Old-New Hybrid PC

[greenman]

Need a new computer since my Sony VAIO's power supply went out and it's useless to spend $200 for Sony's repair service, and an ATX power supply is kinda tricky to pick out for this thing, I'm buying some ATX parts and moving the rest of the Sony VAIO parts into it.


Here is what I will be getting:
- Case
- Motherboard
- CPU Cooler
- Power Supply
- Graphic Card (maybe)

And then I'll put in all my older hardware from my Sony VAIO:
- 2 SATA HDDs
- 1.5 RAM (3 chips)
- Sound Card (5.1 surround supported)
- Pentium 4 with Hyper-Threading
- 2 DVD drives
- Cheap TV Tuner
- 5-in-1 Card reader
- Floppy Drive (doubtfully)

I am then planning on upgrading slowly, like:
- Graphics Card (If I don't get one now)
- Intel Quad-Core
- Good TV Tuner or something that would do the trick (haven't looked into it yet)
- Sound Card (maybe)


Here are those new ATX parts I am looking at right now:
- Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower - $60.99
- Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - $156.60
- CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - $40.83
- Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700W Power Supply 100 - 240 V - $104.99
- Graphic Card (maybe): EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - $104.99

I don't want to spend too much and $400 is pushing it, but since I will later on be upgrading, I'd like to get solid parts that will last.
I will be using the PC for everything including video producing, music producing, gaming, and web development, not all at once however.


I could really use some feedback and maybe some recommendations. And if I forgot something else I might need, or if anything that I am looking at will not work with one or another part, please let me know. This is my first custom built computer so I maybe making mistakes. Thank you.

 

[Law]

Just make sure your P4 is the 6xx series and is 775 socket. Make sure your RAM are DDR2 else they won't work with the new motherboard. Everything else should be fine. You will also have to reinstall Windows. If you won't have a retail or OEM version of Windows then you'll have to purchase that also. You can't use the one with Sony.

 

[greenman]

Thanks for the reply.

I now decided to use my sony motherboard (which turns out is an ASUS) for now, then upgrade a new motherboard for the quad-core whenever the time comes.

Why would I need to reinstal windows? I will be using my old HDD, so only the bios would be different, right? :question:

 

[Raze664]

If your motherboard is too old, it wont be a PCI-E, therefore wont take that card.

 

[Brinson]

If you change motherboards, you'll have to reinstlal the OS.

That PSU is prolly overkill, 700w is a lot of power.

 

[greenman]

If you change motherboards, you'll have to reinstlal the OS.

That PSU is prolly overkill, 700w is a lot of power.

Oh. Didn't know that, I figured an OS would adjust itself to the hardware when hardware is changed.


Yeah, it's my first timer mistake. I got it sorted out now.

What I decided on:
- Case: Sunbeam Freezing-Storm IC-FS-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $73.10
- Power Supply: Corsair 520W SLI Certified Modular ATX Power Supply - CMPSU-520HX - $99.99
- CPU Cooler: Scythe NINJA PLUS Rev.B " 6 Heat Pipes CPU Cooler - $43.71

Total: $216.80

The Corsair power supply's 5 year warranty is a no brainer for me since I've had 2 power supplies die on me in the past 2 months.

I really like the idea of the core-fans in the Sunbeam Freezing-Storm case, it looks pretty nice too. but.. I'll need to buy an LED fan for that.


I'll be ordering that in an hour or two unless someone has any recomendations for better parts.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Law]

Considering the price after the mail in rebate for the OCZ PSU, I would rather get that than the Corsair. They're practically in the same price range right now but the warranty isn't 5 years. A lot of power does not do any harm considering that price, it makes sense to get it.

If you plan on running the same PSU for 5 years, your 520W will probably be not adequate as newer components come with with more power consumption. 700W does not do any harm at that price.

 

[Brinson]

Yeah, not if he's only going to drop down to a $100 psu

If he bought a good psu at ~$50 it'd be worth the power difference.

 

[Law]

Rosewill make some good PSU at that price range, you can definitely benefit from a $50 and use the other half for maybe a better video card or processor.

 

[greenman]

Na, 2 cheap power supplies failed on me in under 2 months, can't trust cheap power supplies anymore.

I was told that the OCZ has out of spec DC ripple on the 12v line.
Besides, more power at same price would mean less quality. :super_happy:

Either way, I JUST ordered it. :laughing:


I'm thinking of getting some Green Sound Activated Cold Cathode kit for the case, would be pretty awesome. Too bad the cheapest I've found was for $12 @ newegg.
Anyone by any chance know where i could get something similar for less?
I highly doubt stores have them any cheaper thought they logically should..