Upgrading an old system

[jmsellars1]

Hi, i am helping my friend with a system upgrade and i just wanted a second opinion. He's not too bothered about running games on super high settings or anything, he just feels it's time for a cheap upgrade. He is wanting to spend a minimal amount <£150. His current PC is:

Intel Core 2 Duo ~1.9Ghz
2x1GB Generic 667Mhz DDR2
NVidia GeForce 8600GT
Cheap Micro ATX Foxconn Motherboard (4 RAM Slots)
Random Dell Case
Generic 300W PSU

I have some old parts lying around that i can give to him pretty cheaply:

Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93Ghz
2GB + 1GB Elixir 800Mhz DDR2
NVidia GeForce 7950GT
Cheap Micro ATX Foxconn Motherboard (2 RAM Slots)
CiT 650W PSU
Horrible Cheap Case

One thing i should say before continuing is that his motherboard wont run my CPU for some reason so i may have to give him mine.

I was thinking that i could give him the CPU, 2GB stick of RAM and the PSU (and the motherboard?) for ~£50. With the remaining £100 he could get a second hand GTX 280 and buy another 2GB stick of the same RAM. Does that sound like a well balanced system to you guys? One concern also is the heat from a GTX 280, that case just has one single 80mm rear exhaust fan, will that likely handle the GTX 280? (Everything at stock clocks)

P.S. No worries about the size of the thing, a bit of simple modding and it will fit.

Thanks guys

 

[striker410]

The exchange sounds about fair, you have no use for the parts and he's getting a deal. For the extra money, I wouldn't invest to much in a graphics card, as the whol system in kinda slow.
Does the power supply have a PCI 6 pin available? If so, you might want to grab and secondhand 5770, as those things don't require alot of airflow. I installed one for my buddy in an HP prebuilt and the thing runs like a champ.

If he has any leftover money, he might consider picking up a new hard drive, as his old one is pretty small.

 

[jmsellars1]

I didnt specify his hard drive size, pretty sure he has enough space on it. The PSU doesnt have a PCI-e 6 pin connector but i do have an adapter that turns 2 molex connectors into 1 6 pin PCI-e.

EDIT: A used HD 5770 1GB is about £70 and a used GTX 280 is about £90, do you still suggest the HD 5770?

EDIT2: After a quick think, the HD 5770 is a better choice. Bit less powerful but cheaper, smaller, eats less power, its cooler, has DX11, newer shaders and HDMI input. Thanks.

 

[striker410]

No problem man. Generally it's not recommended to use molex to PCI, but a 5770 draws so little power from the PSU directly that it shouldn't be an issue. Glad to be of service.
EDIT: I see what you mean about the hard drive, I meant it's PROBABLY pretty small. But hey, if it's enough space for him, great.