I had this problem recently where my PC wouldn't turn on and I got a new PSU. I tested the old one when I took it out and it turned out it was still good, so I ended up replacing the entire MB.

I was in the same sort of situation and yep, needed new RAM and CPU at the same time. CPU prices also really suck right now, so it was a bit of a big hit. I hope things are better for you!

Some motherboards don't accept certain GPUs. There are websites that you can use to see their compatibility. "pcpartpicker.com" is a good example.

Like you said, yours is old; and that's the problem by high chance. But I suppose you figured that out by yourself.

There are cheap motherboards and RAM sticks that you can buy, not all of them are too costly. My boyfriend bought his for around 80€ here which is fairly cheap, and his PC performance is great. He can play pretty much all games on medium/high settings. Also pay attention to the sticks! Very important, some don't go with certain motherboards.


I go with AMD for the CPU because intel is overpriced - and AMD proves overall better in gaming performance if you plan to play more games someday.
The PSU isn't always the problem, though some newer GPUs tend to eat a lot of voltage. You can roughly sum every device's wattage and buy a PSU by that, usually higher. (Unless you already did that.)

I am not sure what your PC's specs are, but this is all I can help with for now (unless you wish for more tips!)

The problem was it ran fine before and just stopped working one morning. Tbh I needed to upgrade the psu at some point when I finally upgraded the motherboard anyway haha
A board and ram really aren't that costly, but a decent cpu is at least 150. I have an old am3 board so I'd need to replace all 3 parts to use something modern. I thought about just getting another am3 board but they cost as much as an am4 so it doesn't seem worth it

My current board is a ga-78lmt-s2, it doesn't even support usb3 lol. The only thing that stood out in all my research was that the pcie slot can lose the ability to give the card enough power to run, which would explain why the weak card that came with the computer works I guess?

I see, curious...
The future is AM4 and I would honestly go with an AM4 motherboard if I had the choice. My mate did the same, upgraded to AM4. Not only is it better in performance, but the technology is also newer. (And has overall more things to offer which the user can profit from.)
That doesn't mean you can't still use AM3, but it will get older and older. AM4 is constantly upgraded.

With motherboards, MSI is a good option with an AMD Ryzen CPU.

A website called "Mindfactory" can help you with finding all the right parts. Underneath each part is a thorough description of supported parts.
Your goal isn't to create an overkill rig, but one which you can reliably use for the next 10 or so years. Which would be AM4!

In regards to your problem -> It does suspiciously sound like the PCIE slot since the new one worked. I can't be sure unless I observed it myself, though!

If you wish for me to give you the links to the parts which my mate bought for his rig, just tell me. Might also come in handy if you checked which MSI motherboard supports your GPU. The slot and some specs may differ, and that can cause massive issues. Building or upgrading a PC can be a hassle - some parts might need to be shipped back and so on. Your only option there is to watch tutorials and read recommendations to be 99.9% sure.

I am currently waiting for the GPUs to get cheaper so I can finally build my own... but the one I want to have costs like 2000€ or so. xD