Hardware Advice Needed for a Thermaltake

All right, let me start of by saying that I'm no expert concerning PC hardware. Sure I can handle Dells, swap out CD-ROM drives, HDs, motherboards without a problem. Thing is I'm definitely a bit out of my league with the high-performance gaming PCs.

I've got a Thermaltake XaserIIISuperTower v1000 series (blue) that recently came into my possession (it's my dad's but he's letting it go). It's not working at the moment, and I'm convinced that either the MB or power supply or both are dead (this thing was on pretty much non-stop for about 6 yrs). Now my boyfriend needs a new PC and I can't let this thing go so I've decided to tackle this project Ambitious aren't I? Anyway, I need some major advice seeing as how it's pretty difficult to find anything online without scouring through hundreds of pages of forums.

This PC has been gutted pretty thoroughly so I need a lot of hardware. Here are my questions:

1) What MB should I get to replace the existing ASUS A8N-VM CSM?
2) What kind of cooling fans should I get to go with the MB? (Room for 2)
3) Sound card isn't necessary b/c I don't have speakers to work with, but what sound card would you recommend?
4) What video/graphics card would be appropriate?
5) What power supply? (this is only if that is a problem, but I doubt it is)
6) Am I missing anything?!

I have an adaptec Ultra 160 SCSI card. I have a fan controller. All connecting wires are still inside the PC from what I can see.

I really appreciate any advice you could give me. I'm hell-bent on hooking this thing up & I am prepared to be frustrated and feel like an idiot. I really want to learn more and get some good hands on experience. I also don't have much of a choice since my dad doesn't really want to help me lol. But yea...please help!

 

Can you give us a budget to work with?


As for the fans,i i would recommend one out of the Antec Tri-Cool range that fits your case.

Sound card - The new MB will probably have onboard 7.1 surround sound, so unless you are a music fanatic then stick with the onboard for now.

Video card depends on the budget.

Power supply depends on the video card

Budget again, you could add a new HDD, as a 6 year old well bashed one, is likely to pop its clogs soon.

Hope that helped, but i cant really suggest specific items until i know how much of your cash i can spend!

:-D

 

Oh dear, I totally forgot to even mention that in my racing thoughts about what I need hahaha! I'm not as concerned about cost as I am about screwing something up with the wrong part. I know this particular thermaltake has issues if you use the wrong things together (did some reading!). I'm willing to spend a good amount on excellent hardware (with the MB taking the biggest chunk. I didn't know the new ones had built in SC!). Like I said I'm not concerned about the SC, since my boyfriend doesn't have speakers to work with. I'm more concerned with MB, video card, etc.

Budget: I'd say $500. I'll be willing to go up to $600, but anything over $500 would start to hurt

I already have 1 HDD; I'm planning to swap it out of the older PC as well as a CD-Rom drive. I'm probably going to end up getting another HDD since the one I'm working with is only 40gb and somewhat old. But for that, I'm good lol.

Thanks for the fan advice! I'll get to looking for them Let me know if I'm not being clear.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that this is a XaserIIIFulltower v1000D...the blue series. If anyone knows of it/has it.

 

Here are some specs I just looked up since I know not everyone is familiar with this beast:

Case Type: Mid-Tower
Dimensions:
- Height: 20.9 in.
- Width: 8.1 in.
- Depth: 20.5 in.
Cooling:
- System A1420 (TT-8025A) 80x80x25mm Silent Fan, 30dBA
- 2 Front with air filter
- 2 Rear with fan holder
- 2 Side with air filter
- 1 Top with fan holder
Drive Bays:
- 4x 5.25" External Drive Bays
- 2x 3.5" External Drive Bays
- 6x 3.5" Hidden Drive Bays
Chassis Material: 1.0mm SECC Japan Steel
Front Panel Material: Aluminum
Color: Blue
Expansion Slots: 7
Form Factor:
- Standard ATX 12 in. x 9.6 in.
- Micro ATX 9.6 in. x 9.6 in.
- Extend ATX 12 in. x 13 in.