[Lazamataz]

Any and all serious help will be appreciated.

[Malsua]

If you still have your old computer, just swap the guts of the newer one into it except the power supply.

[BuffaloJack]

I recently had my favorite PC (core 2 quad, 2.4GHz, 8GB RAM) die on me.
Every time I tried to boot it up I got a parity I/O error.
I took all the boards out and tried booting it up with only mother board peripherals. Still no dice.
I swapper out all the RAM and still got parity errors.
I decided it was the motherboard.
I bought a refurbished Dell 3.4GHz, 8-core system with 32GB ram on Amazon for $460. What a sweet system.
After using the new PC for 2 weeks, I went out to the garage and brought in the dead PC. I took the MB out and examined it under a strong light. I found a white cottony spider nest in the card slot for the wifi card. I removed it with a toothpick, put the MB back in the box, gave the heat sink a fresh daub of grease and powered it up.
It came right up.
So now I have a backup system.

[red-dawg]

Just a few thoughts:

1 - Whoever built that thing did NOT know what they were doing. A Core i7 Mobo does not go with a 250 Watt PS.

2 - A Core i7 will not get the cooling it needs in a mini-tower case.

3 - If you use it for gaming, AND you have a separate video card, it has to be in a full size tower case. Cooling is important here.

4 - And, to be honest, you do not really need a Core i7 for 99% of the games out there. A Core i7 actually has 8 cores, and all 8 are only used in multi-threaded operations.

"Most" games need only 4 cores, and will only use 4.
A Core i5, a fast one, should have enough juice to run your stuff.

5 - It has to be 350 W or better PS. 16Gb Ram is great.

And in case you didn't know, the Intel line of CPU's have a built in graphics processor for when you use the "onboard" graphics, and it is ignored when you use your own discreet video card.
That's why AMD CPU's are cheaper, no GPU in the chip.

[backpacker_c]

I would suggest you return your machine for a refund.

as for a budget gaming computer, i would suggest you view some of the videos on the nvidia 1050 vs 1060 graphics cards, and getting an older i5 2400 or 3450 used or refurbished.

the channel/user name is tech deals on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCss3QxegBkF8BAetIo0qXA/videos?disable_polymer=1

some videos to look at are:
$250 Gaming PC - Play games at 1080p - what to look for if buying refurbished

$150 Desktop PC - Intel i5-3450 - Amazing Windows Performance - shows what a old cpu with a 1050 could do - has gaming footage

1080p Gaming - GTX 1050 vs 1060 vs 1070 - 23 Benchmarks - some info on difference with graphics card capabilities.

Gaming on a 6 year old PC! - i5-3450 + GTX 1070 + 600W PSU - Upgrade Guide - how to do some upgrades to a refurbished system

the graphics cards 1060,1070,1080, are expensive now, because they are being bought up by people using them for mining crypto currency. don't expect the prices on them to go down for a long time.

[Chickensoup]

I have had great luck with Tiger Direct through the years.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

I had a computer built back a while ago for internet broadcasting and they used a gamer’s base and put it extra fans, it was a monster, And it had blue lights too, so I felt like a 16 year old boy!

[SomeCallMeTim]

I’m more interested in the games... How is Rome 2? Do you like it?

Have you ever played Civilization VI? Or, any earlier versions? Its a pretty fun game.

[grey_whiskers]

I’d hit it. ;-)

[Nifster]

Wishing you good luck on this. Mini towers are a pain

[lightman]

Ping.

[wastedyears]

Dude, you’re better off putting your own together. You get exactly what you want.

[minnesota_bound]

Check out this story.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3616279/posts

I will only charge you $5,000 which is the Christmas special.

[AF_Blue]

If you’re a Costco member, take a look at their selection of desktop systems. They usually have something on sale with a $100-$200 discount. You can browse on their website without being a member. I picked up a $900 Dell tower (discounted from $1200) to use while I was waiting for a mobo replacement, and now it’s my dedicated Steam gaming box, to include FO4.

[grey_whiskers]

I am too mechanically
clumsy to assemble my own hardware, but Merry Christmas,Laz!

[GOPJ]

Bookmark

[dayglored]

FReeper request for computer help ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Hey Lez, sorry for the tardy Windows List Ping, didn't see your ping until just now (busy Christmas Day!). Merry Christmas!!

[dennisw]

You could buy a full size tower case from New Egg. I keep getting emails from them about one that costs $29 total shipped. Transfer all of your new computer’s innards into this new case and buy a normal size 430 watt power supply. Or maybe more than 430watts...you go find what you need.

Problem with mini size computers is finding same dimensions (so it will fit!!!!) power supply but higher wattage....and it might be high priced.

Check newegg and ebay for such mini power supplies

[dennisw]

mini ITX power supplies
https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=mini%20power%20supply&index=blended&link_code=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=mozilla-20

Is yours ITX has an ITX mobo?