Hi,
I’ve not previously built a PC, but have installed HDDs, cleaned my PC internals, etc. I.e., I’m not a total newbie, and I can follow and read instructions. I’m not a gamer, but use my PC to do a fair amount of video-processing in addition to regular office-type stuff. Due to my job, I need to store large amounts of data; I have 3 internal drives and 4 external drives mounted.
Several years ago, I bought an HP Pavilion Elite h8-1090t – which at the time seemed like a fancy-ish setup. To try to future-proof the machine, I chose several of the possible upgrades – 16 GB RAM, 600W PSU, etc.
Fast-forward to today, and the machine is still working fine, running Windows 10.
Or rather – nothing is broken exactly, but there are a couple of upgrades I’d like to make, which I don’t think the motherboard or case-space will allow for.
So I had the brilliant idea that I could move the computer innards more or less whole-sale over to a new and larger case, which would let me make some of my desired upgrades now, and be ready for other potential upgrades in the future. I don’t have a predetermined budget – I’ll pay for quality if it meets my needs. But I also don’t want to throw money away, as I’m essentially happy with my set-up as it is.
The components I’d like to upgrade/add now are:
• Get a larger case
• Get a new motherboard – current motherboard does not support USB 3.0; which is a problem, because:
• I want to add in USB 3.0 ports (at least 4 of them) – I need at least a total 7 USB ports (2.0 and/or 3.0) for external drives and other peripherals
The components I’d like to upgrade in the future are:
• The graphics card – currently I have NVIDEA GeForce GTX550i (1 GB)
• PCU cooling (maybe also cool a new graphics card, if it needs it)
My questions:
1. Is this just a stupid idea, before I even get started?
2. Assuming the idea doesn’t suck, it seems that my first issue is finding a new motherboard that meets my needs. I want it to do what my old one did and some new things. The primary criteria are:
• Fit my old Intel i7-990X (Gulftown) (130W), 3.4 GHz 6-Core LGA 1366 PCU. Is there anything new out there that supports the old 1366 socket? (If not, I’d consider upgrading the PCU as well… though there’s nothing wrong with the old one.)
• Has USB 3.0 support
• Can accommodate/power at last 3 internal drives + maybe more down the line
Whereas I don’t care at all about:
• Overclocking the PCU
• LED lights, colors, or how “cool” it looks
3. Assuming I go ahead, is there anything else that I’m just a freaking idiot for not doing now while I’m at it?
…
Any advice is much appreciated. Any other specs I should provide to get a good answer? Thanks in advance,
Rasdane
I’ve not previously built a PC, but have installed HDDs, cleaned my PC internals, etc. I.e., I’m not a total newbie, and I can follow and read instructions. I’m not a gamer, but use my PC to do a fair amount of video-processing in addition to regular office-type stuff. Due to my job, I need to store large amounts of data; I have 3 internal drives and 4 external drives mounted.
Several years ago, I bought an HP Pavilion Elite h8-1090t – which at the time seemed like a fancy-ish setup. To try to future-proof the machine, I chose several of the possible upgrades – 16 GB RAM, 600W PSU, etc.
Fast-forward to today, and the machine is still working fine, running Windows 10.
Or rather – nothing is broken exactly, but there are a couple of upgrades I’d like to make, which I don’t think the motherboard or case-space will allow for.
So I had the brilliant idea that I could move the computer innards more or less whole-sale over to a new and larger case, which would let me make some of my desired upgrades now, and be ready for other potential upgrades in the future. I don’t have a predetermined budget – I’ll pay for quality if it meets my needs. But I also don’t want to throw money away, as I’m essentially happy with my set-up as it is.
The components I’d like to upgrade/add now are:
• Get a larger case
• Get a new motherboard – current motherboard does not support USB 3.0; which is a problem, because:
• I want to add in USB 3.0 ports (at least 4 of them) – I need at least a total 7 USB ports (2.0 and/or 3.0) for external drives and other peripherals
The components I’d like to upgrade in the future are:
• The graphics card – currently I have NVIDEA GeForce GTX550i (1 GB)
• PCU cooling (maybe also cool a new graphics card, if it needs it)
My questions:
1. Is this just a stupid idea, before I even get started?
2. Assuming the idea doesn’t suck, it seems that my first issue is finding a new motherboard that meets my needs. I want it to do what my old one did and some new things. The primary criteria are:
• Fit my old Intel i7-990X (Gulftown) (130W), 3.4 GHz 6-Core LGA 1366 PCU. Is there anything new out there that supports the old 1366 socket? (If not, I’d consider upgrading the PCU as well… though there’s nothing wrong with the old one.)
• Has USB 3.0 support
• Can accommodate/power at last 3 internal drives + maybe more down the line
Whereas I don’t care at all about:
• Overclocking the PCU
• LED lights, colors, or how “cool” it looks
3. Assuming I go ahead, is there anything else that I’m just a freaking idiot for not doing now while I’m at it?
…
Any advice is much appreciated. Any other specs I should provide to get a good answer? Thanks in advance,
Rasdane
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