What can I salvage from a 5 year old computer?

[glasszon]

I am looking to build a new computer to replace my current computer which lasted 5 years, but the PSU and case fan is starting to fail so I know it is time to build a new one.

Before I put together a build list, is there anything I can salvage from my old computer or should I start completely from scratch?

The specs for my old computer are below:
CPU: Intel i7-930
Memory: Gskill 6gb Ram
Video card: Geforce GTX 560 Ti
Power Supply: Seasonic X-Series 750W PSU 80PLUS® Gold
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E Motherboard
Hard drive 1: Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black
Hard drive 2: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (raid 1)
Hard drive 3: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (raid 1)
DVD Drive: Liteon DVD Drive
Fan controller: Lamptron FC-5
Fans: San Ace 9G1212H1011
Case: LIAN-LI ARMORSUIT PC-P50B ALUMINIUM MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (12 grams)
Heatsink: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B CPU Cooler

 

[Scout]

Depends what performance you want, the x58 platform is still competitive when you drop in one of the cheap hex core Xeons. Powersupply, video card and a Xeon X5650 or greater and you could have something pretty cheap that will last the next few years till there is something worth upgrading to.

Edit: Definately think about adding a ssd or 2 for you boot/games.

 

[EarthDog]

I surely wouldn't upgrade that platform to a Hex. Nor would a hex give any increase in gaming performance. It would be a better option if the OP could use those cores.

That platform, while serviceable, is getting a bit long in the tooth already...but it is because of its IPC, not a lack of cores/threads. I have to imagine that Skylake is worth upgrading to from that platform.

As far as salvaging things... first, what is going on with the PSU? You could carry over these parts (and possibly the PSU):

Hard drive 1: Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black
Hard drive 2: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (raid 1)
Hard drive 3: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (raid 1)
DVD Drive: Liteon DVD Drive
Fan controller: Lamptron FC-5
Fans: San Ace 9G1212H1011
Case: LIAN-LI ARMORSUIT PC-P50B ALUMINIUM MID TOWER GAMING CASE

 

[glasszon]

My computer has started experiencing random restarts when I play GPU intensive computer games and always crashes a few minutes in on a GPU stress test.

There's a chance it is GPU related, but given this only happens when GPU is stressed, it sounds more like a PSU problem (the computer is totally stable otherwise and I can play games that are a few years old without any issues).

 

[EarthDog]

I'd think it's the gpu before the power supply....

 

[Evilsizer]

is it overclocked at all? only reason i can see to upgrade from that is if you need the newer usb 3.0/3.1 and sata6 ports. i get the whole IPC thing but lets say your pc is overclocked and your 3.8-4ghz clock speed. that is more then enough cpu speed now even on newer video cards to get the most out of the video card for performance. there will be games that are more Dependant on cpu speed then the gpu, like css/csgo for instance. i would say look at your games you play now that you will be playing for some time. the whole upgrading just cause of ipc ect doesnt really seem to be enough to me even though im now on a G3258 from my old i7. i did that switch because i wanted something that would hit atleast 4ghz and i didnt need the 2 xtra cores on the i7. i only managed 3.4ghz during the summer and 3.6ghz during the winter due to heat. im still running older SSD's that are sata3 spec with no problems on my z97/G5328 setup with a GTX660(which is overkill for just csgo), i rarly play other games now.

so look at what you do now and if it will make upgrading any faster or better. causes if your going to use the same parts and you need a psu replacement. think about a xeon based quad core for x58 and you should be able to squeeze a bit more oc out of that vs the standard desktop parts. as well you resuse the hsf as well, just might need a new mounting hw for LGA1150/2011 depending on which route you go.

 

[glasszon]

I'd think it's the gpu before the power supply....

It could be the GPU, but I don't have the tools to test either parts. I have relocated to a new country and don't have any spare parts to test.

Even if it is the GPU, is it dangerous to expect another 5 years from the PSU (so a lifespan of 10 years)? When PSU blows up, they tend to take the machine with them....

 

[glasszon]

is it overclocked at all? only reason i can see to upgrade from that is if you need the newer usb 3.0/3.1 and sata6 ports. i get the whole IPC thing but lets say your pc is overclocked and your 3.8-4ghz clock speed. that is more then enough cpu speed now even on newer video cards to get the most out of the video card for performance. there will be games that are more Dependant on cpu speed then the gpu, like css/csgo for instance. i would say look at your games you play now that you will be playing for some time. the whole upgrading just cause of ipc ect doesnt really seem to be enough to me even though im now on a G3258 from my old i7. i did that switch because i wanted something that would hit atleast 4ghz and i didnt need the 2 xtra cores on the i7. i only managed 3.4ghz during the summer and 3.6ghz during the winter due to heat. im still running older SSD's that are sata3 spec with no problems on my z97/G5328 setup with a GTX660(which is overkill for just csgo), i rarly play other games now.

so look at what you do now and if it will make upgrading any faster or better. causes if your going to use the same parts and you need a psu replacement. think about a xeon based quad core for x58 and you should be able to squeeze a bit more oc out of that vs the standard desktop parts. as well you resuse the hsf as well, just might need a new mounting hw for LGA1150/2011 depending on which route you go.

It is overclocked to 4ghz, I am thinking about upgrading the platform because Skylake is coming out soon and given I have to pull everything out (the dying case fan isn't located in a convenient location), I might as well upgrade my computer at the same time since it is ~5 years old.

But point taken about the (lack of) revolution in the CPU space since Bloomfield, if the numbers doesn't add up I might just change the graphic card (and PSU if needed)

 

[Evilsizer]

i might be wrong but i dont ever recall any x-series gold psu's 5yrs ago. we barely had 80plus standard or was it bronze as the base standard for 80plus. not only that, that is a solid unit, dont throw it out just yet. if you tear things down, open up the psu and check the capacitors for bulging. if your handy with a soldering iron you can replace them but you will need to be careful when soldering though. depending on the caps you go touching, being ac side, if you short those you will shock ur self ect, not good.

just from my experience, if its a psu problem when playing GPU demanding games. the whole computer will restart, not lock up. as the gpu load on the 12v rail will cause a bad enough drop in voltage to cause the restart. gpu overheating or bad caps on the gpu it self will cause it to lock up. quick thing you can do is check out the caps on the gpu since you dont have any spare parts to test.

 

[EarthDog]

The original seasonic X series was out 5 years ago for sure.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/09/25/seasonic_x_series_x750_power_supply_review#.Va0kEflVhBc

 

[glasszon]

i might be wrong but i dont ever recall any x-series gold psu's 5yrs ago. we barely had 80plus standard or was it bronze as the base standard for 80plus. not only that, that is a solid unit, dont throw it out just yet. if you tear things down, open up the psu and check the capacitors for bulging. if your handy with a soldering iron you can replace them but you will need to be careful when soldering though. depending on the caps you go touching, being ac side, if you short those you will shock ur self ect, not good.

just from my experience, if its a psu problem when playing GPU demanding games. the whole computer will restart, not lock up. as the gpu load on the 12v rail will cause a bad enough drop in voltage to cause the restart. gpu overheating or bad caps on the gpu it self will cause it to lock up. quick thing you can do is check out the caps on the gpu since you dont have any spare parts to test.

The caps on GPU looks fine, let me try to describe my random reboots in more detail:
When I run GPU stress test or a demanding game, there's a good chance within 15 minutes the system will suddenly freeze (music will just keep playing the same tone) and the screen goes black, after about 5-10 seconds the computer automatically reboots.
Very rarely, my screen can just go black while I do other stuff like web browsing, in those cases the computer may restart, or it might recover with a message saying the GPU driver was stopped.
It has been like that for a few months, but at first this issue was mild and it doesn't force a restart (window recovers with an error message about the GPU driver being stopped), but lately if I put any stress on the GPU I can guarantee it would freeze and reboot as described above very quickly.

So yeah, still couldn't figure out what the problem is.

For now I am leaning towards an upgrade to skylake i5 that is middle tier, I assume that would still be a vast improvement over Bloomfield?

I am also thinking about upgrading my SDD, the current SSD I got is crucial c300 128gb, is it likely I will get a big increase if I upgrade it to one of the newer SSD lineup?

Must add that my current use has changed significantly since I bought this computer, at that time I was a student who can game 24/7, but now with a full time job I would be lucky to play 10 hours of games each week.

 

[Dlaw]

It may be a corrupt Windows install, or driver issues. When was the last time you did a clean install?