Steambox Upgrade Help/Suggestion

[eQUIV]

Hey, so I have an HTPC that I would like to upgrade into a mid-level gaming/steam box. The problem.. my MOBO (Intel DG45FC) is integrated video with no PCI-E slot capable of a gaming videocard. I need suggestions on a new MOBO and case...

I want it to be compatible with my old parts, so I can just throw them in my new system with a videocard, so I can actually game on the thing.

- E8400 CPU
- 4GB Ram (sorry don't know the exact type)
- Silverstone Sfx Series ST45SF 450W Power Supply
- 250GB SATA Drive


Would like a smaller case (as it will be in my tv stand)... with good ventilation. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Stigmata]

What's your budget? It sounds like you want to spend only a couple hundred dollars on this upgrade, and to be perfectly honest, that won't be enough if you're looking to play any big-budget game released in the past two-ish years.

The GPU upgrade forces a motherboard upgrade. Your CPU is both old and only dual-core, and so will hold you back significantly in any new game, so that gets replaced as well. The new motherboard and CPU will need DDR3 memory - as your current RAM is likely either DDR2 (and thus won't work) or the slowest DDR3 available (which will be okay since "slow" DDR3 is still extremely fast, but 4GB is starting to go from "excessive" to "cutting it close"), you'll probably have to get new memory.

Your GPU won't need to be too expensive, but the less you spend now the sooner you'll have to upgrade it again, and the more you'll be holding back your CPU upgrade. All these new parts will exceed the power output of your PSU, so you'll need a new PSU as well. Plus a case, but unless you're doing overclocking or live on the sun you won't need anything special or particularly cooling-efficient.

On the plus side, you can keep the hard drive... but on the downside, cases smaller than mid-ATX won't house your new gaming system. That is, unless you're willing to gimp it significantly by getting a reduced GPU with passive cooling, but at that point you're better off not upgrading at all.

But then, it all depends on what games you want to play and what settings you'll be using. A gaming HTPC would work if you're not doing 1080p, not maxing out settings, and not playing games like Far Cry 3, Crysis, or Metro 2033.