Please review my build (upgrade)

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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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Guys, I built a machine 5 yrs ago and it's starting to crap out. Want to build a new one but I'm wondering if I can use the old case I have - COOLER MASTER RC-532-SKN1 Centurion 532 Mid Tower Case. Are there any other parts I can re-use, such as DVD burner, power supply or hard drive? The HD is Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer. The power supply is Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-450 450W.

In terms of putting together components for a new build:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for - Office/RDP, Lightroom, Video Editing, Photoshop

2. What YOUR budget is - $1000 but will be happy if I can get a machine to suit my needs for 1/2 that

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from - USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc - none

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are - yes, but can I?

COOLER MASTER RC-532-SKN1 Centurion 532 Mid Tower Case.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-450 450W power supply
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar thread - yes I have, but very confusing at this point. Should I go AMD or Intel? No clue about graphics card either, etc.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds - default speed


8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with. - no gaming needs

9. WHEN do you plan to build it? - within 2-3 weeks

Thanks a lot in advance! :)
 
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bruceb

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
You can keep the hard drive, either as a primary or secondary, if it is still working good. You should run a drive test on it to be sure. You can get it from the WD site.
I would only reuse the DVD drive for a read drive. The burn laser may be getting weak at this point (depending on how much use it has had) and may not last much longer. You might consider a BluRay Reader / Burner (which will also do CD & DVD) .. Can't really say on the power supply, but you may need to increase the wattage.
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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Thanks, there should be no problems with re-using my old computer case..or can there be?

In terms of my new build, I'm looking for 1-yr old technology so that I get the best bang for the buck. Not looking for bleeding edge tech. Any recos?

looking for cpu/mobo/video card

TIA
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
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I've heard bad things about the Antec SmartPower line and failures. If it were me, I wouldn't re-use that one. I would re-use the HD and DVD burner, and the case should be no problem to re-use either.

Edit: On second thought, it looks like your DVD burner is an older model, that may be incompatible with Win7. I would replace, it won't cost you more than $20 for a new one.

Edit: Since you didn't mention gaming, you could probably get away with onboard video. I would look into a Gigabyte 785G motherbooard, with an Athlon II X4 CPU (630 is priced right, but there is now a 635 and 640 model too). Get some DDR2 or DDR3 according to the mobo requirements. (DDR3 is cheaper now, get a 2x4GB kit if you want to future-proof with 8GB ram. Not a bad idea given your uses.)
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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muskie32 said:
On a budget:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.513295

Going all out:
CPU/ MOBO
RAM (use code GSKILLTEN to get $10 off)
Video Card
DVD Drive
HDD

That puts you at: $667 without: Shipping, a case and a, power supply.
You can add more HDD's to suit your needs. And more ram (if needed?) or better video card. You can also add a new PSU, and case if you want. ():)
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch :) For the "on a budget" combo deal,

1. what video card would you recommend?
2. Will it enhance my experience significantly if I get a SSD and load my OS and programs on it?
3. Will my 450w power supply be adequate or should I get a 550-650w supply?
 
muskie32

muskie32

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2010
3,115
7
81
1. Well with a, a GTX 450 or 460 you might be able to take advantage of CUDA.
2. A SSD will improve boot speed quite a lot! If will also make opening apps a breeze.
3. as listed above on the Antec SmartPower. You might want to get this PSU instead.
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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Ideally, I want to get technology that's a year old. Don't want to get the "latest and greatest". Don't mind spending $1000-1200 or so either.

Any Intel-based recos?
 
muskie32

muskie32

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2010
3,115
7
81
DaveRana said:
Ideally, I want to get technology that's a year old. Don't want to get the "latest and greatest". Don't mind spending $1000-1200 or so either.

Any Intel-based recos?
Click to expand...

Why would you want to get older technology when you can get "newer" technology for less than what you budget is? D:
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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muskie32 said:
Why would you want to get older technology when you can get "newer" technology for less than what you budget is? D:
Click to expand...

I don't really have a "budget". I want to put together a build that suits my needs:

Not a gamer. Older guy, mainly office work (Outlook/RDP/MS-Office/Visio) and 25% of the time I'll be working on home video/photo editing along with watching movies etc, so a decent video card is needed. I want to put together a good machine that is ROCK SOLID for 4-5 years.

If I can put this together for less than 1k, I'll have some money left over to get a monitor or do something else with it.

TIA
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
DaveRana said:
Ideally, I want to get technology that's a year old. Don't want to get the "latest and greatest". Don't mind spending $1000-1200 or so either.

Any Intel-based recos?
Click to expand...

Computers are not cars. The older tech does not drop in price very much and is often significantly slower than newer stuff. For best bang for the buck, you want to be looking at the midrange parts in the newest series.

That being said, muskie's more expensive build looks good. Since you don't game, you can lose the video card and get something cheap like a 5450 instead of the GTX 460. Here's a Corsair 430CX to replace your old PSU and here's a 60GB SSD to keep things snappy.
 
bruceb

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
Since you are considering do some video editing a I5 or I7 would do wonders with the multiple cores and cpu speeds. But, it would need a 64 bit OS to be able use enough RAM to speed things up a bit for video work. Another hard drive to store the video work on is also a good idea.
 
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Dark Shroud

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2010
1,576
1
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Guys, he's doing video editing so a video card will help him out. A 6800 series video card isn't overly expensive and has support for OpenCL. So it just depends on checking the software you use to see what video hardware it support.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.524641 <- PSU also has a discount code.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231310

Ok, this is a bit pricy but it's the only combo I found with a 6800 card. All cheaper others are 5700s.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.539709
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
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mfenn said:
That being said, muskie's more expensive build looks good.
Click to expand...

thanks, can your or anyone suggest muskie's build but INTEL based? I'm trying to spend more and more time on this but the more I read up, the bigger hole of confusion I find myself in.
 
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mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
22,400
5
71
www.mfenn.com
DaveRana said:
thanks, can your or anyone suggest muskie's build but INTEL based? I'm trying to spend more and more time on this but the more I read up, the bigger hole of confusion I find myself in.
Click to expand...

Ask yourself why you want Intel (or any other component). If you try to put together every possible combination of parts, you're going to quickly become overwhelmed.

How intensive are your Adobe needs? For light usage, pretty much anything is fine. If you're a serious user, you'll definitely need to spend closer to $1k.
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
45
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66
mfenn said:
Ask yourself why you want Intel (or any other component). If you try to put together every possible combination of parts, you're going to quickly become overwhelmed.

How intensive are your Adobe needs? For light usage, pretty much anything is fine. If you're a serious user, you'll definitely need to spend closer to $1k.
Click to expand...

I'm a moderate user of Photoshop/Lightroom - often load up several pictures in RAW format at once for applying common edits. Similar thing with Elements.

My last PC was an AMD build and I'm hearing good things about INTEL's i7 line of processors, so wanted to go with that. I'm not savvy with various components though. I have built only one PC and that was 5 yrs ago. This one now will be my second one.

TIA
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
45
0
66
VirtualLarry said:
Edit: Since you didn't mention gaming, you could probably get away with onboard video. I would look into a Gigabyte 785G motherbooard, with an Athlon II X4 CPU (630 is priced right, but there is now a 635 and 640 model too). Get some DDR2 or DDR3 according to the mobo requirements. (DDR3 is cheaper now, get a 2x4GB kit if you want to future-proof with 8GB ram. Not a bad idea given your uses.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for these ideas. Will onboard video support whatever resolution my monitor is capable of? Is there any distinct advantage of a video card making it faster to process photos in Photoshop (for example) or is that primarily a CPU/RAM dependency?
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
45
0
66
Can you guys please take a look at this wish-list and let me know if

1. i have chosen anything incompatible
2. i can cut anything down in cost because I am ordering overkill compoments (video card)?
3. do I need to order any special tools to seat the memory/CPU?

TIA

Intel Core i7-950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115211

ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131666

Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe SSD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820226151

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121390

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145220

ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204
 
K

KLC

Senior member
Jun 30, 2007
258
2
81
Dave, check out Anand's cpu bench and compare the i7 950 to the i7 870, for photoshop and video they are about even. The 870 means less power demand, cheaper options for motherboard and memory, no decrease in performance.
 
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DaveRana

Member
Jun 20, 2009
45
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66
KLC said:
Dave, check out Anand's cpu bench and compare the i7 950 to the i7 870, for photoshop and video they are about even. The 870 means less power demand, cheaper options for motherboard and memory, no decrease in performance.
Click to expand...

KLC, I looked. The 17-870is only $5 cheaper than i7-950. When I added a cheaper mobo and memory, the total cost difference in all three components is $128.
 
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