i have a old school gateway

[allan71]

hi i am think of putting new hardware in a old gateway tower it is a MFATXPNT MDW 500S i cant seem to find out what type of motherboard will go into it. if it's a atx or mini atx, nd would like some suggestions of what is a good motherboard that supports 775 lga socket. would it be better to go with a motherboard that supports a i5,or i7 processor?

 

[USAFRet]

It's only a case. An old crappy case.
You will expend far more than $50 in brainpower trying to make that old gateway case work with newer hardware, vs just buying a new case.

Secondly, why are you spending money buying into a 775 socket? Old and slow.

 

[allan71]

well i am just starting out on learning on computers and i really like doing it . thats why i asked the questions , i liked the look of the old gateway tower thats why i was going to upgrade it. so should i just buy a new custom case and start a build that way ? and what would be a good motherboard and processor?

 

[USAFRet]

well i am just starting out on learning on computers and i really like doing it . thats why i asked the questions , i liked the look of the old gateway tower thats why i was going to upgrade it. so should i just buy a new custom case and start a build that way ? and what would be a good motherboard and processor?

You'll find that a lot of the older corporate cases (Gateway/Dell/HP/Compaq) do not play well with newer components.
If you like the 'look', cut off the front panel, and graft it onto a newer case. Which will have better airflow and will actually fit current components.

Parts list? What are you trying to build?
Start here. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice

 

[allan71]

would like to build a gaming computer for my grandson, and thanks for the link

 

[USAFRet]

would like to build a gaming computer for my grandson, and thanks for the link

Depending on how old the boy is, this may be a perfect ganddad/grandson project.
Seriously.

I did this a couple years ago with my oldest grandson. He was 11 at the time.
I bought all the parts, and "Hey dude...Are you busy on Saturday? I need some assistance putting a PC together."
So he came over, and we put it together. He actually did 90% of the work. He actually thought it was "my" PC.

Later, on Christmas day....they start opening presents, and the big box appears.
I thought his eyes would pop out of his head, when he realized it was the PC that he assembled...

Doesn't have to be any uber expensive system. But the bonding and the building was the key part.


But do NOT try to build inside that old Gateway case. Far more PITA than it is worth.

 

[allan71]

yea that sounds like a good ideal, he's 7 not quite old enough just yet for that. he loves to play xbox games and i recently bought a dell optiplex 780 with a dual core 3.0 ghz 16 gb of ram and a tb hard drive after my other computer died. put a amd radeon hd 6670 video card in it . he has been playing games left and right when he comes over. so i thought i would try and build him a better system that he could use for years and play all the games he want's. i will get a custom case but cant seem to find out if i should get a full case or a mid size case.

 

[USAFRet]

yea that sounds like a good ideal, he's 7 not quite old enough just yet for that. he loves to play xbox games and i recently bought a dell optiplex 780 with a dual core 3.0 ghz 16 gb of ram and a tb hard drive after my other computer died. put a amd radeon hd 6670 video card in it . he has been playing games left and right when he comes over. so i thought i would try and build him a better system that he could use for years and play all the games he want's. i will get a custom case but cant seem to find out if i should get a full case or a mid size case.

Mid size case is just fine. Probably don't need to spend more than $50 on it.

 

[allan71]

yea that sounds like a good ideal, he's 7 not quite old enough just yet for that. he loves to play xbox games and i recently bought a dell optiplex 780 with a dual core 3.0 ghz 16 gb of ram and a tb hard drive after my other computer died. put a amd radeon hd 6670 video card in it . he has been playing games left and right when he comes over. so i thought i would try and build him a better system that he could use for years and play all the games he want's. i will get a custom case but cant seem to find out if i should get a full case or a mid size case.

Mid size case is just fine. Probably don't need to spend more than $50 on it.

ok thank for all your help