lorenzo_13

Commendable
Feb 4, 2017
3
0
1,510
Hello, yesterday i switched on my pc (win7) just to find out the black screen of death. After few tries to solve the problem, it seems like my motherboard doesn't recognize the ram even if i replace it with some new one. My motherboard is a bit dated and now i need a new one. Here's my HW config:

Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E
GPU: NVIDIA Gigabyte 1060 3Gb
RAM: 3x2Gb KVR Kingston
Power Supply: Antec TP-650 truepower 650W
Processor: Intel core i7-950 3.06GHz
2 Hard disk and a blue ray reader.
my case is form antec but i don't know the name, size: H42cm L19.5cm W40cm

I'm asking if someone could kindly suggest me a new motherboard for this configuration and/or if it's the case to upgrade all my components since i'm using this pc for gaming purpose and i bought those components 8 years ago!(graphic card has 2 months) If this is the case, what could be a good configuration for me? (considernig a budget of around 800 euros) Thanks in advice.
 
Solution
Okay, my biggest concern here is the age of PSU. This is a good quality PSU but they do wear out. If it is more than 5 years old it is starting to get up there. If it is 8 years old then I would be concerned about it failing and taking other components with it. But on the plus side this is a good quality PSU so it likely has circuitry to try to prevent it surging during PSU failure.

Second concern is similar, the HDD's are old, they are prone to mechanical failure but if you have important data backed up it would not be catastrophic. Also, a lot of times you get some warning that they are about to fail.

For the RAM it depends on what you are doing/playing. Most games are still in the 8GB recommended range but some have now...
The i7-950 is now somewhat out of date. 8 years for a computer is a very long time, really not worth putting money into an upgrade. For 800 euros you can do better (much). Here is what I would do.

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/G2rcm8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/G2rcm8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor (€254.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler (€29.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z270M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€125.71 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€120.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€95.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€56.67 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB G1 Gaming Video Card (€0.00)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case (€56.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€72.66 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €812.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-04 14:50 CET+0100

 


Thank you very much for your advice. I'm not very expert about PCs so i'll ask you something more since i got a response so quickly! I was wondering if i can save some of my components from the trash bin, like the power supply and maybe put some money on a i7 cpu instead of an i5. Is it worth to do that? And for the ram memory, isn't 16 Gb too much? maybe i can save up some money on it. Thanks again

 
Okay, my biggest concern here is the age of PSU. This is a good quality PSU but they do wear out. If it is more than 5 years old it is starting to get up there. If it is 8 years old then I would be concerned about it failing and taking other components with it. But on the plus side this is a good quality PSU so it likely has circuitry to try to prevent it surging during PSU failure.

Second concern is similar, the HDD's are old, they are prone to mechanical failure but if you have important data backed up it would not be catastrophic. Also, a lot of times you get some warning that they are about to fail.

For the RAM it depends on what you are doing/playing. Most games are still in the 8GB recommended range but some have now listed 12 and 16GB as recommended. Personally I wouldn't skimp here. If you did wish to downgrade you could follow two paths:
1) Buy a single stick of 8GB RAM with the intention of purchasing a second stick later. This will force you into running in single channel mode which will be a minor performance hit. Probably 10% or less.
2) Buy two 4GB sticks (2 X 4GB) which will give you dual channel mode. The mobo has 4 RAM slots so you could still get 16GB installed with this path. Some just think that filling all the slots causes more heat.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3192944/ram-gaming-2016-2017.html
http://www.howtogeek.com/245245/how-much-ram-does-your-computer-need-for-pc-games/

Last, the i7-7700K is a more powerful CPU as compared to the 1060-3GB. The i5-7600K is more of a match but you could look at upgrading the GPU later on this path.

Okay, keeping the two HDD's and the PSU, changing to 2 X 4GB RAM, changing to an i7-7700K and actually upgrading the motherboard. FYI, this build is overclocking capable.

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/39GhBP
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/39GhBP/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€366.94 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler (€29.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock Z270 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€169.59 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€71.84 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€95.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€0.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€0.00)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB G1 Gaming Video Card (€0.00)
Case: Zalman Z9 ATX Mid Tower Case (€55.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (€0.00)
Total: €789.31
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-05 14:49 CET+0100
 
Solution


Thanks, i feel like the CPU gets older later than a GPU so i might pick this configuration and I'll consider buying a new power supply. For the HDD i forgot to mention that one of them is 4 Tb and is just 2 years old, so i might keep using it.
Thank you very much for your help and your time. have a nice day.