Salvage or rebuild

[neitblaeck]

i had a water coolant leak after upgrading some fans that fried a gts 8800 640, soundblaster xtreme gamer x-fi, and partially the pci slots they were in i think on an evga 680 sli slot 775 lga mb. Bummer because i just got that gts 8800 working for physx with a radeon hd 5860. i need some feedback on a course of action due to the items i'm left with. This is the 1st time posting anywhere and i've never built my own system, but want to. I have just been upgrading this cyberpower computer i bought back in 97. I want to put more info here but don't know if it's appropriate until a reponse.

 

[rolli59]

Welcome! Please list all your specs so we can better help you.

 

[Onus]

As much as you've lost, putting money into rebuilding an older socket-775 system will be money wasted. There probably is not too much that can realistically be salvaged; perhaps the optical drive and the HDD as a secondary.

 

[neitblaeck]

i thought about that, but have a lot of things i might be able to have a 2nd comp
cpu: Intel core 2 duo e6850 3ghz 1333FSB
gpu's:
original xfx nvidia geforce 8800 gts 640mb ddr3 that I had in sli with the card that fried
Radeon HD 5670 1gb gddr5 (not sure if works, did not fry… but had to clean with IPA)
Ram:
2 sets of recently purchased Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX8500D2T1K2/4G =8gb
1 set of Patriot Viper series 4gb (2 x 2gb) 240-pin ddr2 sdram 1066 (pc2 8500) dual channel (epp ready/sli ready)
--------I prob should not have got the Kingston mem since didn’t see much of a performance boost
Still have 2 sets of 2x1gb Corsair DDR2 6400 xms2 xtreme laying around
--------what do you do with parts you exchange out?
Psu’s:
Ultra 1600 watt atx psu ( actually only 1200 watt unless you have a 20A outlet which I did not find out til after the fact)
Original Thermaltake tough power 750 watt
Case:
Modded Coolermaster Cosmos
-added a 230mm intake fan to side case panel
-upgraded top 2 fans to 2 x Scythe Slip Stream Kaze Maru2 140 series SM1425SL12H 140mm Case Fans
-moved the bottom intake fan to the top of the HDD’s blowing up and to the left after reading it had poor HDD cooling 4 years later
-added 2 XIGMATEK HDC-D802 Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler for HDD Bay to each right most bay pushing air to the right and up. I think I am going to change direction of the top one to go left and up as in the top most left bay which is empty I put an 80mm x 20 fan from an old Alienware case blowing down the path of the gpu’s
-for bottom intake put a XIGMATEK Cooling System XLF-F1254 120mm fan and have another I will probably use for the back exhaust fan
Also added SOLEUS AIR 4-in-1 Portable Air Conditioner/Heater/Dehumidifier/Fan 12,000 BTU Cooling Capacity LX-120HP for my office since room gets hot despite cental air conditioning
Lastly I bought a Coolermaster 212 Plus to replace the leaking watercooler just to see if the motherboard was still viable.
Also after reading up on the board was going to replace the tim for the NB anb SB and mosfets since having to do so for the cpu with arctic ceramique 2.
I see there are micro atx 775 boards avail with ddr3 ram but saw a refurbished 680sli on ebay for $100.
Is it even realistic the motherboard has any possibility of working and what would be the best way to find out?
I have also added hdd’s most recently a WD velocoraptor 10,000rpm 300gb, and a 3tb 7200, already having a 2tb, and 1tb, as well as having the original WD 500gb sata II 3.0gb 16mb 7200 rpm. I know some of the drives are capable of the the new 6gb sata as I was anticipating an upgrade.

 

[neitblaeck]

Welcome! Please list all your specs so we can better help you.

y

Thanks rolli59. I left my specs above. Any suggestions?

 

[neitblaeck]

As much as you've lost, putting money into rebuilding an older socket-775 system will be money wasted. There probably is not too much that can realistically be salvaged; perhaps the optical drive and the HDD as a secondary.

I agree, but thought it might be good practice for a 1st build and to have a 2ndary desktop.

 

[rolli59]

What to do is really your decision. Current Hardware is a lot faster than yours so if you have the funds rebuild with a I5 2500K would be my choice. Buying a cheap used motherboard of ebay is another option and throw in the old parts.
(Old working parts can be sold on ebay or another auction sites and even through our classifieds)

 

[neitblaeck]

What to do is really your decision. Current Hardware is a lot faster than yours so if you have the funds rebuild with a I5 2500K would be my choice. Buying a cheap used motherboard of ebay is another option and throw in the old parts.
(Old working parts can be sold on ebay or another auction sites and even through our classifieds)

thank you. it always comes down to funds. i've so often been a victim of trying get the 'best' which can be an expensive thing in the tech industry since the best doesn't stay the best for very long - evidence being my $4000 alienware tower from like 10 years ago. The I5 2500K seems very reasonable, but I think I am going to hold off as long as I can.
Thanks again!!

 

[neitblaeck]

Best answer selected by neitblaeck.