Rebuilding a PC

Fatso2027

Fatso2027

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I recently received a free PC, it was custom built a few years ago, but not for gaming. I dug in a little bit, and found out it has a ATI Raedon 7500, unsure on HDD size, but was told HDD is probably bad. I was told the motherboard is shot, but the processor has no markings on it. It is also missing a power supply. It has most everything else (wi-fi, Ethernet, etc.)

I am planning on rebuilding most of it, just unsure what I need.
I know for a fact I need a new power supply.
I definitely want to upgrade the motherboard and processor.
It only has a 120gb HDD, so whether it's bad or not, I at least need another.
Aside from that, I see no fans of any sort, it does have CD/DVD drives, ZIP drive.

I'm looking to make this into a nice gaming rig, considering dual graphics cards. I would like to have a quad core processor, but not necessary I suppose. Adivce on what I should buy would be amazing, and I can get pics of the insides if necessary.
 
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well it sounds like the only thing reusable could be the ram and drives. make sure the drives are sata. see if you can figure out what type the ram is and go from there. do you know what case it is?
id atleast see what what cpu it is.
[quote name='Fatso2027']I recently received a free PC, it was custom built a few years ago, but not for gaming. I dug in a little bit, and found out it has a ATI Raedon 7500, unsure on HDD size, but was told HDD is probably bad. I was told the motherboard is shot, but the processor has no markings on it. It is also missing a power supply. It has most everything else (wi-fi, Ethernet, etc.)

I am planning on rebuilding most of it, just unsure what I need.
I know for a fact I need a new power supply.
I definitely want to upgrade the motherboard and processor.
It only has a 120gb HDD, so whether it's bad or not, I at least need another.
Aside from that, I see no fans of any sort, it does have CD/DVD drives, ZIP drive.

I'm looking to make this into a nice gaming rig, considering dual graphics cards. I would like to have a quad core processor, but not necessary I suppose. Adivce on what I should buy would be amazing, and I can get pics of the insides if necessary.[/QUOTE]
 
120GB HDD, Zip Drive, Radeon 7500...that computer sounds old...especially in Computer years. I'd imagine there's no more than 1GB of RAM in there, and no way the CD/DVD drives are Sata. You're probably better off starting from scratch. In any case, check out the PC Building thread in the PC section of the forum.
 
Well, it only has 512mb of RAM, so that isn't mush, but it's a start. I tried to find out the CPU, but it appears the label on it was melted onto the CPU fan, and I can't get it off. I was looking into a motherboard processor combo off tiger direct, just not sure what to get.
As for the case, it seems to just be a generic case. Lots of space inside.
As for dual graphics cards, is it worth the extra money I'd have to spend, or would I be fine with just a single card. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that I should save a decent amount if I don't buy a board that supports dual cards. Also, for gaming purposes, is the jump from dual to quad core really that important? My laptop I have now is a dual core, and I'm pretty sure the only thing holding it back is the graphics card. I'm looking for a cheap, but reliable PC.
I would mostly use it to game on, I play WoW, and a few shooters, but I want to be able to run Crysis. Any recommendations would be superb!
 
well whats your budget?
[quote name='Fatso2027']Well, it only has 512mb of RAM, so that isn't mush, but it's a start. I tried to find out the CPU, but it appears the label on it was melted onto the CPU fan, and I can't get it off. I was looking into a motherboard processor combo off tiger direct, just not sure what to get.
As for the case, it seems to just be a generic case. Lots of space inside.
As for dual graphics cards, is it worth the extra money I'd have to spend, or would I be fine with just a single card. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that I should save a decent amount if I don't buy a board that supports dual cards. Also, for gaming purposes, is the jump from dual to quad core really that important? My laptop I have now is a dual core, and I'm pretty sure the only thing holding it back is the graphics card. I'm looking for a cheap, but reliable PC.
I would mostly use it to game on, I play WoW, and a few shooters, but I want to be able to run Crysis. Any recommendations would be superb![/QUOTE]
 
I don't want to put a specific price on it, just so I don't buy something that's junk, but I don't want to go way overboard. I'm looking into AMD just to cut down the cost. I'm not wanting to sink more than maybe 500, that's why I got something that already had at least SOME stuff in it.

As for my drives, one of them is a TDK 440n, and the other I can't see anything on it. But yea, this thing is pretty old, it was built around ~2004-05
 
Like someone already suggested, you should start from scratch. The RAM is probably only DDR at best, which wont work with any motherboard that you'll want.

A good dual core processor is more than fine for gaming. A dual video card system is overkill, as you don't get double performance from double the cost. A microATX motherboard, which will only support one card, will be cheaper than an ATX board, which can support more than one.

For a system that can run anything out there, you'll be looking at a pentium dual core/athlon x2, 2GB RAM, and a $100 graphics card.
 
I had it moved. I've been looking a bit, and it looks like it's not going to cost a whole lot more to start from "scratch". The only thing I'm wondering is if my drives and wi-fi card, etc will work in my new PC.
 
I havent looked at the other thread, but as a PC builder (in RL!!!!! wow, huh?) use the case, scrap the rest (and that only if the case is new enough and doesnt have the older powersupply buttons power stuff. If money and such is an issue hit up buy/sell/trade forums. I have built at least 20 systems for friends with "cash low" problems. Nowdays you can get a MB and CPU for about $200 that will Overclock faster then the top end (non overclocked) stuff. I would recomend a E8400 or even a E5400 (had really great luck with those and OC'ing) 2 gigs of ram, a 8600GT Video card (or a 4870 ATI) a 500-750 watt PSU. Newegg has DVD burners for $20 ish with free shipping lots of time and a 500 gig Hard drive for about $50 new. You should be able to put all that toghter for under $500 easy , get a good Air cooler (xigma's are about $35 and work well) Overclock it to 3.6 or 4.0 and you will have a machine that can play any game at 1280X1024, and 95% of them at 1680X1200(widescreen) depending on your monitor. As for Wifi, Ebay has usb wifi for $10+ alot of the time.
 
A DVD burner would also serve as my CD drive, correct? I have a build that I'm just about done with.

What I selected seems good to me, as far as I can tell, it gets me the graphics power that I want, and I would also get a respectable processor. The cost on it was OK, I would like to see it at around 300 though.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148194
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140041
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233061
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131603
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145299

Let me know what you think of this. With that MOBO, I should be able to reuse the Wi Fi card, and I might throw the old HDD in just for some extra space. If you have any recommendations on ways to cheapen this up without losing the power, I would greatly appreciate it.

After doing some stripping (not like that :p) I found that I should be able to re use the case, It looks the same as the stuff sold now on the inside, so that's a plus. The two optical drives in it are a TDK 440N and Samsung SC-152. I would like to reuse these if possible, just for the sake of saving SOME money. The Wi Fi card I have now is a D-Link Air Plus, it says DWL-520+, and I'm hoping to use this as well.
 
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