Need help with a PC upgrade!

Hey everyone, a buddy of mine just had his motherboard die on him. He’s running an old Intel Core i3 processor—doesn't really matter, though—and the machine is basically just a glorified paperweight for office work and web browsing; zero gaming capability here. Since his 650 GB hard drive is still perfectly healthy and his 550W Fortron power supply is practically brand new (only about 20 days old), I was thinking about swapping out the motherboard, CPU, and RAM to get him back up and running. I could really use some advice from you all, as my budget is capped at $333. I managed to find a potential setup for roughly $283 over at Future IT
. Here is the breakdown
:

Intel Core i3

-
1
+$88
1 x $88
Gigabyte A68HM-K

+$129
1 x $129

Apacer DDR3 1600MHz, 4GB

+$71
1 x $71

The only thing giving me pause is this processor, because the specs say it doesn't have integrated graphics. Since I haven't dealt with that before, does that mean the computer won't even boot without a dedicated graphics card? It might not be a huge deal, though, since we could probably just repurpose that old NVIDIA GeForce GT series card currently sitting in the machine, though I can't recall the exact model number.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Best,

Does this have to be brand new from a big-box store, or can I just grab a used one off eBay?

It might work, I guess, but you're looking at an aging processor on a dated platform, and personally, I think it makes more sense to spend a little extra to get something newer and more capable. For instance, this build below beats your suggestion in both raw performance and efficiency, so you could probably ditch the old dedicated graphics card altogether.

Intel Core i3 desktop 2C/4T Athlon 200GE (3.2GHz,5MB,35W,AM4) box, with NVIDIA GeForce Graphics
MSI A320M motherboard
Patriot Signature DDR4, 2666Mhz, 4GB

1,061.01
Amazon.com

Are you absolutely certain there isn't any warranty left on this? It's not even that old, and MSI usually offers a 3-year warranty period...

Honestly, you aren't gonna find a better deal in any local shop than what Ryan Hayes82 put together here.
If you tried hunting on Craigslist after the upgrade, you might be able to squeeze in $67 for a new system SSD, but you’d be playing a dangerous game with warranties being non-existent on half the parts.

The argument for going the Craigslist route is that it’s a bit more of an adrenaline rush, especially if you aren't buying everything from one guy but picking up pieces here and there. Of course, you run the risk of running into some absolute psycho who lures in kids with cheap components just to butcher them and bury them under the sandbox at a nearby preschool.

So, it's your call: do you want to live life on the edge like Indiana Jones, or are you gonna be a total bore and play it safe?

What you've put together is fine, but since it's an older platform, you're definitely going to need a dedicated GPU... Ryan Hayes82's build is newer and better overall because it’s easier to upgrade, plus you won't need an extra graphics card... the only thing you're missing is at least a 120GB SSD

So now I'm stuck between two choices: go with the older platform and add an SSD for $350, or just grab the newer setup without the SSD

We’re going to go with what Ryan Hayes82 suggested. I'm definitely not interested in sniffing around for anything else; let's just grab this and hope they don't come out with some new version in another two months. At least this way, we'll be covered under warranty for a bit.

I’m going to bring this topic back up because my parts finally arrived today. I’ve finished the assembly and successfully installed Windows 10, but I’ve run into a frustrating little hiccup. Twice now, after performing a restart or just shutting down Windows 10 and trying to boot back up, the system simply refuses to turn on. The only way I can get it to respond is by physically unplugging the hard drive and then swapping the SATA port on the motherboard. Is there perhaps some setting tucked away in the BIOS that I could tweak to stop this from happening?

So, here's the situation: I fire the thing up, the fans start spinning away, but there's absolutely nothing on the screen. If I shut it down and yank the SATA cable from the hard drive—or just kill the power to the drive entirely—it actually boots up. I've already swapped in a few different drives to test, and it’s the exact same story every single time. Is there some kind of fix for this, or am I looking at a total loss that needs to be sent back for a replacement?

Thomas Wells5 said:Basically, the fans spin up, but I'm getting no video signal. If I shut it down and unplug the SATA cable from the hard drive or just disconnect its power, the system boots up. I've tried several different drives and it's the same exact story. Is there a fix for this, or should I just return it since it's brand new?

Listen, based on what you're describing, the issue lies with the hard drive itself... In that second scenario, the hardware you actually purchased isn't even part of the equation.

I neglected to mention that I actually tested a few different hard drives using the same kid—and even tried an optical drive—but the result was identical. It looks like the SATA ports on the motherboard are just completely shot. I gave Best Buy a call, and they’re sending a courier over to pick up the defective unit so I can get a replacement sent out instead.