Reuse of 2007 era power supply and case with modern i7 and motherboard

[Brian Lyttle]

Hi

I need to upgrade my main workstation to something quicker while not breaking the bank. I'd like to have the option to expand memory later, would like have good options for better disk I/O, and possibly some options for a better CPU (but to be honest I don't think I've done a CPU-only upgrade since about 2001.)

I will be using the machine mostly for Visual Studio 2013 and 2015 development with C# and C++. I use ReSharper which is an absolute performance hog, and makes me want a more spritely machine.

I'm looking to make use of what hardware I have today. I think my main workstation can become my backup, and my secondary workstation can be become the primary. The base (case and power supplies) are definitely aging, so I expect that these may die requiring me to drop some money on a complete new set of kit, but I'm interested in scraping by for a while as my main expenditure will be on a new laptop.

Current Hardware
My main workstation is a Dell Studio XPS 9000 bought in late 2009 with the following spec:

• 
  ■ Intel Core i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz)
  ■ 24GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
  ■ 512GB Samsung SSD 850 PRO
  ■ EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2GB GDDR5

I have a second machine which was home built in 2007, but I had motherboard issue compounded with disk problems that at the time swore me off self-built machines for my main workstation. I'm hoping the case and power supply from this can be carried forward:

• 
  ■ Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W Power Supply
  ■ ANTEC P182 Mid Tower Case Retail
  ■ Gigabyte Intel Core 2 Extreme ATX Motherboard GA-EP43T-USB3
  ■ Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache

Ideal Setup
I would like to make the Dell my backup machine while the new one is thoroughly tested out. I'd like to get the following:

• 
  ■ CPU bump. I use VMware Workstation quite a bit, so sticking with a low-end i7 seems like the best bet. It'd be nice to be able to buy the top of the line CPU from this era in a few years, but I'm probably not gonna need it. That said I'd like to know how much faster these CPUs are than my first-gen i7-920. I assume it'll do a lot with less power too.)
  ■ Memory. I need to be able to go to 32GB. Support for more than this is important.
  ■ Disk. I'll move the 850 Pro to this machine. I need the motherboard and SATA bus to help me get better perf. Would prefer to avoid RAID 0 and the like.)
  ■ Video card. Moving the GeForce GTX 750 Ti over, or using Intel integrated graphics would be a fine start.
  ■ A decent number of USB 3 ports so I can get rid of one of my USB hubs would be nice.

Questions

■ Is it feasible for me to reuse the Antec Case and Corsair power supply with modern i7 motherboards?
■ Is there an Asus or Gigabyte motherboard in the $100-120 range that might suit my requirements? I'm open to other brands but have had success with those.
■ What type of percentage speedup am I looking at with a modern i7, modern motherboard, and modern memory? Can anyone quantify this speedup over my current setup?
■ I understand 6-core i7's use a different socket design and carry a premium price for the CPU and motherboard. Is there a performance advantage with the other components those bring? I suspect the payoff will not be that beneficial.

 

[Bellaflica]

You want to reuse an 8 year old power supply? Mm I would advise against that, the psu ages over time and older power supplies don't have the same quality as newer ones.

Re-using the case is probably fine just make sure you clean it out first.

 

[synphul]

You mentioned you need more than 32gb ram capability? Current socket 1150 motherboards for i5's and quad core i7's support a max of 32gb ram. Beyond that you'll need something like the 2011 (x79) or 2011v3 (x99), both of which start around $200 and quickly increase in price from there. The x99 takes ddr4 ram which is a bit more expensive than ddr3. For 32gb ddr4-2400 in either 4x8gb sticks or 8x4gb sticks you'd be looking at around $365-400+. The extra cores and threads of even a budget 6 core like the 5820k will help with vm's. The 5820k doesn't come with a cpu cooler so you'd be looking at another $30-50 for a worthwhile cooler (even if you don't overclock).

In terms of benefits, the 5820k has 28 pcie lanes while the current i5's and i7 quad cores on 1150 support only up to 16 (unless the motherboard has a plx chip, more expensive motherboard). 16 lanes is plenty if you only have 1 gpu, enough for 2-3 gpu's in crossfire or 2 gpu's in sli or for 1 gpu and a sound card or wifi card if you need those. It is however limited to 32gb ram so if you need more that's one of the perks to the 2011/2011v3. You also won't get above a quad core with ht on the 1150. In your case those could be major performance benefits to going with the 2011v3. You'd need the 750ti (or another gpu) with the 5820k, it has no integrated graphics.

As far as the power supply is concerned, I wouldn't reuse that psu. It's already old, likely not the best quality to begin with and frankly I wouldn't trust that kind of investment in new components with it. Best case scenario if it fails, you need a new psu anyway. Worst case, it takes other components with it. Chancing even a $200 motherboard much less anything else for want of a good quality psu that would only set me back $70-80 isn't worth it. Just my .02 worth.

This has a couple benchmarks for the 5820k and 920.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/47?vs=1320
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/09/03/intel-core-i7-5930k-and-core-i7-5820k-revie/4

May not be useful for what work you're doing, it's a bit difficult finding benchmark comparisons since they're not really the same league. Easier to find mainstream desktop to mainstream desktop cpu comparisons or workstation to workstation comparisons. That's asking for a meaningful benchmark between a 7yr old mainstream cpu and a workstation cpu less than a year since it was released. Economy cars to pickup trucks really.