Kaervek

So last year I upgraded my old dell 4700 chasis (third time it's been upgraded) with

-2Gb DDR2 SDram
-ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT

it's still running on some crap dell motherboard and a 2.8ghz single-core grantsdale from a few millenia ago.

couple days ago I was playing GTA 4 and the bugger shuts down on me and refuses to start back up when i smell plastic burning... the fan is about to die basically, i cleaned it up but it won't play games for over 5 minutes anymore.

so i was thinking maybe i'll buy a new motherboard, chasis fan, power supply, and processor, and maybe a processor fan if i have some leftover cash to OC. it's going to be used for gaming and i'm not sure on the processor yet. my price range is around $350. any suggestions?

wrench97

Problem is with a Dell you also need a case because dell cases are not standard ATX nor are the front panel a standard config, and a PSU because the Dell units are too small and made with the rails rated to what Dell needs for their boards and not standard ones, And then there is the OS which is tied to the OEM Bios by the EULA and won't pass Activation/Validation when you do the necessary repair install to rid the installation of the old motherboard drivers and rebuild the HAL.DLL. now you can use the drives, but newer motherboards will only support 2 IDE drives as they are going to Sata, and of course the video card providing it is a PCIEx16 and not an AGP card.

Kaervek

so, essentially I can save my RAM, my video card, my hard drives and my optical drives..

would it just be cheaper to buy a case with parts in it on something like cyberpowerpc or should I newegg the stuff?

wrench97

With Cyberpower your going to get a complete system, that is not always the best system for the money.
On the Ram what speed do have 533 or 667?

Of course I'm going to say build your own that way you get what you want and will end up with a platform that can be upgraded in the future.

Kaervek

then my idea is this:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119047

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145211

MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128359

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036 (combination package with Vista 32-bit)

CPU Cooling: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118019

parts already owned:
-2Gb DDR2 Ram (at 667)
-ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 512mb
-DVD drive

totals out at about 810 before rebates. any way to shave off a couple bucks without losing too much performance? i'm not too eager to drop to a E8400, however. is there a cheaper, just as good CPU fan or something?

also, any cooler, and cheaper, case suggestions?

MB and PSU seemed like the best in their category and at the lowest price.

wrench97

Vista HP instead of ULT> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

The CPU comes with a stock cooler if your not going to over clock it works fine or for noise reduction and mild OC this one> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134

The coolermaster psu you selected is a very good unit this one after rebates is a deal though depending on what video card you go to in the future it might be worth some though> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341011

Kaervek

cool. any suggestions on the case (is there a better one i should go for)? i am planning on OC'ing the CPU as much as I can, should I go with the zalman?

i am new to overclocking a cpu however, is there a guide i can do this with?

thanks ahead of time mate, you already saved me a ton of cash!

wrench97

I use that line of coolermasters a lot there are decent cases I think when you get below that price point the quality and durability of the case goes down(Power switches and front usb ports) as well as the thickness of the metal used.

If you are going for a high OC then the Zalman is the way to go but I think you will be pleased at stock speeds.

Get it up and running stable then make a post in our OC thread and one of us will get you set up.

Kaervek

So is 64-bit Vista the way to go? I heard it was having a ton of issues and problems.

wrench97

Vista 64 is improving all the time it has trouble with older hardware driver support, and older printers, scanners, so check the printer/scanner you have to see if it has 64bit drivers, other then that it's pretty good.

shotgn

for a hard drive may i suggest
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074

it is a 16mb cache, better than the 8mb cache you picked, the 16 will load a little faster.

Kaervek

Hey guys, just bought all the parts, they'll come on friday... didn't get the message about the hard drive in time though. Hopefully the one I picked won't be too much slower. Thanks for the help mates.. will tell you how it goes.