Mobo fried, can I use it's parts?

[nickster95]

I had a Dell Studio One 1909. Yesterday went to update it's BIOS, apparently it has fried the motherboard. I have searched around the internet and it seems like it's a common problem with this model. The problem could be fixed by replacing its motherboard but I don't think it exists in my country (Brazil). It comes with an E7500 and a 320GB HDD.

Even if there is a fix, I don't want to fix it. I think building my own computer (my first build) will be a great learning experience and will certainly be much easier in the future (I'm guessing).

And finally my question: Can I use the old CPU and HDD for the new build?

 

[4745454b]

Yes. You'll need to format the drive or do a repair install of windows, but you can reuse both.

 

[WR2]

Hello nickster95;
Yes you can. The E7500 2.93Ghz Wolfdale is still a pretty good CPU. A socket 775 motherboard in the 40 series (G41/43/45 or P41/43/45) will work fine with the E7500.
The HDD should work in any new system you build.

 

[nickster95]

Thanks guys. I have another question. Would these parts be goo enough? It's going to be a family PC so our basic things is browsing the web, watching videos, instant messaging, listening to music and lots of pictures.

SeaSonic SS 300W - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151086
2GB DDR3 RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134812
ASUS P5G41T-M LX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131680

Along with the E7500 and the HDD from the old computer. Case and other accessories aren't important for the time being.

 

[WR2]

Looking good there.
A good PSU, enough RAM for a family system and that Asus G41 motherboard.
Do you do much watching of HD movies?

 

[nickster95]

I'm not really a fan of watching movies on the computer. Although I will be burning movies, I think the DVD drive I chose will be enough: ASUS 24x SATA DVDRW - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135221

It's an OEM product, does that mean it doesn't come with the wires, or just not in it's original box? Should I get a newer product, or is OEM fine?

 

[nickster95]

Best answer selected by nickster95.

 

[WR2]

The motherboard accessory pack will have all the cables you need for the DVD drive.
The PSU will have the power connector so a bare drive is just fine.

 

[nickster95]

Excellent, I have just one more question.. will I need any specific tools for building the PC? I have heard about thermal compound, and some wrist strap/bracelet which was necessary but I haven't got a clue about them.

 

[WR2]

Since you will be re-using the stock intel heat sink you will need to remove the old thermal compound from the CPU and the heatsink and put a fresh thermal compound on the CPU during install.
That anti-static wrist strap isn't a requirement. Just ground yourself before handling any electrical parts.

A screwdriver (maybe a smaller sized one too) is probably the only tool you'll need

 

[nickster95]

Oh! The heatsink, I absolutely forgot about that. Do you think I'm going to have to buy another one, maybe cause it was inside an all-in-one and could be different? I'm clueless, but that just popped into my head.

 

[WR2]

You'll want to take a look at it when you pull it out.
If it's the standard 775 socket E7500 heat sink & fan you'll be able to reuse it.

Clean off the old thermal compound gunk. Add some replacement thermal compound on the CPU - a very little goes a long way.
There should be plenty of online guides on how to do that. Including youtube video guides.

 

[WR2]

Should look like this:

 

[WR2]

This is applied about right - maybe even a bit less thermal compound. When the heatsink is installed it will compress and when the power is turned on and it heats up the compound will flow to where it's needed.


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[nickster95]

Understood. Thanks, a lot. That has really helped me.