https://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/

This site will tell you what is compatible and what is not... as well as parts that have not been tested for compatibility.

I tried that site. It seemed to go well until it was time to pick a power supply; then its list of suitable power supplies that met the wattage limit was empty.

On another subject, do you know of any computer brands other than HP that will stand the 24/7 heavy use needed to run both GPUGRID and some CPU BOINC projects?

I build my own PC's and they all run 24/7 on various BOINC projects with no problems. I use standard motherboard brands: Asus/ASRock, Gigabyte or Biostar, whatever has the features I need for that particular machine. For reliability, the most important factors are the quality of the power supply and the ventilation, both of the case and the CPU and GPU.

For power supplies, I use Seasonic or more recently the Rosewill Gold models; you want a high-efficiency (90%+) one to minimize heat in the case and power supply. Also, get a good CPU heatsink/fan; I usually use the 120mm ones, but a good 92mm fan will work also. And the GPU should not only have a good heatsink and fan, but not be overclocked very much (they almost always factory overclock to some extent).

Finally, be sure to get a case with good ventilation, with room for a 120 mm exhaust fan at the rear and a 120 mm side fan blowing into the GPU.

But if you have real power problems, a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is also required; some projects do not tolerate crashes due to power loss very well. I now use the Cyber Power "pure sine wave" ones, since the provide a sine-wave output that works better with high-efficiency power supplies that use PFC (power factor correction) circuitry.

There is nothing wrong with HP; I have used them myself, but you can do better by picking your own parts.

How can I pick parts so that the motherboard, the graphics board, the power supply, and the case will be known in advance to work together, with NO metal cutting? That question is the main reason I don't choose the parts myself yet.

My power problems are mostly strong limits on how much total power my computers can use; I already use a UPS for each of them, since one of the BOINC projects they participate in has been know to have workunits run for 6 months with NO checkpoints.

When you are buying parts read the reviews. Concentrate on bad ones.

When you are buying individual components look at the form factor. An ATX PSU will fit in ATX case, so will an ATX motherboard.

My recomendation for PSU's is "BEQUIET" they are exceptionally quiet, reliable and "LONGLASTING", Vorsprung durch Technik.

Rocket Science it isn't. Building computers and fitting optimal components is something I would leave to plenty of research and a 13 year old.

Why anybody would employ UPS for BOINC escapes me. If you are running something FAR more important fair enough.

Why anybody would employ UPS for BOINC escapes me. If you are running something FAR more important fair enough.

You use a UPS when you need them. I often put the BOINC data folder on a ramdisk, or use a write-cache for BOINC projects that write a lot to the disk drive (I use SSDs). Some projects can write over 1TB/day, and a ramdisk protects the SSD, and usually reduces errors as well. But if you have a power outage, you lose data and often corrupt the files with a ramdisk. In that case, if you don't have a UPS, you will wish that you did.

Why anybody would employ UPS for BOINC escapes me. If you are running something FAR more important fair enough.

Looks like you have never been interested in any BOINC project that hadn't managed to set up checkpointing yet, and had workunits much longer than the average length between even short power outages in your area.

The second GTX 750 Ti gave the same problem. I've since found that the problem is actually with the motherboard, a Pegatron IPISB-CH2. That model of motherboard is known for having problems booting properly when using any Nvidia-based graphics board with a GPU of a generation more recent than the Fermi generation. It also has problems using the more recent AMD GPUs. I've decided not to use that computer for GPUGRID any more.

My newest computer, with a GTX 980, is now trying to get a GPUGRID task; none seem to be available now.