How To Recycle a Dell Inspiron 530 / Intel Q6600 / Nvidia 9800GT

darren13

darren13

darren13

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Hi Guys,

(if there's an existing thread on this that covers something similar, please pop the link in for me? Thanks)

This will be a first for me - I'm aiming to build a PC from the ground up. Have done a fair bit of upgrading obviously over the years, but I'm in unchartered waters here.

It's 99% a work machine, with very little gaming. Well, Maybe 90/10.

What I'd Really Like:
(What I already have is below this list)

  • A much better case for cooling and adding cards. (Am overseas atm, and it's 35 degrees most days. Got the side panel off the PC, it still feels like it's on fire most days.)
  • An SSD for the Windows OS to boot from.
  • Maybe 6gb Ram again as that's what I have atm.
  • To use my existing 2 x 1Tb drives for backup, or mirroring via raid.
  • A motherboard that will take 4 hard drives minimum to enable me to (if it is possible) have the SSD mirrored on to a 2nd drive in case of meltdown / backup onto my existing 2 x 1Tb drives. (Or I'd go with fast, mirrored HD's for the OS and progs if that's better?).
  • A fast primary hard drive for loading programs (I use a lot of apps at the same time for work and my current setup just isn't cutting it.)
  • If safe(ish) to overclock then I'd happily do that for some more juice. I'd feel more comfortable with a better case I expect so things were below 60 for a change...

What I have atm :-

is a Dell Inspiron 530, Win 7 Ultimate x64, 6gb Ram, 500Gb on C:, 2Tb on F: raided with a card. Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT. I have a 750W psu.

I'm pretty sure I can move the Q6600 quad onto another motherboard, but my Ram is 2 x 600-ish mhz and 2 x 800-ish mhz, so I think I need to upgrade there and at least have them 'clocking' the same?

My 2 x 1Tb drives that are raided might be good for backup in the new machine, but they're 'environmentally friendly' from what I remember and only spinning at 5400 or something.

I can see the handy threads :
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18060182

and

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18046396

My problem is I seem to have an 'old-ish' chip and these threads seem to cover different chipsets. Well, main problem I should say...along with feeling a bit dumbfounded.

Could I just check the manufacturer's site to ensure my Q6600 will fit the mobo for each 'example build', and then take it that the rest of the components will be about the right performance - and if so, would it be the 'mid-range' type builds I'd go for?

Any advice is very much appreciated.

If you think any of the above is unrealistic or stupid, please do tell me - I'd rather take it on the chin now, and not have to spend the time and money re-doing it again.

Many Thanks,
Darren

**Oh, and I realise this may cost several hundred squids....I'm not looking for a ball-busting gaming rig, but time is money and all that, so if I can get Windows to do a reboot in half the 10 minutes it takes now, and open programs in half the time, then it could pay for itself.
 
Hey

For the mobo have a look at this

As for RAM, get 2 sets of this which will give you 8 total

Those 2 set you back £240 and allow you to reuse your Q6600

However for a little more you could get

AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1055T 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £150.39 (£127.99)
MSI 870A-G54 AMD 870 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £77.98 (£66.37)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK) £70.49 (£59.99)

Sub Total : £314.34
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £56.67
Total : £380.51

Which is a faster, more cored processor, faster RAM, and the mobo has newer SATA3/USB3 support too, it depends on your budget

Re a case then just decide on what you like, Id recomend to start looking around the 60-70 quid level, you get some really good cases with good airflow in that price range, such as the coolermaster storm scout

If you plan to OC then dont forget to add a decent aftermarket cooler
 
Which of your sets of Ram are rated at 800mhz the 2x2gb set or the 2x1gb set? might be able to salvage the 2x2gb set if they're the 800mhz set.

May i ask what you use your pc for as its uses will dictate which components would be appropriate for you. The motherboard 95thrifles has suggested is ideal and as for a case the scout is good but i personally found it a little small in there but really couldn't argue with how well it works for the money. Pick a case you like basically OcUK doesn't sell many rubbishy ones but yes look around the £70 mark for a good one.

i believe for a graphics upgrade the 460gtx is the in thing at the moment. and the SSDs check out the new range of OCZ drives OcUK have just got in.
 
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case wise have a look at something like the Fractal Design Define R3.

i'd go with the mobo 95th listed, i'd keep your memory and use that for the time being, along with a cooler like the titan fenrir or akasa venom.

OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 90GB SSD might be worth a look at too hold o/s and your apps.

if your system is taking 10 minutes too boot then you might well have other issues, have you checked startup etc so you don't have stuff loading that isn't needed ?
 
What bugdet do you have in mind? What brand is the PSU? What do you usually do on the PC?

Also, try do a fresh install of Windows. I notice over time the boot time slows down, and a fresh install works wonders :)
 
The OPs machine looks more than adequate for the use described.

If it's taking 10 minutes to reboot then there's something wrong.

I'd keep the machine and get a decent SSD. Reinstall from scratch and then see what it's like. If it's still not quick enough then look at a complete new build (obviously keeping the SSD).

Also remember that you'll need a new copy of Windows in addition to the new hardware.
 
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skippy2421 said:
May i ask what you use your pc for as its uses will dictate which components would be appropriate for you.
Click to expand...

Hi Skippy -

This is mostly a work machine. A lot of the time I'll have the following programs and maybe a couple others open simultaneously:

Mcafee
Outlook 2007
Dreamweaver CS5
Photoshop CS4
Illustrator CS4
Filezilla
Office Time
Firefox (usually with far too many tabs open!)
Internet Explorer
Windows Explorer / Explorer2
Cisco VPN
Skype
Nokia Ovi phone software

At the moment, no problems when actually running all that software simultaneously. Normally a gig or so of Ram to spare out of the 6gb, but opening / closing programs, rebooting / startup is painful.

Thanks, D
 
Orcvader said:
What bugdet do you have in mind? What brand is the PSU? What do you usually do on the PC?

Also, try do a fresh install of Windows. I notice over time the boot time slows down, and a fresh install works wonders :)
Click to expand...

Hi Orc -

Budget-wise I'm hoping to get everything for under £700 - case, mobo, Ram, SSD, fan, HD's (enough for some sort of redundancy /raid type setup - just had a scare yesterday with my C: drive - I backup and can restore an entire image but it's time...). If it's closer to £500 then I'm a happy bunny.

PSU says EVO Labs on the side, Switching Power Supply, Model 750U. No idea if it's any good?

(see just above for PC usage.)

The trouble with a fresh install, is I think it would take me about 3 weeks to reinstall all the other software...unless I can freshen it up without losing everything?

Thanks,D
 
bremen1874 said:
The OPs machine looks more than adequate for the use described.

If it's taking 10 minutes to reboot then there's something wrong.

I'd keep the machine and get a decent SSD. Reinstall from scratch and then see what it's like. If it's still not quick enough then look at a complete new build (obviously keeping the SSD).

Also remember that you'll need a new copy of Windows in addition to the new hardware.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bremen,

I suppose I can re-use the SSD with new components as and when I get them. That's a sensible option.

Reinstalling from scratch will kill me though - so many programs to reinstall...

I think I could pop my System Image on the SSD though, replacing the C drive.

If that's still slow then a fresh reinstall...

If I had my programs in a separate partition / drive, would that help when reinstalling the OS? - I'm presuming any registry entries for the programs would still get wiped?

Thanks, D
 
Shopping List / Recommendations Ongoing....

Motherboard:

Asus P5Q Deluxe Intel P45 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard [90-MIB4G0-G0EAY00Z (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-278-AS)

Chip:

Existing Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @2.40 Ghz

Ram: (4 or 6? or 8gb, depending on overall cost)

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (KHX8500D2K2/4G) [KHX8500D2K2/4G]

Cooling:

Akasa Venom (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-072-AK)

Case:

Coolermaster storm scout (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-175-CM)

/or/

Fractal Design Define R3 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-010-FD)

Hard Disks:

OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 90GB SSD (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/searc...pid=701&search=OCZ+Vertex+2E+Bigfoot+90GB+SSD)

OS:

Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

** Any other recommendations just let me know and I'll add to the list!

D
 
OK firstly yes you need to do a fresh install, you cant just image across, it wont help
Secondly with that sort of budget I'd be tempted to either wait a little while longer and do whole system in a one, or maybe just buy a SSD now and reinstall win7, then save the rest til again ready to do whole system
To get the benefit you do need to reinstall though, no way round it
 
Am I missing something or you're trying to buy new 775 mobo and new DDR2 mem?
If yes, then it's a total fail, you can get much better AM3 setup for LESS.

If you can't OC the Q6600 on ur current board then just sell it and buy new mobo+ram+cpu.

Regarding reinstall, fresh would be best but you might be able to do a full OS backup/image and then restore it to new HDD, but I'd still highly recommend fresh reinstall.
 
If the machine is fast enough as it is when actually running the apps as you say, I'd be inclined to leave it as it is. As for the loading times get an SSD and reinstall windows. If you want to play games upgrade the GPU although this may also require you changing the PSU as well and then whilst you're at it you might as well do the case too.
 
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