Alright, that actually helps a ton. So what would you guys recommend for a new motherboard? Obviously I'm looking for something that would help my system run better and would be compatible with my CPU and graphics card and what not. Y'all are great help.
Please complete the system specs with case and power supply info. If it was me I would consider a ground up build or a quality bare bones build and bring over what you can to the new build and using the old rig as a 2nd less powerful system or selling/gifting.
i can't be sure what the case is, if you could help me with that. but the psu specs: dynex, model: dx-400wps, output watt 400w, fan controlled atx12v
I would begin by deciding the case size and style then we can look to a PSU as these are the under-pinning's for a great rig.
Computer Cases & Towers - Newegg.com
I would say mid-tower or full tower designs offer best cooling but size and space are factors only you can determine.
Here's a great PSU but Corsair is top flight but many of them are made by Seasonic !
SeaSonic M12II 650 SS-650AM 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Semi-modular Power Supply - Newegg.com
Then you can also look at combo deals where you get a good case and PSU but quality and size matters for future expansion and power needs.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
From there we can look for your new mobo and ram and you can bring your FX chip over to it. Add a DVD or Blu-Ray optical drive, a SSD drive some fans if needed and a hard drive. You may well be able to transfer some of these things to save money or start new.
I would wait to choose the PSU until after choosing a MOBO, CPU, GPU, RAM, etc., then choose the PSU after determining just how much is actually needed. Otherwise, one could wind up with an overpowered or underpowered PSU. Even worse, one could find themselves limiting their choices to avoid overpowering the PSU. One wants a little extra capacity on a PSU but too much extra will be less efficient.
Right now, all I'm looking for is a new motherboard if possible. I'm not looking to start over just yet. So if anybody would have suggestions for a new mobo that would go good with my system, I'd appreciate it.
We'll need to see the case design and or get it's make and model to be sure it will take the mobo. Also I'm not all that confident the 400 watt off brand PSU can drive what you have much less adding the correct mobo new DDR3 ram and leaving you room for expansion. Use this to plug everything in:
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
The PSU is the heart and like all amplifiers more is better, it's called head room and over the years PSU's will lose some output. When going new I recommend starting at 650-750 and if you see yourself getting really into it with SLI or Crossfired GPU's and overclocking then please jump to 850-1000 watt.
With good reason,
HARDOCP - Conclusion - Getting the Best Buy on a Power Supply
Based on the above you definitely need to factor in a new power supply.There are many things that the Dynex DX-400WPS is, of the things a 400w power supply it is not by any stretch of the imagination and this was certainly clear from the beginning given the build quality of this unit. As soon as this unit was opened it was clear that this unit was not nearly as well constructed as other 400w products we have seen. Indeed, in various places the unit was screened for additional and larger components that were excluded from this unit. The components that were included were of poor quality with the best thing we saw in the unit being a few Teapo capacitors as the rest were TL and Fcon. Adding insult to the injury, the unit’s PCB indicates that the power supply is supposed to be a 200-300w unit. This 200w-300w marking turned out to be prophetic as the unit was capable of doing 200w's but was capable of destroying test equipment when 300watts were attempted. Surprisingly though, when running the unit actually demonstrated good voltage regulation with peak changes of less than 0.05v on any of the positive rails through the tests it completed (all two of them that is). However, when running the units efficiency peaked at just 78.82% at 120v input and bottomed out at 73.91% at 100v which is not very good for any unit.
You're looking at around $200-300 for a new power supply, motherboard and DDR3 ram (and case depending on what you have now); to get everything you need to go with that x4 965.
I can't be sure of the model of the case so I can take some pictures in a sec if that will help at all.
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