Help with new replacement system

Evening-

My current setup is this:

2x AMD XP 1700+ @ 1.8ghz
GA-7DPxDW
2.5gb ECC Ram
4x200gb Seagate (Raid 5) (pata)
2x120gb Seagate (boot/swap) (pata)
2xDVD-RWs
(2.5tb external storage, separate issue).

Lately I've been burning thru PSU's and can't keep the system running. Looks like maybe (maybe!) the WC setup dripped onto the video card (ti4200) but I doubt that as I've been having issues for some time.

I need a system that reuses as many of these parts as possible- preferably the ECC ram since that was such a tremendous investment.

Does it have to be the 'fastest' on the block? Nope. I've learned that when you process 4.5gb of photos from a modeling shoot you come back and look at them later, regardless.

Money spent on this system takes away from money spent making beer. You see my dilemna, I hope. Budgetting as low as possible- but I know that's difficult because I may not find the reliability of dual CPUs like I have now. I can sacrifice I guess.

Case can be built if need be. Have an Antec somethingorother that doesn't have alot of room for all of the internal drives.

I could really use some help here. This system has been a workhorse and kept me happy for nearly 3 years now- and I'm in serious trouble now that it's gone unstable on me.

Thanks in advance

youll probably only need to upgrade the cpu, gpu, and mobo. i wouldnt recommend building a case unless youve got the time and equipment. it took me 2 weeks to completely build mines, which doesnt look very good but gets the job done. material isnt that cheap either. all the parts i ordered from mcmaster were probably the cheapest i could find but that still cost me $40, which will probably net you a good mid tower case. however, if you want to build something with alot of room and not want to pay >$100 for a full tower then that might be the way to go.

AZNBoiOnFIYA said:

youll probably only need to upgrade the cpu, gpu, and mobo. i wouldnt recommend building a case unless youve got the time and equipment. it took me 2 weeks to completely build mines, which doesnt look very good but gets the job done. material isnt that cheap either. all the parts i ordered from mcmaster were probably the cheapest i could find but that still cost me $40, which will probably net you a good mid tower case. however, if you want to build something with alot of room and not want to pay >$100 for a full tower then that might be the way to go.

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Have you suggestions for reliable CPU/mobo combos? I've loved being able to goto ebay 2 years out of date to get parts, but this might be the final straw. PCIExpress is OK I'd just have to junk alot of material.

Is it worth spending on dual core athlons? Do the newer boards accept slow ram (pc2100 I think... ? wow I'm out of date)

it all depends on how often you update. if you dont do it often then i would suggest getting the parts that will last you for a while. id say a dfi ultra-d with an opty 165 or 170 depending on your budget. gpu id say get a 7900gt. total will probably cost you around $700. if you want something cheaper then just get an opty 148 or 146 w/ an x850xt.

why not sky 940? since he has ECC RAM?

primuslesler said:

why not sky 940? since he has ECC RAM?

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Open to suggestions- socket 940? Is that what you meant?

Go to Ebay for a case. There are a lot of good deals for full towers. Get one without a PSU and buy a PSU that can handle all of your stuff. I like Fortron and Antec.

Case isn't a problem- have an Antec I can canabalize or build a nice solid wood one.

Socket 939 - 1 mb cache- desired way out? I just don't want to lose my disk space/performance I have right now with my dual chips...