system upgrade need help

[justlooking]

Hi all

I need some advise here.

I now have a P4 2.4 2 x 512M DDR266 machine and i want to do some upgrade. I'm thinking to get these

Pentium D 930
ASUS P5LD2
X1600 PRO

I have 5 generic 512M DDR2 533 to use

now, i want to know can i use my exisiting case and PSU? or this new CPU and MOBO need a different PSU other than the one i have?

Thanks!

 

[doolittle]

well I assumed at least 1 hdd and 2 cdroms and a fan or two, you are about 230w on the old and around 270w with the new one, so if you have a decent 300+ unit or a 400w generic you *should* be ok.

 

[justlooking]

well I assumed at least 1 hdd and 2 cdroms and a fan or two, you are about 230w on the old and around 270w with the new one, so if you have a decent 300+ unit or a 400w generic you *should* be ok.

yeah my psu is 450W now and have 2 IDE HDD and 2 dvdroms. been running 7x24x4yrs without any problem thanks!

 

[hashv2f16]

Hi,

First up, do you plan on doing any gaming? If so, don't get the X1600, its really not very good at all. If you are going to be gaming, what kind of games are you planning to play?

About the CPU, if you are doing gaming then get an Athlon 64, or for dual core, get an X2 3800+. Or if you're not gaming then the 930 is fine, mobo is fine, your memory should not be a problem.

You will need a new power supply, I recommend not to use generic, i hate those dodgy things. You will want around 420-500W, consider looking at the Antec SmartPower range. I always recommend Enermax Noistakers for their excellent quality, stability and they are very quiet, not to mention quite inexpensive (I have one myself). With a Noistaker 485W, you will be good with a bit of headroom for any future upgrades or whatnot.

What sort of case do you have currently? Is it old or new? The problem with your case is that northwoods didn't generate as much heat as some of the modern CPUs such as the pentium d's. so they didn't always design cases that have very high airflows, with an intake fan on the front and another 80mm or 120mm on the back. if its not a recent enough case it could well be worth ditching for the sake of low temperatures.
If you do plan on a new case, it's up to your tastes and budget. A lot of people make really cheap weak plasticy thin steel cases, and i wouldn't trust some of them with my new rigs. But I will say that CoolerMaster do make really good featureful, nice looking quality cases for incredibly low prices.

 

[justlooking]

thanks hashv2f16

i mainly play cs1.6 and photoshopping so i think that cheapo x1600 pro should do right?

My case and psu were very high quality when i bought them, the case has around 10 fans with ball bearings and is a big tower.

I try to spend mininal $$$ on this upgrade and to re-use whatever i can e.g. IDE HDDs, case, PSU


thanks for your comment, i'll think about to upgrade or get a brand new system

 

[clue69less]

You will need a new power supply, I recommend not to use generic, i hate those dodgy things. You will want around 420-500W, consider looking at the Antec SmartPower range. I always recommend Enermax Noistakers for their excellent quality, stability and they are very quiet, not to mention quite inexpensive (I have one myself). With a Noistaker 485W, you will be good with a bit of headroom for any future upgrades or whatnot.

Check out the current egg MIR deal on the OCZ 520 watt Modstream. Total bargain! Not an option for SLI but it will run a 7900GTX or X1900XT just fine, even OC'ed. The 7900GTX would not even post on a 485 watt Noisetaker. The point being, you may not be loking at a high current VGA now, but as prices drop, this could get you in trouble down the road.

 

[hashv2f16]

thanks hashv2f16

i mainly play cs1.6 and photoshopping so i think that cheapo x1600 pro should do right?

My case and psu were very high quality when i bought them, the case has around 10 fans with ball bearings and is a big tower.

I try to spend mininal $$$ on this upgrade and to re-use whatever i can e.g. IDE HDDs, case, PSU


thanks for your comment, i'll think about to upgrade or get a brand new system

So long as you're not planning on playing anything modern (e.g FEAR, BF2, oblivion :lol: ) you'll be sweet as.

Sounds like the power supply you have could be fine, as with the case... 10 fans? how loud is it??

also what kind of ide hard drives do you have? if they're anything decent (like 80gb or over) then they would be worth hooking up for use as storage/backup drives.

 

[justlooking]

yeah the case is quite nosy with that many fans. That is one of those very fancy ones back to few years ago with all the blue and red fluro lights on the spinning fans that makes you really *dizzy* when you look at them spinning

my IDE HDDs are 80G and 160G and looks like that ASUS mobo only got 1 ide ...

maybe i should just build a new one

thanks guys for all your helps here!