What should I do?

[bonoz]

I have a gaming computer from 6 years ago back when AMD came out with its FX 51 and ATI had its 9800XT. Clearly those things are outdated now and cannot really run any of the games or media on the market. I will leave the country in 6 months time and will not come back for another 4 years. I need a gaming rig until then. I don't see the point in getting a brand spanking new machine only to leave it behind in a few month's time. But I still want a new computer because my current computers are slow and lethargic. I want the rig to be able to play at least some of the modern games, connect with my 7.1 surround sound speaker system, play movies, web browsing, work processing, downloading stuff, take my guitar as an input, etc.

I currently have two PCs. One is for 'work' and one is for 'fun'. I want to combine the two this time. I want everything in one place. To replace my work computer, I want to get a home server so that I have this one box where I can place ALL my documents, media, files, etc. And use my gaming rig as the main terminal.

What should I do?

Should I use my old casing and everything and just upgrade? or should build a budget gaming PC? What hardware should I acquire?

What is a good home server to get? or should I just build my own?

Thanks

 

[patonb]

Whats your budget?

A home server can run on a low power system, like one of your old systems.

The pricest piece for a build will be the os....

If you list out your current parts, itd help.

 

[bonoz]

Budget $1000 to $1500.

Gaming rig:
SATA150 200GB HDD
Creative Lab SB Audigy 2 ZS 7.1
Corsair 2x512MB 3200 DDR
Motherboard: ASUS Sk8N
Processor: Athlon 64 FX 51
ATI Radeon 9800XT 256MB DDR
DVD RW Drive(s)

Work PC:
Long tower case.
Mini-ATX motherboard
Some dual core pentium 4
1 GB memory I think
Onboard video/audio
300 GB hard drive storage

Could I turn the latter into a server?

 

[patonb]

Well yha, both can easily be "servers" depends just how powerfull you want them to be.

You can use cpu-z and it'll tell you abut your work computer cpu and mobo.
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Youre budgets pretty good... As you are gonna ditch it soon, less is better.

I'd go something like this:

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750
Newegg.com - XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX80G 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
Newegg.com - Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems
Newegg.com - Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

Thats $1163 and you choose a case.

I added a decent size ssd drive, and the beuty of that is you can take it and use it in a laptop when you go.

This build will be great, the cpu won't get bottlenecked and i've added a good cooler to allow a great overclock, so it will be even better.

Thre gpu has double life warrentee, so it will be around in 4 yrs the psu is pretty strong... even though its 550W.

 

[bonoz]

Thanks for a quick response. Let me take a look at the setup and post follow-up questions!

 

[bonoz]

So,

I don't really care for a SSD. So I'll probably just stick with a 1 TB HDD.

Why do I need a CPU cooler? Does the CPU not come with one? Not sure if I really care for overclocking for a few months. Just need it enough to run games these days.

Is that the best CPU on the market? or just a very good one?

What about the video card? best one?

What about the sound card? What are my options there? I have 7.1 speaker system.

Do you think I could get away with using my old case and power supply?

 

[patonb]

No, the i7 1156 isn't the best, or newest. Intel came out with the 1155 socket, though the sata2 ports have flaws.

Above the i7 1156 is the i7 1366 and the 1155 2600 chips. But the 750 has great umph and can hold its own gaming.

The cooler is a top notch cooler.... I picked what i knew on a 1366 chip. Its for oc'ing and better temps. Oc right now can be fairly easy so I added it. Running stock, stock coolers fine. The stock settings will play games just fine.

The gpu is one of the better cards on the market. Up near the top. But not top.

The mobo has 8 channel sound..I am clueless on sound/speaker setup.

Your case should beable to be reused.... if its an atx case.... most are.

Power supply i doubt it. You need new connectors for the gpu, but if you give the psu info i'll investigate.
Though the psu has changed price, and could be switched out for another decent brand model