I haz the PC upgrade itch !! Ballin' on the cheap

[WalkinTarget]

Well, after tossing in the towel on my current workbench rig, I have decided to pull its problematic board (Asus M2N32-SLI) and replace it with someone more modern and, oh ya, it BOOTS UP unlike the Asus board with its cold boot issue that is driving me nuts.

How nuts, you ask ?? Nuts enough to re-appropriate $200 of hard earned cashola to fixing the issue. Crazy, huh ??!!

So if you've been following along, this project probably started a year ago, but was spurred to action after I picked up a free AMD 965 B.E. chip, detailed here:

http://www.cainslair.com/showpost.ph...61&postcount=1

After rebuilding that rig, the cold boot issue became more than I could stand, so today I bought an MSI 790X-G45 board and 4gb of DDR3 RAM for $55 to replace the Asus/DDR2 problematic build.

I had an eVGA 8800GTS lying around for the build and could never find a partner for it, but sure enough, I found a guy selling one yesterday, so the plan is to buy that and go SLI. Only downside to this plan is the need for a beefier PSU, so maybe Juneau will come along and talk me out of it so I can save some $$$.

Pics to follow as soon as I get the parts over the weekend. Honestly, I have no idea what I will do with this PC, as it initially was meant to replace my workbench rig, but that old AMD 5000+ B.E.@ 3.1ghz is still going strong, its just not as capable as the new AMD 965 B.E. quad build.

[TheSilentAssassin]

Good old times of upgrading. I remember when you took my 7900GS off my hands and you SLIed it with another one lol. What kind of PSU are you looking for? I might have a unopened one lying around.

[K PhaNTOM]

When you say lying around, does that mean you want it for free?

[WalkinTarget]

I remember when you took my 7900GS off my hands and you SLIed it with another one lol. What kind of PSU are you looking for? I might have a unopened one lying around.

I still have one of those 7900s !! Its still pressed into service from time to time. PSU I am looking for is something along the lines of an XFX 650 or a BFG 800. Not cheap for either one even today.

When you say lying around, does that mean you want it for free?

Lying about means it was on the shelf waiting for another board, after finding out the heatsink on the backside of the 8800GTS blocked the 4 pin aux. power cable from fitting into the board. Seeing as how I am replacing the Asus and its wonky 4 pin location, I went ahead and called dibs on a for sale 8800GTS that matches my existing one.

Phantom ... you read my post too fast. Go back and re-read
I don't like to spend a lot, but I never ask for freebies. Fair market value !

[TheSilentAssassin]

Well happen as it may amazon when I was putting my new rig together sent me a extra, unopened PSU that I never used:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

And there also happens to be a BFG 320mb 8800 GTS graphics card sittin in my old rig that im not usin. If you want them you can have them. For a reasonble price of course

[K PhaNTOM]

How powerful do you want the PSU to be?

[WalkinTarget]

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

And there also happens to be a BFG 320mb 8800 GTS graphics card sittin in my old rig that im not usin. If you want them you can have them. For a reasonble price of course

Holy crap, nice freebie !!! I can't afford that beast, so your best bet is to toss it up here in the forum and either do a straight sale or trade for something you need.
Ohh, and the 8800GTS needs to be identical to properly SLI, so the 320mb card doesn't help me out. Thanks again for the offer tho

How powerful do you want the PSU to be?

Phantom, it has to be at LEAST 600 watts, preferably with 45+a on the +12 rail. That rules out a lot of the mid range PSU's that can be found for under $50. Newegg's ShellShocker yesterday was ideal - a SeaSonic 650w unit for $65 after rebate, but I don't want to buy that until I get the second vid card.

[Duke{CLR}]

Was your GTS a 640mb version by chance? I have one in my main rig that my wife has been using and I have been thinking of removing all the power hungry parts and make it a bit more efficient, I could part with it.

[K PhaNTOM]

Newegg.com - APEVIA Quartz ATX-LCD650W 650W ATX12V EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply

I have that one from my first ever computer.

Check it out. If you want it. Hit me with a PM of your address. I'll send it to you. All you have to do is PayPal me $13 bucks for shipping it (Fits in a Medium size flatrate priority USPS box). Open it, check if it's in full working condition and then send it. If it isn't, it was working when I pulled it from the rig a year ago, then forget about it and throw it in the trash for me Deal?

[WalkinTarget]

Was your GTS a 640mb version by chance? I have one in my main rig that my wife has been using and I have been thinking of removing all the power hungry parts and make it a bit more efficient, I could part with it.

Duke, I actually found an old thread when searching for my link above and you mentioned your 8800GTS. I commented that mine was a very rare bird, an 8800 GTS 640mb (yep, yours still is identical) KO ACS3 edition (oops, not any more).
Do a search on Ebay for the ACS3 version, and I bet you won't find em. Search for a G80 640mb card and they are quite common.

Phantom, that's a helluva deal !! I would gladly pay more if its working. Or if you need any hardware, I can offer up a swap of parts.

[K PhaNTOM]

Waiting for your PM. Trust me, if I wouldn't give it to you, it would just sit in the back of my closet for 5 more years until I decide to throw it out.

[WalkinTarget]

Juneau = too late. Already bought the second 8800GTS ACS3, so next week after I get back from vacation expect a buncha pics of this build. Its nothing special, but for a workbench rig it will suck some serious electricity out of the wall outlet.

Greening my environment ?? Puu-lease

Even a former hardware geek (I swear I can quit upgrading any time I want, .. really ..) gets to enjoy the smell of fresh hardware every now and then !!

[TheSilentAssassin]

Holy crap, nice freebie !!! I can't afford that beast, so your best bet is to toss it up here in the forum and either do a straight sale or trade for something you need.
Ohh, and the 8800GTS needs to be identical to properly SLI, so the 320mb card doesn't help me out. Thanks again for the offer tho

No worries mate. I never get tired of upgrading lol.

[WalkinTarget]

First major woopsie - the board I picked up only does CROSSFIRE, not SLI

The Asus board the new one replaces WAS an AMD/Nvidia chipset so it supported SLI, but now I have an extra Nvidia card on the way and no way to make it work in tandem with the existing card.

Shoulda done my homework on this one rather than just see two PCIe slots and ASSume.

Anyone wanna trade their used ATI cards for a pair of 8800GTS cards ??

[K PhaNTOM]

How does it only do xfire and not SLI? I didn't know that was possible.