4+ year old computer finally died, looking to put a new one together...

[ajmorrow]

Alright, the specs of my old system are as follows:

msi k8n neo platinum, 939 socket
i think amd 64 3200+
msi 6600 gt, pretty much dead
antec purepower 450w powersupply
ocz pc3200 512mb dual channel ram(2-3-3-6), only thing not original
wd 80gb hd
antec case, i could reuse this

1. Should i bother keeping any of these components? Can i incorporate any of them into a new system?

2. What should i be looking at the bare minimum when thinking of creating a new computer that will last me another several years?

minimun cpu specs, minimum memory specs, motherboard chipsets and tech, gpu specs

how much how much money i should be looking to spend on minimum components?


I want to game with this computer
Quality wise i would like to stay in the middle, i found that the budget msi components i had previously used were really crappy.

I find that looking at all the hardware dealers is very overwhelming and i have no idea where to start my research.

i appreciate any info, or even any direction you can point me as to learn about current hardware

 

[A-Dub]

There's no reason you can't reuse a few of your components, such as your hard drive, case, psu and optical drive. You could also get a second 80gb hard drive and set them up in a raid 0, which would give you faster load/boot times, although hard drives are cheap enough you may just want to go with a 500gb or so. What is your total budget?

You can save a bit of money by going with a triple core instead of quad core. This article which was linked in another thread explains why triple cores make the most sense for a gaming rig.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-core-cpu,2280.html

I buy pretty much everything from www.newegg.com, their prices are competitive and they have great customer service. The best budget gaming rig right now is probably an amd phenom 2 720.

 

[Aslan]

You can keep the Optical drive, case, hard drive and perhaps PSU. However, as you can get a 1 TB hard drive now for around $100, it's probably better to do that and perhaps stick the 80gb drive in an enclosure and use it for backups.
I'm not sure of the PSU. If it's a medium-end system it 'should' be fine, but older Thermaltake PSU's (if it is a Purepower as you stated, I don't recall Antec making a Purepower model), weren't that great.

As for the parts, I haven't really kept up on things other than PSUs, but there are a lot of experts here who can help though.

 

[ou_phidelt]

PSU's degrade over time, do yourself a favor and replace it. You are pretty much at the point of a complete overhaul. The only component I would reuse is possibly the case depending on what it is. Yeah, you could re-use you HD but it is old and slow which will degrade much of the performance of your new system. HD's are pretty much the bog point of modern systems.

Lets start off with a couple questions. What do you use your computer for? If gaming at what resolution? What is the budget? Any vendor allegiances?

 

[Evilsizer]

case and optical can be reused, well optical if its sata. psu might as well let it go, if you have had the pc for 4 years + those caps are gone. i just sent in a 3.5-4 year running ocz520 that had bulging caps.

your new setup could look something like

cpu (option for you)
PII X3 720
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649
or
X2 4850E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255

Mobo (chosen since judging from what you posted it wasnt oc'd.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186150
also sports good onboard video compared to the NV6600GT.

Ram 2x2gig DDR2-800 cas4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

PSU EA650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

HD 160gig RE2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136200

those parts with the X3 comes to $419 or with the X2 is $335.

Now i a did a bit of trimming just in case that is a bit to much.
swaped to 2x1gig kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231087
a mobo with onboard video still just a step down
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135075
changing those two parts with the X2 takes you down to $279 or get the PII X3 720 for $363 or drop down to the PII X3 710 for $343. lots of options, now keep in mind if your buying from newegg. the X2 i listed is the lowest retail cpu, they do have a lower E but at 39.99+cheap hs costs more then the X2 i linked to.

 

[ajmorrow]

im going to go with a x3, for a reasonable mobo, should i go with am2+? id like to eventually oc, and i will be gaming with a 250gts. what mobo options should i look at? itwould be nice to keep it around 100

ddr2 would be fine? or is it worth it to go am3 ddr3?

 

[Evilsizer]

DDR3 isnt worth it and your upgrading if worried about it would be affected.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387
that board supports AM3/AM2+/AM2, so there is no limiting you. Getting DDR2-1066 would be more then enough. if you haven't bought the card yet, consider the ATI 4770 for $109...

 

[Adragontattoo]

Sheesh, Here I sit on a 939 x2, next to a 939 x2 with an Athlon for a Firewall and another Athlon to be a FS..

And Im happy.

And then there is the C2d E6600 which has had moreheat related issues then ANY AMD rig i have EVER had.