heyitsheather Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 My kids' PC has kicked the bucket, and I am trying to gauge whether a potential older system upgrade is worth it. The power supply has gone to the great beyond. The dead PC is a HP 6000 Pro with a Core 2 Duo E8400 in it, 12GB DDR3, and a GeForce GT 730. Yesterday I salvaged an older PC from a neighbor who was tossing it. The saved PC is a Frankenstein of old spare parts based around a Gigabyte GA-EG45M-UD2H motherboard and a Pentium D 945. It hurts my brain just to type the name of that CPU. It also only has 4GB of DDR2, and a 240 watt Dell power supply. Everything of the old box seems to work, and I could in theory just drop the E8400 and video card from the old system into the salvaged box. I have confirmed the Gigabyte board supports the E8400. The question becomes whether it is worth the upgrade cost to put in a better CPU. I can find a Core 2 Quad Q9400 on Amazon for under $40, I would also replace the 4 1GB DIMMs with 4 2GB that come in 2x2GB kits of $25 each per PCPartpicker.com. A 400watt PS can be had for relatively cheaply at $20 or so. That's a total upgrade cost of about $110. The salvaged PC is in a non descript Antec case that I would reuse, along with the 1TB HDD that came from the older machine. The machine is used for homework purposes, along with a bit of light gaming consisting of Civ 2 - 4, Sim City 4, Dragon Age: Origins, World of Warships, World of Tanks, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctebah Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 For $110 I would say it's worth it. It's a very small amount and the upgraded performance, although not huge, will be noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted November 14, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 14, 2017 240 watt with your PC configuration? that's cutting it kinda short. I'd rather get a whole new or used computer for a couple $100... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted November 14, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted November 14, 2017 1. make sure the BIOS already supports that E8400. if not, you'll need to upgrade the BIOS first and then install the E8400 2. make sure the motherboard supports 8GB of RAM... most likely it will but you should make sure before spending the money. 3. A Core 2 Quad would be fun, but dont expect miracles 4. You should get an SSD for it to really see performance improvements. DConnell, patseguin, goretsky and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyitsheather Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 Just now, Jason S. said: 1. make sure the BIOS already supports that E8400. if not, you'll need to upgrade the BIOS first and then install the E8400 2. make sure the motherboard supports 8GB of RAM... most likely it will but you should make sure before spending the money. 3. A Core 2 Quad would be fun, but dont expect miracles 4. You should get an SSD for it to really see performance improvements. I already upgraded the BIOS to the latest version yesterday while the Pentium D 945 is in it, so confirmed both the E8400 and Q9400 are supported. Per the boards site, it supports up to 16GB. I considered a smaller SSD for the OS to be installed on, keeping the 1TB 7200 disk for data and applications, but am also trying to keep this as minimal as possible cost wise. I rarely use the machine and the kids don't know any better disk performance wise. 3 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said: 240 watt with your PC configuration? that's cutting it kinda short. I'd rather get a whole new or used computer for a couple $100... Agreed, this is why I am including a 400watt replacement as part of the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted November 14, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted November 14, 2017 looks like all the bases are covered, then. last thing i can think of is whether or not you'd need a better cooler to cover the heat from a quad core CPU... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamester64 Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I'll just leave this here https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=9SIAAJ26KC2658&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-tonymacx86 LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=4902415&SID= Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyitsheather Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 2 minutes ago, jamester64 said: I'll just leave this here https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=9SIAAJ26KC2658&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-tonymacx86 LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=4902415&SID= There you go, blowing up my well crafted upgrade plan with something that makes more sense. I was all proud of the research I did. In all seriousness though, thanks that gives me something a bit more modern to think about. DConnell and patseguin 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpifIcan Posted November 16, 2017 Share Posted November 16, 2017 Just a idea I have bought refurbished PC's on Newegg for under $100.00, might be an option for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted November 16, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, helpifIcan said: Just a idea I have bought refurbished PC's on Newegg for under $100.00, might be an option for you. Jamester reccomended a refurb... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpifIcan Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Yes, I was just trying to provide a source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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