Harvest from 3 yr old computer to build new?

[Mysteweave]

I currently have a Dell XPS from 4 years ago, an XPS Gen 3. It has a P4 3.4 ghz intel processor. Last year I bought memory and upgraded from 2 gb to 4 gb, and bought a new seagate harddrive that was 320 gigs to add to the initial 70 gig that came with it. I also bought a Geforce 8600 video card. It already has a Soundblaster Audigy 2. I also bought a new DVD combo RW drive for it and it has a CD RW drive in addition.
At any rate, I am thinking I'd like a faster processor, but of course this particular computer from DELL was not made to be upgradeable in that fashion.
The rest of the parts in the computer work great to be honest, I'm just thinking faster would be nice for gaming.

The last couple of days I was thinking that I really don't need a whole brand new computer, because not to mention the huuuge expense, all I feel like I really need is the new cpu/motherboard/cooler and tower, right? Am I off base here? I'm wondering what you guys think. I've never built my own computer before, though I've switched parts in and out in the past, and had help building a computer by harvesting parts from another computer in the past.

So is what I am thinking about doing a feasible solution to keep down the cost of an upgrade without buying a fresh new computer full out? What do I need to know exactly in order to reuse all the parts and just get basically the new motherboard/cpu/tower setup?

[blazer]

in my humble opinion, if you want a pc for gaming, you would need to upgrade the mobo, cpu, memory, and video card. you can reuse the dvd drive, and the seagate hdd and possibly the case. you may need a cpu cooler also but you might get by with the stock cooler that comes with the new cpu.

[Mysteweave]

I may eventually want to replace the video card but it isn't critical at this time. Geforce 8600 is pretty good, and I don't want to spend over 500-600 bucks right now.
I'm not sure that the Dell XPS Gen 3 case is reuseable. I have read on other boards in the past (or at least a vague memory of that) about it not being able to fit most boards and the power supply being quite unique and un-changeable:

Quote from http://www.motherboardpoint.com/t178514-dell-xps-gen-3-cpu-upgrade-question.html


In a word, NO! The form factor of the XPS Gen 3 board looks standard, but looks
are deceiving. Here are the ways that the XPS Gen 3 board is different from a
standard board:
1. The cutouts on the back of the case, and they are integrated with the
mounting plate.
2. The front panel connector is really different
3. The connector for the processor cooling fan is 4-pin and keyed, with
apparently different leads than the usual un-key 3-pin fan connector

In short, you would have to do some very serious work to fit most any standard
board in the chassis. Don't even go there.

When I read the technical specs for the XPS Gen 3, the motherboard seems little
different that the Dimension 8400, but the case is definitely fancier and the
power supply is unique... Ben Myers


On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:46:13 -0600, "Dirk " <> wrote:

>Ben Myers wrote:
>
>> The XPS Gen 3 motherboard layout is the more classical kinda-sorta
>> ATX, line the Precision 360 and the Dimension 8400. The only
>> possible upgrade board would be a later XP Gen ATX model.
>
>Would I be able to use another ATX board like this one?
>
>http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...oduct_id=02803
>71

[blazer]

so you'll need to add case and power supply to the list

[chunkylover53]

Tough one, since your sort of stuck in the middle. The 8600 is OK, but I don't think you will get much better performance out of it if you just upgrade around it. I have that card, but I don't play games with it. I actually have it hooked up to my 55" DLP TV in my family room and it looks awesome. Sorry, I digress... :rolleyes:

I don't like the memory that comes with a Dell, so if you put the new 2GB on top of Dell memory, I'd replace at least that old Dell memory. You didn't mention an OS, and as a reminder you can't conveniently use the copy that came with your XPS, so you need to buy a copy of Windows if you replace the MOBO. If the PSU is 4 years old, I'm not sure how powerful or quiet it is. If you upgrade the MOBO, that PSU might struggle. Yada yada yada, I think blazer is right.

One other option for you if you don't want to spend the money now, in case you haven't done it in a while, is to back everything up and then do a clean format and re-install of windows. There is NOTHING that can dramatically improve your current system's performance more than that. You will be shocked at how much faster it is. :)

[Mysteweave]

Hee. Yes I suppose I meant case when I said Tower. :D So yes I need as near as I can figure:
1 case (I'm leary of the case reccomended on the main page because of the reports about the static charge problem. I DO want a case that is tooless and not too difficult for a newb to use. I also have an older digital camera (about 3 years old, that has one of those funky cords to it for downloading (Firewire? Not sure There's a port for it on my XPS Gen 3 but I can't think of what it's called -- Because I'm a newb)
1 Cpu + cooler (I kind of dig the idea of that Core 2 Quad for 189 reccomended on the main page)
1 power supply unit

Currently I have in my Dell that I can use:
4 x 1 g ddr2 dual channel sdram (this isn't the memory the computer came with, I replaced that, bought memory last year) (1 year old)
1 320 7200 Seagate HD (1 year old)
1 80 G 7200 HD (4 years old)
1 DVD Combo +/-RW (1 year old) (one that came with the computer broke down a month or so after the warrenty expired -- figures)
1 CD +/- RW (4 years old)
1 8600 Nvidia Geforce PCI e (I could concieveably upgrade this if necessary but maybe not right away?) (1 year old)
1 Soundblaster Audigy 2 (I'm getting static lately on this, not sure why, maybe dust, I try to regularly dust out my computer, really) (4 years old)

Ah yeah, and I have XP, however I was thinking maybe about upgrading to Vista.
In any case, I'm attending College virtual style right now, plus I'm staff at a university so yay me, I get academic version for super cheap. I like XP just fine but eventually support for it is going away so I really don't know what to do on that score.
Near as I can figure the only thing Vista has going for it is that it's 'pretty' and has some extra bells and whistles :D