Upgrading Old Alienware Area 51 7500 R5

[Stumpy622]

Hello Everyone! I am new to the forum and would like some help/advice on what i should/can do with the old PC. Here are the specs.
Processor type Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
Processor speed 2660.0 MHz
Primary Graphics Chipset EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX
Video Bus PCI Express-SLI
Video Memory Type DDR3
Optical Drive Speed 18.0
Optical Drive Type DVD±RW
Included Drives 3
It is currently lacking a hard drive but has everything else still in tact! I would like to be able to game a little on it if possible, if it would be better to start from scratch.
Thank you!
Stumpy622

P.S. This is the link to the rest of the specs.
http://www.pcworld.com/product/30120/alienware-area-51-7500.html

 

[Col Da Red]

i need to know what motherboard and power supply this system has

 

[yungg]

That's a hella overpriced garbage.. Needs some reincarnation for sure.

 

[Stumpy622]

The motherboards serial number is EVGA 122 ck-nf68 and the power supply is n100p-00 found here.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=N1000P-00-2R
If there is more information you need let me know!

 

[Col Da Red]

toss the system.

 

[Stumpy622]

There is nothing I can do with it? That's kindof unfortunate. Can you explain why?
Thanks.

 

[yungg]

Well, it's a very old hardware. I mean, you can try building a new pc and savaging some of the stuff from your alienware.. like the case for example. Give a budget and you're good to go.

 

[Stumpy622]

I'm willing to spend 600-800 just on the tower. Unless it's just totally not worth it. Barebones I would need to buy all the same things correct?

 

[yungg]

No worries mate, you'll be able to run the latest game with just 800 bucks.

 

[Stumpy622]

Well, where to start? What to buy/upgrade first?

 

[CAaronD]

If you are going to build a new PC how much is your budget?

 

[Stumpy622]

600-800, i have the tower. It's shown above. Can i bring it back to life?

 

[yungg]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PRP3WZ Here's a very good updated build. I've chosen windows 7 because it is just the upperhand to windows 8 honestly. You can never go wrong with windows 7, that is if windows 9 is going to be better. And also, it is not over your budget. You can start with this build and then go shop! And then you can build your very first PC, I assume.

 

[CAaronD]

I think it would be a better option if he swapped that SSD and changed that FX 6300 into an I5 😛

 

[Stumpy622]

Yes, that's the plan. I'm starting to understand a little more the more i look into it! I'm assuming with these I would be better off building it into the Tower listed than the Alienware shown above?

 

[Stumpy622]

And CAaronD would that be viable to bring the computer up to speed? How would I go about doing so?

 

[Stumpy622]

Also! It does not have to be TOP of the line, it doesn't have to play the game with the highest system requirements. Just something to bring it up to date.

 

[CAaronD]

You would be better with a new case actually as I don't think the compatibility of that case is too great as well as the airflow? I will fix you up a build.

 

[CAaronD]

Do you need a monitor?

 

[CAaronD]

You should have no problem running all the latest games on ultra with this I assume you know how to assemble your own PC?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($198.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 280 3GB DirectCU II Video Card ($189.25 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($47.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.50 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $783.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 21:39 EDT-0400

 

[Stumpy622]

Oh, So I cannot put an I5, new power source, SSD? I am concerned about the ability to replace the CPU with the cooling system. Thank you for the build! I will look into it! I still want to try something with this computer. I just don't know what will fit/work together.

 

[CAaronD]

You could use that as a HTPC/extra PC I guess Add in a $70 card, 2/4GB of RAM or so and you can already have a machine that should run all the latest games at medium 1080p.

 

[Stumpy622]

Well that would work out great! A good amount of my gaming is LOL, so it is not all that difficult to run. Is there any way you could guide me through this?
Thank you!

 

[CAaronD]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 Memory ($24.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 260X 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $123.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-06 23:53 EDT-0400

This should be somewhat around a 30% performance boost I believe Also what is your RAM? What is the brand and model?

 

[Stumpy622]

It says hynix 1 gp 2rx8 pc2-6400u-555-12
HYMP512U64CP8-s5 AB-c 0733
There are 4 of them.