Mockingbird Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 My neighbor works for Best Buy and is in the Intel Retail Edge program. He recently got an Intel Core i7 4770K for $80; before that, he got the Intel Core i7 3770K for 60; and even before... (well, you get the idea). He sold me his old Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000 for $50 USD (no video card, no power supply, no hard drive). Here's the specs: Intel Core i7 9206GB (6 x 1GB) DDR3 1066Dell X501H (OEM motherboard by Foxconn)Dell Studio XPS 9000 OEM computer case Dell Geforce GT 220 (not present) Flextronics 450W power supply (not present) Hitachi GST Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721075KLA330 (not present) Apparently, the OEM motherboard doesn't allow overclocking which is a shame since the Intel Core i7 920 is such a great overclocker. The cost of a used x58 motherboard had gone through the roof and even a simple Asrock motherboard is $110 + $15 shipping. Anyway, what graphic card (video card) and power supply should I get for a system? Also, did I make the right decision in buying this computer for $50? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+PeterUK MVC Posted April 7, 2014 MVC Share Posted April 7, 2014 Anyway, what graphic card (video card) and power supply should I get for a system? Also, did I make the right decision in buying this computer for $50? Its not a bad deal but don't upgrade the base CPU, MB & RAM its a dead end base that you can add to it for when you change the whole base. Is it for gaming? Budget? A SSD even SATA 3 at SATA 2 would go well with that setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AStaUK Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 For $50 you can't go wrong, that CPU will still hold up well for a few years yet. What sort of budget do you have in mind for GPU/PSU/HDD etc? Presumably being an OEM case a standard ATX PSU will fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatherLargeBear Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I just put an R9 280x in my aging i7 920 system and a 256GB Samsung 840 SSD, it is absolutely fantastic now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi-Wan Kenobi Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I'd say, you got a heck of a deal there, sir! Fifty bucks isn't bad for what you got at all! Nice one! Just put in what's missing, and you'll have spent, at most, around 350 bucks? For a Dell, that's not bad at all! (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockingbird Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Well, I am hoping to spend $150 for the video card + power supply after rebate (although I can spent more). I am not really in a hurry to build the system though, so I can wait until a good deal come along. I am thinking of something along the line of Radeon HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 for $110 AR and EVGA 500W power supply (standard ATX) for $30 AR. I haven't really thought about the hard drive yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted April 7, 2014 Global Moderator Share Posted April 7, 2014 but again, are you trying to build a gaming machine or just a solid desktop for everyday use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceelf Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Also, did I make the right decision in buying this computer for $50? What kind of a question is that? I just put mine back together, it's worth a few hundred easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myxomatosis Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I'm still using this CPU (Xeon variant, W3520) @4.5GHz. Still super fast. Get a good little mobo, this baby will give you high-range performance despite its age, it overclocks quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockingbird Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 but again, are you trying to build a gaming machine or just a solid desktop for everyday use I spend >95% of the time on the computer doing schoolwork (and appeasing my professors), but I do want to use this computer to play games sometime. I am not really one of those people who needs to be able to do 60 FPS at maximum settings. All I need is a medium capable gaming build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHoKiLLa Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 $50 hahahaa are you kidding? You could sell the thing for 4 times that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrobwx71 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Well, I am hoping to spend $150 for the video card + power supply after rebate (although I can spent more). I am not really in a hurry to build the system though, so I can wait until a good deal come along. I am thinking of something along the line of Radeon HD 7850 2GB GDDR5 for $110 AR and EVGA 500W power supply (standard ATX) for $30 AR. I haven't really thought about the hard drive yet. Very nice buy for $50. Go as large as your budget will allow on the PSU to leave headroom for further growth. Rosewill is a good budget brand for the PSU. SSD on the harddrive. The GPU you picked above is a decent choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockingbird Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 Very nice buy for $50. Go as large as your budget will allow on the PSU to leave headroom for further growth. Rosewill is a good budget brand for the PSU. SSD on the harddrive. The GPU you picked above is a decent choice. My university was busy disassembling an old 2009 Core 2 Duo server (10 hard drives). I said that I am interested in buying the Thermaltake Toughpower W0116RU 750W from the system, so the person there sold it to me. It's a shame that it's modular and a bunch of cables are missing. :s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrobwx71 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 My university was busy disassembling an old 2009 Core 2 Duo server (10 hard drives). I said that I am interested in buying the Thermaltake Toughpower W0116RU 750W from the system, so the person there sold it to me. It's a shame that it's modular and a bunch of cables are missing. :s You can buy the cables and cheap. Cyberguys.com or just google for the best price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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