Question Good Motherboard+SSD for an Intel i7-2600 3.4GHz LGA 1155 chip?

[Haliax68]

Hello everyone, first time posting here, glad to be here!

So I'm getting into the IT field with just about zero prior experience (other than my own haphazard obtained knowledge of computers over the years). And was recently given a really nice slightly older Alienware X 51 computer by a friend to use or mess around with. It doesn't work at the moment the person says, but it's because it's missing the HD. Although they did say something else may be wrong with it, but they couldn't remember. So what I want to do, is take the parts I can salvage from that computer, buy a few new parts I need (like a case, SSD, PSU, motherboard, etc), and put them all together to build my first PC! So I can learn how to put it together, make sure it all works, etc.

I've been doing a LOT of reading and trying to figure out what a lot of stuff means, how it works, what works with what, etc, and doing alright. But still, it's a LOT to understand and I'm not finding answers to all my questions I have even after long hours of research.

This PC build will ONLY be used for regular computing. Email, internet, Office, etc. NO gaming, no video or music editing, nothing like that. I don't need or care about a GPU. I'm trying to just build a simple, snappy, but reliable personal computer.


Please remember: all of my questions or statements are from "what I can tell" in my research. I may or may not be right. But I'm trying and reading non stop since I decided to undergo building my own PC. As always, I'm making educated guesses off my research, hence why I'm asking for help from more knowledgeable users here. So please be polite and considerate, knowing I may not even know what you're talking about, but appreciate the help.


So I'll just start small first and go from there with my questions.

First question: I want to keep this nice Processor the computer came with. It's an Intel i7-2600 3.4GHz, LGA 1155 chip, and as far as I can tell, it's still a pretty fast chip overall. Maybe not "the best" for crazy gaming or whatever requires lots of speed and processing power, but I'm just using this as a home computer. So it'll be super fast for what I'll ever do on it. My MacBook Air has a 1.4GHz and is super fast for what I do. So I'm building this new PC, based around this processor.

So with that in mind, I need to think about the Motherboard next (and then after I figure out each part, I'll move on down the list to each part if I have a question that I can't find the answer to). So I've read that buying a new motherboard is a really good idea, and in general, do not reuse old motherboards. Plus the owner of this computer told me there is something not right with the computer, other than the HD being gone. So I'm just going to clean house and put a new motherboard in, since this computer is older and could have issues. Plus I feel I can possibly upgrade here and get something better that will help this build be relevant for longer. Making sure it has plenty of USB ports, a fast WiFi adapter, at least 2 HDMI or ports to run 2 monitors, and other stuff I may need in the future. From my initial research, it "seems" like this i7 processor I have, has an LGA 1155 socket type? Which upon doing some research means it's limited to older style motherboards?

So I'm just trying to figure out what motherboards I could buy, that aren't too expensive (preferably in the 80-150 max range). But also have a decent amount of options that could make this computer build be a little more modern. Ability to have 16-32mb of RAM, PCI

Second question: I'd like to buy and install an M.2 SSD drive or SATA 3.0 SSD drive, as my initial research shows I can't get a motherboard that will support NVMe M.2 SSD hard drives. Because the processor uses an LGA 1155 socket. And that socket type only fits on older motherboards? So if that is true, then I need to find the next best HD option, and that looks like either an M.2 SSD drive or a SATA 3.0 SSD hard drive (correct me if I'm wrong).

Thank you in advance, and nice to meet everyone

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Alienware X 51
Which variant of the X51 do you have?

You can hold onto the processor but you're going to need a Z67 chipset board if you want to overclock and also get the iGPU to function. If you don't want the iGPU to function, then you can drop down to the P67 chipset. If you don't want to overclock the processor(or the iGPU) but want the iGPU's functionality, you can drop down further to the H67 chipset. Other alternatives are the Z77 chipset or the H77 chipset.

Look for any 2.5" SSD and forgo the use of an adapter.

If you want my bottom line on the matter, sell all you can salvage from the prebuilt and then build a proper system, albeit on a budget, to get your feet wet. The amount of funds that you might end up spending in 2022 might be equivalent to a new build however you're investing in a decade old technology.

 

[Haliax68]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Alienware X 51
Which variant of the X51 do you have?

You can hold onto the processor but you're going to need a Z67 chipset board if you want to overclock and also get the iGPU to function. If you don't want the iGPU to function, then you can drop down to the P67 chipset. If you don't want to overclock the processor(or the iGPU) but want the iGPU's functionality, you can drop down further to the H67 chipset. Other alternatives are the Z77 chipset or the H77 chipset.

Look for any 2.5" SSD and forgo the use of an adapter.

If you want my bottom line on the matter, sell all you can salvage from the prebuilt and then build a proper system, albeit on a budget, to get your feet wet. The amount of funds that you might end up spending in 2022 might be equivalent to a new build however you're investing in a decade old technology.

Hello! Thanks for the response. It's the Alienware X51 D05S001 as far as I can tell.

So let me go through each of your answers as I look up what this stuff means, haha.

So I looked up Overclocking, and I definitely do not need to do that. This Processor is a 3.4GHz, WAY more than I'll ever need or use.

Second, I looked up weather or not I "need" an iGPU or not, and it seems as though I do, haha. Otherwise I wouldn't see anything on my monitor. And if that is the case, then it sounds like I'd need to go with the H67 chipset? Or possibly the Z77 or H77. And what is the difference between those 3?

Third, I'm not exactly sure what a chipset is. So I looked it up, and it says it's:

It’s the traffic controller between the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and peripherals. Experts have referred to it as the “glue” of the motherboard. The chipset is basically the electronics on the motherboard that communicate with all the connected components. Most importantly, the chipset determines compatibility between all of these other components. If any of the processors or memory cards don’t communicate with the chipset, they can’t send or receive information from the motherboard.

So it sounds important. But, once again, I'm not building this computer for performance. Just reliability, affordability and ability to run simple programs and internet in a snappy manner. Not trying to set speed records or play games on it. So I just need to find the least expensive, but good parts to round out this build I'm going to do. But that will allow me to use the most parts from this Alienware X 51 PC. So based on that, it sounds like I'd need one of the H67 , Z77 or H77 chipset motherboards?

Third, sounds like you're saying it's best to just go with a regular SSD, not an M.2 version? Can you explain why?

Thanks again for your response, this is going to be fun building this thing and figuring out how it all works together. So thank you

 

[Haliax68]

So I've done even more research on this topic with the help of the first response, and it seems like an H77 chipset MOBO would be the best for my needs. The Z77 is too much and I don't need the upgraded features it comes with over the H77.

It seems after doing some research that most or all of these LGA 1155 MOBO's are no longer being made? I see mostly used or refurb Boards available, and any new ones are very expensive for how old they are. They can be had for around $58-89 refurbished, but new ones that you can even find our like $189-250?! Which sounds outrageously expensive for how old they are. Especially since they are no longer made.

So my question is: Is buying a refurbished MOBO from NewEgg or someone like that, just about as good as getting a new one? Do they come with warranties from the manufacturer? And is there anything I should look out for?

Thanks

 

[Unolocogringo]

Refurbished motherboard on most sites like Newegg, Bestbuy etc.... come with a 1 year warranty. Not the normal 3-5 for quality motherboards.But check the specific listing.

Have you tried booting the old system. some times it is as simple as replacing the Bios battery.