TLDR: PC built in 2008 has been upgraded over the past 14 years. My current Lenovo S540 outspecs all of it! Anything worth salvaging? Is it possible to update to current budget gaming specs using the same case? Or does it make sense to just scratch it and build a new SFF system? Anywhere to price track PC parts? Thanks!
Hi all,
I have been out of the desktop game for a good 10 years now but am interested in a little project. I have a PC that I built long ago (~2008) and it's had a good lifespan. I really enjoyed the look and design of the small form factor case so I’m wanting to see if I can upgrade the internals on a very little budget (I’m thinking like dropping in the insides of an Optiplex on Ozbargain + buying a GPU or something like that?).
I pulled it out of storage yesterday and after basically ripping the whole thing back down to the mobo cause it was boot looping, I have now booted into Windows 7 Ultimate (!) and it still works well! I mucked around with organising the cables in it last night just for fun, and was reminded that the only thing that really annoyed me during the initial build was the limitations of the CPU HSF because the PSU sits above the CPU. I had to get a low profile HSF and replaced the fan in the PSU with a better one to exhaust heat from the CPU.
Initial specs for those curious:
CASE: Silverstone SG03 Black Micro ATX Tower
MOBO: DFI LanParty-JR P45-T2RS
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
HSF: Silverstone NT06-Evolution
PSU: Silverstone 600W ST60F Modular
HDD: Western Digital Caviar 750GB 16MB Cache 7200RPM SATA II
(Currently 60GB SDD + 1TB HDD)
GPU: Hightech ATI HD 4850 (Currently 6850)
RAM: G.Skill 2GB DDR2 1066mhz 5-5-5-15 (Now 4GB)
DVD: Pioneer DVR-216 20X DVDRW SATA (This is gone no idea where it went, I have an empty bay up top haha)
Any suggestions would be much appreciated! TIA!
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I've dropped this over at Whirlpool too and got some good responses - CPU (5600) MOBO (B550) GPU (RX6600). Here are the answers to their build a PC template. Just thought I'd see what the brains trust here might think 😊
What is the primary purpose of this PC?
Light Gaming, Photo Editing, Maybe HTPC
What is your budget?
Preferred amount: $Very little please!
Maximum amount: $500?
What is your monitor setup, or your planned monitor setup?
Single monitor
How many monitors? What size/resolution? What refresh rate? G-sync/Freesync?
All good just an old 1080P
Do you require an Operating System?
Yes – Win 11, where I can I get this from?
Please list any peripherals you require:
All good here.
Are you re-using any parts?
See above!
Will you be overclocking?
Maybe!
Do you have any preferences for aesthetics?
Suggestions appreciated hehe.
It's all pretty well ancient. Just go buy a new machine.
You could potentially reuse the case/PSU, but nothing else is worthy of any use really.