Computer hardware help

[dman11235]

I'm looking to upgrade my desktop a bit, by upgrading the processor.  However, as I have rapidly found out, my motherboard is so old I may need to upgrade that too (because it will be cheaper, and more powerful to do so).  I am by no means a computer expert, so I'm asking the boards for some guidance in choosing the right pair.  Price range is absolutely less than 500, but I want to shoot for 400 or less.  To that end, I've been trying to scale back price from this pair, without scaling back power much:

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http://www.bestbuy.com/site/intel-core-i7-4790-3-6ghz-processor-multi/9907207.p?id=1219446411203&skuId=9907207

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/gigabyte-atx-motherboard-1333-1600-2933-3000mhz-socket-lga-1150-multi/1290041.p?id=1219484420028&skuId=1290041

Now, I don't even know for sure if they'd work, because I'm again, not a computer expert....

My graphics card and RAM are fine right now, with DDR3 dual 6 gig RAM and a 2 gig old one that I don't care too much about, and graphics is nvidia zotac geforce gt 640 lp, also fairly new.

So I guess my major question is...what should I be looking for?  I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking for in this.  My goal is running heavily modded Minecraft and modestly modded Kerbal Space Program well, while streaming on Twitch.  The first is heavy on the RAM, the second is heavy on the processor.  And how do I make sure my current graphics card and ram can work on the new motherboard?

[Jackinthegreen]

An Intel i7 is overkill for pretty much everything but multiple simultaneous video encoding work.  If you want to stick with Intel but still have the power then an i5 will suit you well.


An AMD CPU would also be fine since you're going for more of a bang for the buck and AMD is good at that in the low and medium end.  Alas, I'm not quite as familiar with the different versions of AMD CPU's lately.  The motherboard sockets are also a bit of a pain there.

Two of the best motherboard manufacturers are Gigabyte and ASUS.  ASUS in particular has been around for over 20 years and has a great reputation.

The way to tell if your RAM will work is to look up the specifications of your current motherboard and see what it says about the RAM slot.  Check that against the new motherboard.  Usually the RAM nowadays is called 240 pin DIMM and indeed that's what's on the motherboard you linked.  Also look to see the second number (usually 1866, 2133, or similar) to check the speed.


The graphics you won't have to worry about.  All modern motherboards have at least one PCI-Express slot, which is what pretty much all modern graphics cards use.

[altpersona]

Tomshardware.com has all your answers, and many more things to question.

what are your current specs and usage / performance goals?

[Nanshork]

Keep in mind that it might be better to just buy a new computer and then transfer over existing hardware depending on your needs/current specs.

[linklord231]

Every time you upgrade processors or GPUs, double check that your power supply is big enough to handle it.

[dman11235]

I thought about buying a new computer, but like, I have nearly all the hardware good enough right now.  So it's a price thing, but also I really need a new laptop too, so that's expensive.  Not as expensive because I'm just using it for work stuff, but that'll still be 400 at least (my current one is more powerful than I need and it was 600....6 years ago, but the hardware is suffering from abuse.  For instance, the headphone jacks are not working properly, and the power port is almost broken, and the webcam doesn't work, and the screen is literally falling apart, etc. etc.).  My current specs are in the OP, same with needs.  I've all but confirmed on getting a new motherboard and processor together though, because my old motherboard is so old getting a non-used processor for it would be minimum 700 dollars.

I would rather keep the current computer, but I am a little wary of modifying motherboards, because I know they're fragile.  However, the only two things I'd need to swap out now are the processor and motherboard.  So I'm at about 80% that I'm going to upgrade this, 20% I get a new computer on the cheap and upgrade with the hardware I hare available.