I'm up grading my system, what should I use or not use from my old system.

[mellondust]

I will be getting some kind of budget core 2 duo system and would really only like to have to buy a cpu, mobo, ram, and video card if most my old stuff will work. This is what I will have left over to hopfully use until I can buy newer components. I am not sure what of this stuff is best to use, but this is what I have. Let me know if any of these will hold the system back enough that it is not worth using. Both powersupplies, 120gig hd, and nec 3550a are pretty new if that matters.

5400 rpm 20 gig ata 100 hard drive
40 gig 5400rpm ata 133 hard drives
40 gig 7200rpm ata 133 hard drives
7200rpm 120 gig ata 133 hard drive
sound blaster live!
Thermaltake Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) ATX 420W Power Supply
Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply
pioneer dvd drive
nec 3550a dvd/rw drive
lite-on cd/rw drive

 

[Ika]

your 720rpm hard drives look like they're still good to go, and your optical drives are still good too. Your sound card should be fine, if you're not really into any kind of serious sound. Can't say anything about the rest, though.

 

[Zirconium]

Most of my friends don't even use discrete sound cards, so I think you are good-to-go with your sound blaster. I have a TT-420AD as well, and it is running in my system just fine. I just bought two 3550as myself, so I don't see any reason to upgrade that. I am a bit concerned with the four IDE hard drives; many new motherboards come with only one IDE port, so you will have trouble plugging in seven IDE devices without using SATA->IDE converters (if they have those) or a hard drive controller card. I'd consider heading over the the FS/FT forum, dumping the IDE hard drives and the cd/rw and just getting one of the 320GB Seagates Newegg sells for $90 on the weekends.

 

[gobucks]

i'd use the 120GB HD and the optical drive, but i'd look into a new PSU. for PCIe, it is recommended to use a 24-pin PSU; they provide added stability for the extra power that many PCIe graphics cards require. If you are using a low-end GPU, you might be able to get away with your old PSU, but if you are using a higher end GPU or if you plan to OC your conroe, then you'll need a nice 24-pin, 500W+ PSU.

As for the sound card, it's pretty much uneccesary. the Azalia audio included in with newer Intel boards is just as good if not better than a soundblaster live.

 

[Atheus]

Be aware there can be problems with onboard sound...

In my old NF7-S music would crackle under load due to heat on the southbridge (a heatsink only partially fixed it) and on my new CFX3200 using the onboard slows Oblivion to a crawl for unknown reasons. Probably something to do with bus bandwidth.

My Soundblaster Live is the oldest and probably most reliable part of my system.

 

[sniperruff]

all of your stuff looks good to go. use the 7200rpm HD for OS drive.

 

[CDC Mail Guy]

I'm doing the exact same thing with my Dell 8400. Bought new case/PSU, and LGA 775 Mobo (Asus P5GD2-X) that will accomodate my CPU (3.6 GHz P4 Prescott) That's IT! Everything else, I am salvaging including CPU/heatsink, fan and RAM from my Dell. Doing this because I hate the non-existant airflow through Dell's case. I guess that I will have to preload the new mobo drivers onto my primary HDD so Windows will boot?

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: mellondust
I will be getting some kind of budget core 2 duo system and would really only like to have to buy a cpu, mobo, ram, and video card if most my old stuff will work. This is what I will have left over to hopfully use until I can buy newer components. I am not sure what of this stuff is best to use, but this is what I have. Let me know if any of these will hold the system back enough that it is not worth using. Both powersupplies, 120gig hd, and nec 3550a are pretty new if that matters.

5400 rpm 20 gig ata 100 hard drive
40 gig 5400rpm ata 133 hard drives
40 gig 7200rpm ata 133 hard drives
7200rpm 120 gig ata 133 hard drive
sound blaster live!
Thermaltake Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) ATX 420W Power Supply
Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply
pioneer dvd drive
nec 3550a dvd/rw drive
lite-on cd/rw drive