Putting parts from old PC into new case...

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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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Hi,

Noob question alert!

I have an old Acer AX3810 Desktop PC. What I want to know is, can I take all of the insides out and put them in to a larger case so I can improve some of the components such as PSU, Graphics Card etc.? As currently I'm very limited due to the small size of the case.

Basically, I want to buy a new case, take out the components from the old PC and put them into the new one with a new PSU so I can add a graphics card. Then upgrade other parts as and when finances allow.

Or would it be better just to start over with all new components and just use the basic stuff from the old PC (hard drive, ram etc.)?

Apologies if this is a ridiculously simple enquiry.

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: Hopefully less than £100.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: YouTube Video Editing, Music Production, Web Browsing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: PSU, Motherboard, Processor

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I'm in UK. Can anyone recommend one?

Location: Milton Keynes, UK

Parts Preferences: N/A

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I will be running Sony Movie Studio Platinum for video editing and SONAR 8.5 for music.

Why Are You Upgrading: To run my video editing software more smoothly.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
dwatterworth
That GPU recommendation is what I think the very top of the range you could make use of would be. In reality I think you would be very happy with something more simple. I used to run large 3d models and photoshop/indesign on an AMD HD 3650 512mb gpu. Definitely don't need a ton of muscle to get good viewport/application performance.
The better the card, the faster the GPU accelerated encoding/viewport experience would be obviously, thus the top range cards.

Looking at realistic models from both AMD and Nvidia, there are many versions of the same reference models. A lot of manufacturers include versions with GDDR5 and much slower GDDR3. The GDDR5 is much preferred, especially for editing.
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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In my opinion you would be better off in just building a whole new machine and using the what parts you can such as the hard drive and dvd drive. You can buy new parts to fit into your old machine sure. the downside is the platform will really limit the life of your machine (as you are already feeling?).

In order to add a video card in, you'll need to replace the PSU with a higher wattage model to start with.
There is a limited selection of reasonable low-profile cards that would fit your current machine, followed by a much larger pool of options that would fit in a new case.

How do you find performance of your current machine? Is your work in the OS satisfactory? What resolutions are you working with in your video editing?

What processor do you currently have in your machine and how much ram?

I don't think there is a solution for a new system that will be adequate in any way for video editing at the £100 mark. That would be a stretch to get a good quality PSU, inexpensive case and a GPU of any benefit to video editing for that amount.

There is an added difficulty in changing cases as I cannot find what form factor the motherboard is. It will obviously fit into an MATX / possibly DTX / dual slot ITX case size, but the mounting points may not be the same. Can you tell if the panel that has all of the labeling where all the plugs attach to the motherboard on the backside of the case is removable?

If you can provide any insight into those additional questions regarding your current OS/operation experience, current CPU and RAM as well as comfort with measuring the overall dimensions and mounting points of the motherboard to determine form factor then I would be able to provide some more detailed suggestions.
 
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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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Thanks for the quick response.

How do you find performance of your current machine? Is your work in the OS satisfactory? Doing day to day things such as web browsing are fine, as I upgraded the RAM and changed the hard drive to an SSD. Video editing is a terribly laborious process due, in part, to there being no dedicated graphics card.

What resolutions are you working with in your video editing? 1080p

What processor do you currently have in your machine and how much ram? Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5 GHz. 6GB RAM.

Can you tell if the panel that has all of the labeling where all the plugs attach to the motherboard on the backside of the case is removable? I don't believe so. It's one solid piece, with only the main side panel being removable.

So you're saying that if I could find a case to fit the mounting points of the motherboard then I could, in theory just move the components over to it?
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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Correct. You're looking for the 4(+?) screws that mount the motherboard to the case. Those along with the back-panel connectors from the motherboard need to line up with a normal case dimension.
Here is an excellent diagram with measurements to determine what type you have and if it will be compatible with a new case.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area&tid=wh11_008

Exactly correct though if you can just move the parts to a new case. At that point you can avoid the low-profile video cards that your current case requires and go with a more cost effective mainstream graphics card. I'd say the top end card that you would want to consider would be a Nvidia GTX 750/650 or AMD Radeon 7750/7770/ R7-250x. Anything else would be bottlenecked by the rest of the computer. So finding a balance between PSU, case and video card would be the next step. I'd recommend an entry level model from Seasonic, Corsair, Antec or Enermax.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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That GPU recommendation is what I think the very top of the range you could make use of would be. In reality I think you would be very happy with something more simple. I used to run large 3d models and photoshop/indesign on an AMD HD 3650 512mb gpu. Definitely don't need a ton of muscle to get good viewport/application performance.
The better the card, the faster the GPU accelerated encoding/viewport experience would be obviously, thus the top range cards.

Looking at realistic models from both AMD and Nvidia, there are many versions of the same reference models. A lot of manufacturers include versions with GDDR5 and much slower GDDR3. The GDDR5 is much preferred, especially for editing.
 
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Solution
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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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Excellent. Thanks for all the info. I wasn't expecting such an in depth response! I'll get my PC opened up tomorrow evening and see what kind of motherboard is in there.
 
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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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Oh I know all about slow days at the office...

So I took my cover off to look at the motherboard and took down the measurements between each of the 6 screws.

ea32j4.png


Any chance you'd be able to help me determine which case I would need?

 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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No problem. So I think this is a kind of proprietary motherboard form factor, but it looks like it conforms to normal MATX specifications as far as the mounting holes. The depth makes it more like an MATX board, but the width is more close to DTX/MITX. So it should be able to fit into any MATX sized case or longer and wider DTX/MITX enclosures (Maybe). I'd stick to the MATX case.

I've put some parts into a parts picker list. I'm not sure what sort of aesthetic you like, but the case I put on is fairly simple and performs very well / quietly. I'm a few £ over the 100 mark.

The Fractal case is excellent and quiet with plenty of room for additions in the future. I've made some good gaming builds for customers in these and they perform well even with those heat producing parts.

The BeQuiet! PSU is good quality, especially for a less power hungry build.

The Zotac card is well put together, quiet, uses very little power and includes 1gb of GDDR5, which is far superior to the less expensive DDR3 models. The DDR3 models can look more attractive with higher amounts of memory for whatever reason, but are much slower.

Let me know what you think and I can make adjustments to the recommendation as needed.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/pgzhvK
 
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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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That's awesome thanks! This pcpartpicker site is great.

The Fractal case looks good. I've been looking at the cheaper Zalman cases on Amazon like this one, but if you think the Fractal one is good value then I may go for that.

I may hold off on the PSU and graphics card for now and see how I get on with moving everything over first. Provided I can move the PSU from my old PC over to the new case.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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I think in order to re-use your current PSU in a new case, you may need to make a bracket from a piece of sheet metal. That looks like a proprietary PSU, somewhere in between an SFX and a TFX PSU. If you take another photo of the back of the PSU with similar measurements between the screw holes, I can tell you if it matches any spec/will fit with an off the shelf adapter etc.
 
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scarleft

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Aug 12, 2014
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Ah, I see. So getting a new PSU will make things easier then. Well, payday is in a week so I'll grab the case and PSU then.

On a whim, I won a Geforce XFX 220 graphics card on ebay for about £7 (before I'd read anything about case sizes, form factors and the like!). Once I have my new case and power supply, would it be of any benefit at all? If not I'll sell it on and get a decent one.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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The GT220 is an ok card, it might work out for you, I'd just test it once you get everything in the new case. It's about the same performance level as the new Intel integrated graphics (HD4600). I've tried using 3d modeling programs, photoshop and 2d cad programs to great success on the integrated graphics, so I think it will be much much better than your current integrated graphics. I don't know how much it can accelerate the editing workload, but the viewports and playback etc should be a huge increase.

 
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scarleft

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So I went ahead and got myself a BeQuiet 350w PSU and scrimped a bit on the case. I ended up with the Zalman T3. I've got to the point where I have everything connected up except for the cables coming from the front of the case. They don't seem to be the same as the ones on the old case.

There's HD Audio, H.D.D LED, Power SW, Power LED+, Power LED-, Reset SW and a larger (19 pin?) connector which says USB 3.0 on the cable.

Any help you could offer would be appreciated.

I've found the model of the motherboard now, it's a WG43M.
 
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dwatterworth

dwatterworth

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No problem.
Regarding the front panel connectors, what isn't matching up exactly? The HD audio cable from the case front panel, does that have another 9/10pin connector pigtailed from it? I believe your previous computer used AC'97 for the front panel audio connectors. Usually cases still have a connector for each, often on the same cable.

With the USB 3.0 cable, you have a USB 2.0 header on your motherboard I believe.
Something like this is what is needed to go between the two:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA50M1T16060&Tpk=9SIA50M1T16060

Sometimes computer cases come with them, sometimes not. If you get a similar adapter, just make sure the USB 3.0 cable does not have a pigtail of a usb 2.0 (9/10pin) connector coming out of it, plugging both in will cause a short and probable damage.

In the picture you uploaded before, it and the AC'97 front panel audio are one of the connectors at the top left corner.

That top left corner is also where all of the other front panel power, hdd led, power switch etc cables all were plugged. If you can take a detail shot of that upper left corner of the motherboard, I can mark up a jpeg to point out where everything goes.
 
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