Old beast / new system

CliveMcDrive · 11 Apr 2019 at 22:18

Good evening guys

Ive just re-acquired my old gaming PC from my ex gf and am planning to use it for a while before scrapping it for parts. Its been a while since I've built a system or even played on a PC so i'm not sure where to start, so thought it would be fun to get your opinions on what i should keep and what i should ditch! I built this PC about 10 years ago, it was a beast but now i'm not too sure!
Current specs

Case Antec 900
Mobo - Asus P6T
CPU - i7 920 (d0 stepping previous 4GHZ overclock

)
GFX - GTX 570
sound card - Asus Xonar DX
Ram - 6GB DDR3 (3x2GB)
power - Corsair HX850W
Noctua heatsink and fan
Asus 24 inch monitor
Microsoft X6 keyboard
Logitech MX518 Mouse
creative fatality headset
Logitech Z4 speakers

I fear the only thing worth salvaging from the computer is the power supply? Im planning on a micro PC gamign PC next - will that work?

Any advice appreciated, budget £500 for next PC

Guru · 11 Apr 2019 at 22:22

I’d probably just get a new GPU, £500 isn’t enough to replace everything and it’s only your GPU that would make a huge difference imho

Minibiker · 11 Apr 2019 at 22:32

at least you got the PC back from her and it didn't end up in the bin.. You could get something decent used and DDR4 platform for £500 im sure

CliveMcDrive · 12 Apr 2019 at 09:51

Hey, thanks for your replies.

Would the power supply and hard drives work in the following system if i bought the components (minus hard drives, PSU and CD ROM) separately?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/titan-karambit-micro-atx-gaming-pc-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-fs-090-og.html

Guru · 12 Apr 2019 at 09:54

That's a decent PSU so I don't see why not.

orbitalwalsh · 12 Apr 2019 at 09:58

hold out till July for core build

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660Ti OC 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £269.99
1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £56.99

Total: £337.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)

save rest for July along with saving up and should be able to grab Ryzen 3000 8 core, ram and x570 for good money

Guru · 12 Apr 2019 at 10:47

He already has an 850w PSU

orbitalwalsh · 12 Apr 2019 at 10:56

Guru said:
He already has an 850w PSU

I have a 1000w PSU, from same time period .. rails slowly failing . wouldn't use it in a new build for sure

HX at 10 years old, guessing past warranty . and to be fair with insane deals on Antec PSU with either 7 or 10 year warranty an £15-25 off.. not bad

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:01

i7 920 is based on an older (45nm) architecture vs the x5650 (32nm)
so even just by upgrading, you'd get the generational improvements even without overclocking.
not to mention that the x5650 is a hex core, i7 920 is a quad core.
both chips will do about the same overclocks.
tl;dr: for £15, it's a cheap upgrade - see if you like the performance increase, before dumping a grand on totally new parts.

my suggestion:
step 1) get a x5650/x5670/x5675/x5690 and overclock it. obviously the higher chips will cost more, but be easier to overclock as they start with higher multipliers already.
x5650 - £15, x5670 - £20 would be what i'd aim to pay. could get the x5675 for £25 if you lucky. i wouldn't get the x5690 as it's £50 - therefore not worth it.
also i'm assuming you have a decent cooler already, as you've managed to get your 920 to 4.0ghz - and is a noctua.
you'll need to update your motherboard bios first before sticking the newer xeon chip in

step 2) if you like the performance increase (do note that your current gpu may hold back an overclocked x56xx chip), then i'd suggest getting another 3x 2gb sticks of ddr3 ram, again preowned to make a total of 12gb. i wouldn't suggest getting ddr3 ram new as it's dead tech now. again, i wouldn't recommend paying more than £15 for 3x 2gb sticks.

so, with step 1 and 2 done, your total outlay at this point would be £30-45 depending on which cpu you got. which i think is a steal for the performance increase.

step 3) and at this point, also upgrade the graphics card. 1660ti or vega56 wouldn't be a bad shout. it performs at the level of a 1070ti and would be a good match for the overclocked x56xx cpu.

alternate step 2) if you didn't like the performance increase - then go ahead an upgrade the whole system.

orbitalwalsh · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:09

^^^ nice money save trick

had i7 860 at 4ghz, " down graded thread count" to i5 7600k ... though at 5ghz - destroyed the first gen i7 but at high cost, and intel still at high costs

paying £20 for new CPU could tie over nicely, but have a feeling July hadrware will really tempt you

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:14

orbitalwalsh said:
but have a feeling July hadrware will really tempt you

thing is, OP needs a full system overhaul - hard to do on a budget of £500.
better to min-max the budget on the necessary parts - ie gpu.
cpu and ram can take a backseat given that he's already got an x58 mobo - so there is an upgrade path, albeit a bit longer in the tooth.

Guru · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:57

I really think just a better GPU would tide you over tbh

I have almost an identical spec and changed from a 570 to a 780 and it kept me going.

My son still uses it as his gaming rig now. It's an i7 930, but it's not overclocked.

Does him just fine in all current games. With a better GPU it would be even better.

/edit I had the same mobo, but 12GB ram.

I'd get an SSD and a new GPU and see how you get on before considering upgrading anything else.

The concerns about the PSU are probably valid it it's so old that it's out of warranty.

CliveMcDrive · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:12

Thanks for your responses guys, lots of food for thought.

The PSU is old, but it hasn't been used at all last four years, so it's had probably 6 years of average use. and from what remember Corsair is a quality brand for PSUs so I don't see it failing any time soon.

I am more tempted to go down the new mini pc with some older parts (PSU, HDDs etc) than spend money upgrading the older PC with a better card, the games I would play would probably run okay with the current card I would imagine.

Basket I made before was

i3 7100 - £135
8gb Ram - £65
Micro Case - £80
GTX 1050 - £120
Asus H110M-K - £48
be Quiet CPU cooler - £50

£498 in total

Salvage
PSU - Corsair HX850W
2 X HDDs
Sound and wifi card

Nowt else i would need?

No rush on building this either, could possibly be a summer project

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:17

for a new spec, that's crap, and an upgraded x58 build with a new gpu would run rings around it

CliveMcDrive · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:18

whats the crappest thing in there? What would you upgrade?

tamzzy said:
for a new spec, that's crap

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:19

CliveMcDrive said:
whats the crappest thing in there? What would you upgrade?

tamzzy said:
thing is, OP needs a full system overhaul - hard to do on a budget of £500.
better to min-max the budget on the necessary parts - ie gpu.
cpu and ram can take a backseat given that he's already got an x58 mobo - so there is an upgrade path, albeit a bit longer in the tooth.

tamzzy said:
i7 920 is based on an older (45nm) architecture vs the x5650 (32nm)
so even just by upgrading, you'd get the generational improvements even without overclocking.
not to mention that the x5650 is a hex core, i7 920 is a quad core.
both chips will do about the same overclocks.
tl;dr: for £15, it's a cheap upgrade - see if you like the performance increase, before dumping a grand on totally new parts.

my suggestion:
step 1) get a x5650/x5670/x5675/x5690 and overclock it. obviously the higher chips will cost more, but be easier to overclock as they start with higher multipliers already.
x5650 - £15, x5670 - £20 would be what i'd aim to pay. could get the x5675 for £25 if you lucky. i wouldn't get the x5690 as it's £50 - therefore not worth it.
also i'm assuming you have a decent cooler already, as you've managed to get your 920 to 4.0ghz - and is a noctua.
you'll need to update your motherboard bios first before sticking the newer xeon chip in

step 2) if you like the performance increase (do note that your current gpu may hold back an overclocked x56xx chip), then i'd suggest getting another 3x 2gb sticks of ddr3 ram, again preowned to make a total of 12gb. i wouldn't suggest getting ddr3 ram new as it's dead tech now. again, i wouldn't recommend paying more than £15 for 3x 2gb sticks.

so, with step 1 and 2 done, your total outlay at this point would be £30-45 depending on which cpu you got. which i think is a steal for the performance increase.

step 3) and at this point, also upgrade the graphics card. 1660ti or vega56 wouldn't be a bad shout. it performs at the level of a 1070ti and would be a good match for the overclocked x56xx cpu.

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:24

CliveMcDrive said:
whats the crappest thing in there?

CliveMcDrive said:
i3 7100 - £135
8gb Ram - £65
Micro Case - £80
GTX 1050 - £120
Asus H110M-K - £48
be Quiet CPU cooler - £50

first off - 7100 is a dual core part...so right off the bat - it's obsolete
same with the 8gb ram - if you're going to keep your system for any length of time
and with the gtx1050 - see above points
and with the mobo - non-overclockable dead end platform, again, see above points
you already have a noctua cooler no? they're pretty decent, so wasted money on yet another cpu cooler - which really isn't needed
same with another case - £80 from a £500 budget for bling-bling...not gonna help with fps/image quality

Plec · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:26

tamzzy said:
for a new spec, that's crap, and an upgraded x58 build with a new gpu would run rings around it

@tamzzy is in his final year of 'Finishing School' - he's a work in progress...

But substitute 'crap' for - not 'great value/aging EOL tech for money in comparison' and you'll get it

tamzzy · 12 Apr 2019 at 12:29

Plec said:
he's a work in progress...

#nofilter

lol

but at least it gets the point across w/o any doubt

CliveMcDrive · 12 Apr 2019 at 13:47

tamzzy said:
first off - 7100 is a dual core part...so right off the bat - it's obsolete
same with the 8gb ram - if you're going to keep your system for any length of time
and with the gtx1050 - see above points
and with the mobo - non-overclockable dead end platform, again, see above points
you already have a noctua cooler no? they're pretty decent, so wasted money on yet another cpu cooler - which really isn't needed
same with another case - £80 from a £500 budget for bling-bling...not gonna help with fps/image quality

thanks for the advice

How about upgrading the CPU to a Core i5-7400? £180
And 16gb of RAM for £95
SATELLITE MICRO-ATX CUBE CASE - BLACK- £37
GTX 1050 - £120

what mobo would you get? Got £68 quid left of the £500 budget

would the Noctua cooler fit into a micro ATX case?

thanks