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Question

Looking to rebuild an old machine.

Aug 6, 2013 6:16AM PDT

I have an old desktop that I built in 07! I am hoping to rebuild it, but use some of the old parts. Mainly the PSU, case, and Optical drives.

This is my PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This is my case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This is my optical drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I really only want to spend about $500, so I am hoping I can reuse those things above and just concentrate on new CPU, MOBO, RAM, Gfx card, and HDD.

Which begs the question of what would be the best components for that money if I just need those 5 things. I have to admit I haven't really kept up with hardware these days. I am not brand loyal either.

This box would be for gaming and software development.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Busted links?
Aug 6, 2013 8:03AM PDT

Do those links work for you?

As soon as you said gaming your going no where with 500 bucks.

Bump it to a grand and you've got a mid range gamer.

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..
Aug 6, 2013 9:04AM PDT

lol, what? That is absolutely untrue. I already have a PSU, Case, Monitor, optical drive. I built my current computer in 2007 for about $750 and it was destroying games. Computer parts are cheaper today than 6 years ago. I don't need to run Ultra settings at 1900 resolution.

The links work fine for me.

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The links are dead here too.
Aug 6, 2013 9:07AM PDT

I can only guess your content is cached.

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This should work
Aug 6, 2013 9:44AM PDT
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That's better
Aug 6, 2013 10:32AM PDT

That psu is a tri-rail thing.
It might work fine if you like doing the paper and pencil thing with watts/amps/rails.
For a gaming rig I go straight to single rail......less headache.

Only you know what you mean by gaming.
Broad strokes.
Cpu.....top of the line I5.
Psu.....single rail whopper.
Gpu....as high up this list as the budget allows.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

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3 RAIL?
Aug 6, 2013 10:36AM PDT

Odd choice. I'm left to guess you did all the numbers and are sure you are not close to the 50% load on any single raill?
Bob

PS. Maybe you would touch a 3rd rail. I wouldn't.

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tri-rail
Aug 6, 2013 10:43AM PDT

Hard to know what to think about 3 rails. I have you guys saying it won't work, but guys on Toms Hardware saying it should be fine for the cards and processors in my budget. Every other link when googling about it says something different...

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PSU
Aug 6, 2013 10:46AM PDT

Also, this is my old PSU from 07. I was trying to avoid buying a new one since it seems to have sufficient power.

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Sorry but at that age.
Aug 6, 2013 10:56AM PDT

I'd look at the rating, take half that amperage then do the pencil work to see where I land.

The guys on Toms are likely assuming the PSU is new and not aged. Do we need to get into Electrolytic Capacitor aging here? Here's a discussion about that.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2243530

Sorry but it's your money and gear. I would never write it's OK. If it works, fine, but I like to do the work to be sure I'm in the 50% or less range to get the decade life spans.
Bob

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Psu
Aug 7, 2013 1:07AM PDT

I did not say it would not work.
Because the power is split over 3 rails you have to make sure you do not overload any rail.

Paper+pencil time.
In theory..........18a per rail is about 215w per rail.
I'd try to keep that at 150w or less per rail.
That means understanding the power distribution scheme of the machine.
Can you do that?
That's why folks go to the single rail unit........less non-sense.

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Answer
For double that, the ultimate Haswell.
Aug 6, 2013 8:19AM PDT

While it blows your budget I'd look at this one if I was going to build a desktop.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040319/build-the-ultimate-intel-haswell-pc-for-under-1000.html

But look again, you can drop the SSD, video card and get closer to your mark.

Then again $385 (sans tax and 5 buck shipping is noted at http://bensbargains.net/bargain/toshiba-satellite-amd-a10-8gb-15-6-laptop-385-at-tech-woot--105393/ and the office picked that up. Read Notebookcheck and you find this is about as good as gaming gets in the under 500 class.
Bob