Question Restoration/Rebuild Project Help - ASUS P6TD Deluxe

[bchamp426]

Looking to restore/upgrade a pc from 2009ish, originally was a business PC that got put in the back room somewhere... Never done this before so I am looking for some advice on what parts are solid and what needs replaced/upgraded. Turned it on and got it running, but OS is severely outdated so wasn't able to do much besides move some files around and open up good ol' AOL. Not looking to break the world with it, just want a solid home office desktop that I can use from some moderate gaming on the side (nothing crazy like GTA or anything). Trying to restore this one to save cash from buying a new one all together, so preferably I'd love to stay south of $400.

Current Parts
CPU - Intel i7 920
CPU Cooler - ZB1225BTR Zalman Heatsink/Cooler Fan
MOBO - ASUS P6TD Deluxe
RAM - Corsair XMS 3 DDR3 (x3)
Graphics Card - GeForce GTS 250
Power Supply - True Power Quattro 850 Watt
Hard Drives - Deskstar Hitachi 123.5 GB & WD VelociRaptor 300 GB
OS - Windows XP (oof)

Already looking into switching to an SSD (Crucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND for reference) and with student discounts bumping to Windows 10 won't be an issue.

Like I said not trying to build a world beater, I don't plan on streaming or anything like that on this thing but would still like it to perform average shooter games well.
Appreciate any help!

 

[Assassin007]

Do you have a brand preference? like amd or intel?

 

[bchamp426]

Do you have a brand preference? like amd or intel?

Not really, pretty open for suggestion

 

[geofelt]

In order....

1. Use what you need to get to windows 10.

2. You will be amazed at what a simple ssd upgrade will do.
Buy a samsung 860 500gb ssd. Probably $90 or so.
Use the samsung ssd migration app to move your windows C drive to the ssd.
Here is a link to the app and manual

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

3. If you will play fast action games, you need better than a GTS250 graphics card.
Perhaps something like a GTX1050 or GTX1050ti.

4. 6gb of ram is probably ok up to a point.
You could consider adding a 3 x 4gb kit with specs like your current 6gb.
Ram must be matched so compatibility is not guaranteed. the new kit at 12gb is fine, and if the old ram plays nice you will have 18gb.

5. Your i7-920 has 8 threads which is reasonable. You could entertain a i7-980 upgrade, but I would think about that last.

 

[bchamp426]

In order....

1. Use what you need to get to windows 10.

2. You will be amazed at what a simple ssd upgrade will do.
Buy a samsung 860 500gb ssd. Probably $90 or so.
Use the samsung ssd migration app to move your windows C drive to the ssd.
Here is a link to the app and manual

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

3. If you will play fast action games, you need better than a GTS250 graphics card.
Perhaps something like a GTX1050 or GTX1050ti.

4. 6gb of ram is probably ok up to a point.
You could consider adding a 3 x 4gb kit with specs like your current 6gb.
Ram must be matched so compatibility is not guaranteed. the new kit at 12gb is fine, and if the old ram plays nice you will have 18gb.

5. Your i7-920 has 8 threads which is reasonable. You could entertain a i7-980 upgrade, but I would think about that last.

I got recommended by someone else to ditch the old hard drives and start fresh, which is the reason why I want to flip to an SSD... Should I keep the old HDDs around for extra storage? I had them wiped clean recently.

also can I just install windows c drive directly to the ssd after downloading it to a flash drive from my laptop? pretty new at this stuff so im ignorant haha

 

[geofelt]

If you will do a clean install on a ssd, that is no problem.
DO NOT keep any other drives attached during the process.
Otherwise, windows will create a hidden recovery partition on one of them, making it all but impossible to boot if youu should ever want to remove that second drive.

I don't know that the capacity of the two hard drives is sufficient to warrant keeping them for any reason.

 

[bchamp426]

If you will do a clean install on a ssd, that is no problem.
DO NOT keep any other drives attached during the process.
Otherwise, windows will create a hidden recovery partition on one of them, making it all but impossible to boot if youu should ever want to remove that second drive.

I don't know that the capacity of the two hard drives is sufficient to warrant keeping them for any reason.

Following up here....

So I got the SSD yesterday and working on making a bootable USB to load win10, however she's not registering the bootable media. Either getting a black screen with flashing underscore or the "Insert or select bootable media" popup..
usb is registering just fine and ive tried the lot, setting the boot priority to the usb and making sure its pulling from the harddrive.

Not really sure where to go from here, I know the cpu is outdated but should still be able to run win10 right?

 

[geofelt]

What was the ssd make/model/size you bought?
You first need to download the windows installer materials
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
you pick the second option to create a usb install stick
The usb media must be formatted as fat32.
You copy the install file to the usb stick.

 

[bchamp426]

What was the ssd make/model/size you bought?
You first need to download the windows installer materials
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
you pick the second option to create a usb install stick
The usb media must be formatted as fat32.
You copy the install file to the usb stick.

I picked up the SSD you recommended me, got a nice deal on AMZ for it. Also trying to do this from a Mac so the OS crossover is just an annoying hurdle. I’ve searched and tried a bunch of different methods (using Mac’s terminal, disk utility, and cloning the boot using a program from a site) for writing a usb boot but for some reason none are working.

 

[geofelt]

Sorry, I know little about the mac environment.
The samsung ssd migration app specs do not seem to support anything except windows.
If you are running windows on a mac, I suppose you could give it a try.
I think there are clone utilities that will work. Google is your friend in looking for one.
If you are doing a clean windows install, be prepared with the appropriate windows versions of drivers for your hardware. That is the usual sticking point on a clean install on a laptop.
How this is done on a mac, I don't know.

 

[ElCaramba]

Hey!

I've built several of those rigs and still running one with the very same MB. They are still able to hold 10 years later if you overclock. Otherwise, especially with an i7 920, you should sell the parts, it's very much meh and power hungry compared to modern hardware. The cpu is worthless but the mb can fetch 100 or more if it's clean, especially since it's never been pushed hard. It's still very desirable because of the high performance/value.

Current Parts
CPU - Intel i7 920 -> get a xeon x5650 (10-15usd on aliexpress) or a x5675 for 10usd more. You gain 2 cores and they overclock easy to 4ghz or more on all cores. It's a world of difference. You can also simply overclock the current cpu from stock 2.66 to a nice 3.5-4ghz if the cooler is half decent.
--just have to pop it in. Overclock howto are available from "tech yes" YT channel. Easy and comprehensible for newcommers, it's an afternoon's work. You have to replace the thermal paste in any case.

CPU Cooler - ZB1225BTR Zalman Heatsink/Cooler Fan -> no idea what that model is. Might be enough, you should post a picture or the correct ref (no hit on google). Otherwise a snowman t4 without rgb (15-20usd on aliexpress) will do extremely well.
--just 4 screws and thermal paste.

MOBO - ASUS P6TD Deluxe ->that's a very high end model.
--dust it.

RAM - Corsair XMS 3 DDR3 (x3) -> that's the tricky part; this architecture is famous for being very difficult with ram. If you go the xeon way, you can put more available and maybe cheaper ecc server memory on it (but you can't mix ecc an non-ecc), technically up to 48 but given the probable headache, I'd advise less. Mine runs 24gb (6x4gb). I'd still advise against it since populating all 6 banks require lots of fiddling with unguaranteed results. The safest would be 3x4gb in triple channel (same banks as your current ram) or 4x4gb in dual (the 4 banks closest to the cpu). Triple channel gives a bit more performance, dual gives more ram. If you buy ecc ram, the sticker has to mention 2rx8, the 2rx4 type won't boot. Budget 35-45usd from any source. You could also just add 4gb in dual channel to get 10gb which is enough. Mismatch is fine, you're not looking to be a benchmark king with this.
--just pop it in.

Graphics Card - GeForce GTS 250 -> that's bad. To keep cost down, a 50usd gtx770 4gb will be fine for anything modern on 1080 or a 100-110usd gtx1050ti second hand because it's got the new tech (low power, etc.). Maybe a gtx970 if you find one under 90usd. Big perf but power hungry.
--Just pop it in and plug the power.

Power Supply - True Power Quattro 850 Watt ->if it's the antec, it's quite likely still ok.

Hard Drives - Deskstar Hitachi 123.5 GB & WD VelociRaptor 300 GB ->a cheap sata SSD will be amazingly nice on this machine (there is no modern m.2 port or anything on this board, unless you buy an extension card but it's costly). You can still leave the others as storage.
--Plug it in and maybe check 'boot order' in bios to make sure it's the first. 2min job.

OS - Windows XP (oof)->well it's easy to get a win10 license and make a bootable usb, there's plenty of videos. It's very easy. You can do it from the current XP install if you don't have another Windows PC at hand.


I can guarantee that you will be pleased with the end result for around 150-300usd worth of upgrade.