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Might be able to get a used PC, but need help comparing stats

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OmniShinzui

Member
To answer the sticky's questions:
Gonna be using this PC for gaming/editing music but new PC will be modified a bit to do gaming more then editing (noted in stats below). Looking to spend about $200 or so on things like a new graphics card, probably from like Newegg.

Ive never used a good intel processor before (think Celeron and P4.... ive used), and never been ATi. Will be using parts stated below. I dont think I plan on overclocking unless stock (ie graphic overclock built by default). Probably would get it like in half a week.

Current PC:
CPU: AMD X2 4400+ 2.2GHz
Mobo: DFI Lanparty Ultra-D Socket 939
Ram: 2x 1GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8
Hard Drive: 1x WD Raptor SATA 74GB 8mb Cache
Video: PCI-e eVGA Nvidia 7900GT
Sound: Creative X-Fi Platinum
Case: Antec P180
PSU: Antec Smartpower 500watt

Might be getting PC:
CPU: Intel Xeon E5345 Clovertown 2.33GHz 2 x 4MB L2
Mobo: TYAN S2696A2NRF Dual LGA 771 Intel 5000X (2x CPU Slots, 1x used)
Ram: Crucial 2x2GB 240-Pin DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC Fully Buffered DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
Hard Drive: 2x Raid-0 Fujitsu 15k RPM SAS 147GB
Video: Nvidia Quadro 3500 (getting 9800GT or something)
Sound: Onboard (moving Creative over)
Case: COOLER MASTER STC-T01 CM Stacker
PSU: Antec Toughpower 750W
Cards: LSI Logic LSISAS3442X-R 8-port SAS PCI-X

Im not sure how much of a difference id see in my own setting like what I stated above. I dont think i like the case as much but its an eATX mobo so I dont think would fit into a P180 lol. Id probably add a 1TB Hard drive into it at some point and would like to get another set of 2x2GB (tho It has like 8x ram slots up to 32GB). It cant handle DDR2800 I think but it should be fine right? Also the CPU is discontinued so iono if I can get a second intel one at some point. The custom built is legit, and the person selling is a good friend just needs money and went Mac for his video work. I just dont know how much a increase and upgrade this really is to be worthwhile.

Thanks in advance.

edit: I said Hitachi as new PC's hard drives, I remember they were Fujitsu branded.
 
yeah I dont like the case at all (I like ones that help block out noise and has efficient cooling (not saying it doesnt, just isnt as good as my P180 imo). I prefer ones with a front door but like the fact with all those bays the guy put in a 4x SATA cage that allows hot-swapping with ease (minus putting on two rails on the sides, but thats like 30sec). Its a bit taller but not that much larger if I remember, id probably switch out the case at some point but with what iono lol.

Also the SAS drives seem to take its sweet time starting when its in the boot proces, but its really fast once the OS is loaded. They are loud as airplanes when doing anything writing/read intensive as well, but cant beat the speed on them. My real concern at the moment is more about the ram sticks, cause they arent usually the type people buy. Dont think they are the fastest but hoping is faster then what I got (dont know anything about DDR vs DDR2 [and DDR2XXX vs DDR2XXXX])

edit: Hard drives are Fujitsu brand on used PC not Hitachi.
 
Well what you're looking at is essentially a workstation PC. Looks like it was built for 3D editing and some video editing. It'll work fine for gaming as long you do swap out the video card. The only downside to it is that any CPU upgrades will be pretty expensive and the same applies to RAM. Out of curiosity how much are you going to be paying for this used PC?
 
At the moment, it looks like about $700ish (for various reasons)? Costed I think around $2.5-3k when put together (less? more? forget lol. Had 2x 1TB drives but I wont be getting them). Id like to get a second CPU at some point but uh... Newegg says item was deactivated so iono what to do about that. The ram tho Im using 32bit anyways at the moment so Id have like 0 benefit until probably a lot later. Yes, it was used for video/3d editing.
 
$700 is way more than the system's current value, not to mention the cost of upgrading to a faster video card.
I'd suggest buying new replacement parts. A 45nm CPU, such as:
Intel E8400 (or Q8400) $168 (or $185)
Gigabyte P45 board $115 after MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128358
4 Gb DDR2 PC8500 memory $58: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231166
Crossfire 2x Radeon 4850. $280: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102802

The Intel Xeon E5345 CPU can still be purchased (new or used), via Google search.
But: it's a 65 nm CPU, and not worth sinking any more money into.
 
well 700 is probably around right. but whether the things it pays for actually benifit you much are another matter. raid 15k drives for instance are a nice bonus. but without a fast video card it doesn't mean much for gaming. in other words the money is spent tweaking in the wrong areas for a gamer on a budget.
 
Thanks for the replies. In the end im only really paying $400 out of my pocket, the other$300 are pretty much just owed for work ive done in the past (which im not that worried about anymore). I was planning on a new video card anyways, and even tho not a new 2.0 PCI-e on either at least its backwards compatible.

At the moment my real questions are the ram for things like gaming and overall performance increase if I were to add my current Sound card and get a new video card (in the $150 range probably)
 
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