Is my tower and PSU upgradable?

[Dragon Queen]

Hi I have several questions regarding the same tower that I have, an 8 yr old Gateway. I am looking at the possibility of using some of the components in a new build, that could be replaced at a little later date.

1. The case, not a full size the current mobo is a micro atx, has a vent on one side 3" by 7" and 2 fan vents on the back. Is this enough flow thru for todays components?

2. The PSU is newer 1 to 2 yrs old model ATX 450w P4, +5v 35a, +12v 16a, -12v .8a, 3.3v 24a, +5vsb 3a, any good for running todays computers?

3. What I am looking at to upgrade to is a dual core, most likely AMD, Win 7 64 bit.
We do a lot of online gaming, office programs, and some picture publishing programs. I am biasing our current needs off a newer computer that we have that is able to handle our needs pretty well a Intel Core 2 Duo E6550-2.33ghz and 2 gig ram(also to be upgraded to win 7 64bit).

4. The dvd write drive works well and I believe is a ide as it has a wide white ribbon.

5. The HD also replaced within a few months of the PSU above, IDE also same ribbon, 80 gig only half full currently.

Sorry I am just looking at all of the options available to us as for our phones I would like to keep the same OS and close to the same programs on all 3, as we are getting a laptop, and upgrading the newer computer at the same time. However not sure on the old gateway if it is something worth doing now or not.
Thank You for your time and let me know what other info you need.

 

[Trotter]

If the current mobo is a true mATX then you could reuse the case. but, honestly, as cheap as cases are nowadays, I would just replace it.

The PSU should be reusable, but it is probably a piece of crap brand-wise. I say this as very few stumble into buying a good PSU as they look for the cheapest they can get.

If you can a budget laid out, tell us what it is and we will see what we can squeeze out of it.

 

[Dragon Queen]

The PSU was replaced by a shop that was refered to me and all it says on it is Tiger. How exactly do I tell if it is a true micro ATX, I was using dimensions off of newegg mobos as a bench mark and it is close to 9x9. Budgetwise, we have 500 for the laptop, I was hoping for 200 for the newer computer and as little as feasable at the start for this gateway as my daughter also is getting braces from tax money. I am just looking at options and usability of components for now with an eye open for upgrading the reused parts.

 

[Dragon Queen]

If I was looking at redoing the innards and the cost issue wasn't top of the list I would probably do this:
MOBO
ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU
SILVERSTONE Strider Essential series ST60F-ES 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX245OCGQBOX
RAM
G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS

 

[patonb]

You need nowhere near that big of a psu.

the 500W will do just fine.

The onboard gpu of that mobo kinda sucks.

I'd add the money saved on a less expensive psu to get an 880 level board like this:
Newegg.com - MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

The other stuff would be good.

 

[Dragon Queen]

So something like this PSU instead?
SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
What is the difference in those 2 mobos that makes the MSI better than the ASUS?

 

[patonb]

The 880 model is a newer design, but more importantly, the onboard video card is alot better.

The one you choose has 3000 series ati video card, where as the one i posted is a 4250 video card.

NOW if you plan on getting a add in card, your choice will be fine too.

Yes that power supplies fine. I have a d700 model, and its nice.. huge but nice.

Also should add... If you have no plans on putting a video card in, you could even go to 400W model. But it would limit you if you did eventually add one.