Combining two older PCs. Need some input

[Stg-Flame]

I'm trying to figure out which is the best route to take when combining my two older PCs (specs below). They have the same specs in both machines but I am considering putting newer GPU(s) in the rig in place of the older GPUs so I'm unsure if there will be any bottleneck/compatibility/etc. issues.

Mobo - ASUS P5Q SE Plus 775 P45
CPU - Intel C2D E8400 Wolfdale @ 3GHz
GPU - eVGA GTX 260 Superclocked X2 OR eVGA GTX 670 (overclocked) X2
RAM - 2GX2|MUSHKIN 996580 DII800
PSU - Corsair HX520

Does anyone foresee any issues with combining the RAM and GPUs? Would there be any issues with replacing the 260s with the newer 670s? This isn't going to be used for anything more than local co-op gaming with my girlfriend (my old laptop runs Titan Quest at 25-30FPS).

 

[VirtualLarry]

I guess I don't see quite what you're asking. Will the 670 cards transfer over? If it supports SLI on that board, then certainly.

The RAM, I don't see what you're asking, I think some of the info got truncated. You want to add another kit to the 2x2GB? Probably work, may have to manually set timing to slower of the two kits, and highest voltage of the two kits.

Edit: I would probably consider upgrading that board, to a Core2Quad. Only, does that board have an NVidia system chipset? Because I think that's how boards supported SLI back in the day. In which case, some of the NV chipset boards didn't really mesh well with 45nm Core2Quad CPUs, especially for OCing. That might make things complicated to upgrade to a quad-core. They (AFAIK) didn't have any issues with 45nm duals.

Edit: Wait, you said "P45". Does that board have the P45 chipset? Are you using modded NV drivers to enable SLI on that board? In which case, definitely upgrade to a 45nm Core2Quad and OC it to at least 3.0Ghz. The added overhead of SLI drivers will thank you for more threads available for games.

 

[Iron Woode]

I guess I don't see quite what you're asking. Will the 670 cards transfer over? If it supports SLI on that board, then certainly.

The RAM, I don't see what you're asking, I think some of the info got truncated. You want to add another kit to the 2x2GB? Probably work, may have to manually set timing to slower of the two kits, and highest voltage of the two kits.

Edit: I would probably consider upgrading that board, to a Core2Quad. Only, does that board have an NVidia system chipset? Because I think that's how boards supported SLI back in the day. In which case, some of the NV chipset boards didn't really mesh well with 45nm Core2Quad CPUs, especially for OCing. That might make things complicated to upgrade to a quad-core. They (AFAIK) didn't have any issues with 45nm duals.

Edit: Wait, you said "P45". Does that board have the P45 chipset? Are you using modded NV drivers to enable SLI on that board? In which case, definitely upgrade to a 45nm Core2Quad and OC it to at least 3.0Ghz. The added overhead of SLI drivers will thank you for more threads available for games.

1. the board(s) in question are Intel chipsets
2. the board(s) in question are not SLI
3. socket 775 is rather old and limited
4. if ram is the same then combining them makes sense. the board(s) support 16GB ram. there are only 4 slots for ram.
5. since there are 2 video cards to choose from, the 670 makes the most sense. anything newer would be a waste.
6. a quadcore would be a good idea and the q9550 is an inexpensive choice.

and last but not least - selling both systems and buying a used Ivybridge or Haswell system would be a tremendous improvement.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I guess I don't see quite what you're asking. Will the 670 cards transfer over? If it supports SLI on that board, then certainly.

The RAM, I don't see what you're asking, I think some of the info got truncated. You want to add another kit to the 2x2GB? Probably work, may have to manually set timing to slower of the two kits, and highest voltage of the two kits.

Edit: I would probably consider upgrading that board, to a Core2Quad. Only, does that board have an NVidia system chipset? Because I think that's how boards supported SLI back in the day. In which case, some of the NV chipset boards didn't really mesh well with 45nm Core2Quad CPUs, especially for OCing. That might make things complicated to upgrade to a quad-core. They (AFAIK) didn't have any issues with 45nm duals.

Edit: Wait, you said "P45". Does that board have the P45 chipset? Are you using modded NV drivers to enable SLI on that board? In which case, definitely upgrade to a 45nm Core2Quad and OC it to at least 3.0Ghz. The added overhead of SLI drivers will thank you for more threads available for games.

I'm not buying anything. I'm simply combining the two systems and was wondering if I took the other 260 from the other machine and put it in SLI, would that cause any bottleneck issues with the lower PSU or would it be better to use my 670s instead. Considering the 670s are a lot newer than the 260s, I assume there would be definite bottlenecking. The P5K Pro allows for SLI (at least, I see another PCI-E slot on this board underneath my 260).

and last but not least - selling both systems and buying a used Ivybridge or Haswell system would be a tremendous improvement.

Again, I'm not buying anything and there's no way in hell I'd be able to sell these systems for anything more than $50. I live in a small town and PCs (especially gaming PCs) are not in high demand as everyone goes to consoles around here.

 

[fralexandr]

As Woode said,that motherboard doesn't appear to support SLI.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5Q_SE_PLUS/specifications/
Expansion Slots
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16
2 x PCIe x1
3 x PCI

if your motherboard is actually the P5K Pro it still doesn't support SLI, though it will support CROSSFIRE. As far as I know, SLI requires at least 2 x8 slots.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5K_PRO/specifications/
Expansion Slots
2 x PCIe x16 (blue @ x16 mode, black @ x4 or x1 mode) supports
2 x PCIe x1
2 x PCI

-----
both of those boards support most of the Core 2 Quads. If you're not picky, core 2 quads can be found on ebay for ~$20 shipped. Earlier gen i5/i7 computers can be had for ~$100-200, which is why core 2 computers are almost worthless.

 

[Stg-Flame]

That's what I was afraid of. I built them both in 2009 for about $500 a piece. So it looks like I'll be using the 670 instead of the 260s and then going with the extra RAM. I just wish I had another copy of Win 7 lying around as I really hate dealing with Vista, but it's a small price to pay so she won't have to deal with using a laptop to play games.

Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[Iron Woode]

That's what I was afraid of. I built them both in 2009 for about $500 a piece. So it looks like I'll be using the 670 instead of the 260s and then going with the extra RAM. I just wish I had another copy of Win 7 lying around as I really hate dealing with Vista, but it's a small price to pay so she won't have to deal with using a laptop to play games.

Thanks a lot for the help.

if money is an issue you may be able to buy a quadcore cpu for cheap from the For-sale/Trade sub-forum here.

as for win7: if you have a valid key you can still download the correct iso for free from here - http://mirror.digitalriver.info/

 

[Stg-Flame]

I'm not looking to max out current gen games. The most demanding game we might play is Grim Dawn, but the setting has never appealed to her so that brings us down to co-op Torchlight 2 and Titan Quest. One of these computers is mine and the other is my mom's and she was able to run Grim Dawn at the lowest settings. Pretty sure if I slap in some more RAM and a newer GPU (and no bottlenecks occur), we should be just fine. I might even be able to get her into Borderlands 2, but this machine is going to be for older games. I'm even going to be looking up some really old games she used to play when she was a kid (going back to the old 8" and 5 1/4" floppy discs).

She's mainly into books and I've been able to sucker her into playing games with me and it turns out she really likes playing some of them. I got her hooked on Kingdoms of Amalur and the Batman Arkham series, so if things turn out that she really wants a high-end gaming rig, I'll wait until I can afford to build her a proper one.

 

[Iron Woode]

I'm not looking to max out current gen games. The most demanding game we might play is Grim Dawn, but the setting has never appealed to her so that brings us down to co-op Torchlight 2 and Titan Quest. One of these computers is mine and the other is my mom's and she was able to run Grim Dawn at the lowest settings. Pretty sure if I slap in some more RAM and a newer GPU (and no bottlenecks occur), we should be just fine. I might even be able to get her into Borderlands 2, but this machine is going to be for older games. I'm even going to be looking up some really old games she used to play when she was a kid (going back to the old 8" and 5 1/4" floppy discs).

She's mainly into books and I've been able to sucker her into playing games with me and it turns out she really likes playing some of them. I got her hooked on Kingdoms of Amalur and the Batman Arkham series, so if things turn out that she really wants a high-end gaming rig, I'll wait until I can afford to build her a proper one.

cool!

I can't get my GF to play any video games.