Okay, my dad has these two spare computers laying around and I want to build my own using some of those parts. I just want a decent computer I can play games on. I already have a laptop I use for everything else.

The ones he has (identical) have the e6300 processor, 2gb ram, 300gb HD, lightscribe, blah, blah, blah...

Basically, I know I'm gonna have to change the motherboard/processor. I want something around $100 so I'm thinking I could get an entry quad core? Idk. I also want 4gigs of ram or more. And then a graphics card.....

Anyways, I've never built a computer before. I've been briefly reading the basics, and it doesn't look to hard. What operating system should I go with? And do you think I'll need a new power supply?

If you're looking to spend $100 total, you won't be able to go quad core. You can get a dual core Athlon II and a socket AM3 motherboard for about $120 together. A quad core Athlon II would run about $100 alone.

I highly recommend spending a little more money and getting something more modern, though. For about $200 you can have an i3 (dual core, but performance on par with the quad core Athlon II) and an LGA1156 motherboard to go with it.

The big problem with going intel is that both of Intel's current platforms require DDR3 memory...which your existing computer doesn't use. BUT if you're planning on adding more memory, that's not really an issue. Prices for DDR3 and DDR2 are about the same...2 more gigs of DDR2 will run you about $50 but 4 gigs of DDR2 would be about $100-$120.

So it all depends on what you want to spend. For $200 (or maybe a bit less) you can be pretty set with an Athlon II X2, Socket AM3 mobo and 2 more gigs of DDR2 (which is what your dad's E6300 will have in it).Or for about $300 you can get better performance and be more upgrade-ready in the future with an i3, LGA1156 mobo, and 4 gigs of DDR3.

Of course, that's all before what might be the biggest factor as far as games go: video card. You'll want to get an Nvidia GTX260 or Radeon 4870 or better if you want to play games now and into the future. That'll add another $150-200 to your pricetag. In fact, if you're really looking to save cash but end up with a machine that'll play some games, you probably just want to pick up either of those video cards and call it a day.

Coolz. That helps a ton!

I'll probably go down to Fry's electronics again to check out my options. Then I'll probably buy alot of the stuff online.

I'll probably spring for the quad core so I'll have something that isn't TOO obselite, lol. I got a job now too so that should help.

Do you think I'll need a new power supply too?

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:Do you think I'll need a new power supply too?

That depends on (a) how old it is and (b) what the current power rating is - this is a bit supplier dependent too .. some are not as accurate.

Anything over 450 to 550 Watts is very likely to be okay, but this is also going to depend on how much power the graphic card takes, the number of drives you put in, etc.

So, what do you have now in the two cases?

Z

They're both HP Media Centers m7657c. Idk how old they are, prolly a few years or so, my dad got them from work.

They're XP with "vista compatible" so they're not TOO terribly old.

They have a TON of usb ports and jacks for misc wires all over the front of the case. It's nice.

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:They're both HP Media Centers m7657c. Idk how old they are, prolly a few years or so, my dad got them from work.

They're XP with "vista compatible" so they're not TOO terribly old.

They have a TON of usb ports and jacks for misc wires all over the front of the case. It's nice.

The "Vista compatible" sticker doesn't mean much. Microsoft seriously underestimated the minimum requirements for Vista.

The main issue is wattage. Any gaming-capable machine is going to need a 500w+ power supply at the very least. If your current parts machines only have 250 or 300 watt power supplies (common in non-gaming brand-name desktops) you'll have to upgrade. But power supplies aren't pricey. You can get a 650 watt power supply for ~$50-$100, or go with 500 watts and save even more.Newegg actually has a power supply calculator you can plug your parts into.http://educations.newegg.com/t....html

If you're planning to run multiple hard drives (ideal, especially if you have them already available...install your OS to one and programs to the other) you will not want to go below 600watts with any gaming-capable videocard.

Oh, another thing to consider with videocards is DirectX version support. GTX 260 and Radeon 4870 both support DX10. Nothing from Nvidia supports DX11 yet, but ATI's 5000-series cards do. So if you go with one of those (~$120 for a 5750, which is a good midrange choice) you won't have to upgrade in two or three years when DX11 becomes the standard.

Highly recommend the 4870...way overclockable and a rock solid performer.

Re: 4870. Is that card still available? I thought only the 4890 was?

Re: PSU.People go way too big with PSU's. I have a 4870, twin 1TB 7200rpm HDDs, 4gb ram, and slightly OC'ed Phenom 9950 (yeah the 140w power hungry one). I have yet to see my computer suck more than 280w and that's at the wall socket (I have a capacity meter on my UPS), which is always more than what the PSU will deliver. Right now, it's just sitting there downloading and bouncing between 180 and 189w

That's it, today I'm going to try and tax it as heavily as possible while gaming, and other tasks to see if I can hit 300w. I'll report back later.

*edit*While downloading and playing C&C3 with maxed out graphics, I couldn't get into the 250w area. Doing the Window's Experience performance test thing, I remember getting into the 260's.
Modified by Looneybomber at 10:45 AM 3/11/2010

While I agree that a lot of people oversize their PSU's, it should be noted that its more important that people pay attention to how much power each of their components need and that they do not exceed the ratings for total rating or any of the subratings. If a person is running certain hardware that causes a raleatively large load on one of the sub-ratings, running a larger PSU may be necessary to provide enough overhead where needed with the consequence that there will be a lot of excess overhead elsewhere. Of course most typical set-ups will match pretty well to a PSU with enough total power as power supply manufacturers will likely have proportioned the outputs to match typical setups in the power range the PSU is designed for.

To tack on an extra point to C-Kwik's post. I knew buying a 625w PSU was way more than I'd need, but, I looked at where my PSU was most efficient and where the fan speed would increase. The Enermax PRO/MOD 82+ PSU's (which is what I have) increase fan speed at 50% capacity.

While operating at 180-250w is only 28-40% capacity, the PRO82+ is very efficient (between 85-86%) and keeps the fan at 400rpms, which was most important since my PC functions as an HTPC. So while I could have bought a 385w or 425w PRO82+ and been fine, I would have had to deal with an increased fan speed and noise.

So you don't want to stress your PSU. Going over 85% duty cycle isn't a good thing. You want to operate in it's efficient range and keep excess noise down if that's important to you.
Modified by Looneybomber at 3:22 PM 3/11/2010

This computer has plenty to work with already. Just get a good video card and reinstall Windows XP from scratch (don't use the BS OEM recovery CDs). Better yet, use an NLited version of XP and enjoy seeing your dual proc system smoke the hell out of your neighbor's 6 core multiprototeraoxynebulizer "gaming computer".