What Parts can I reuse for a new Recording/Gaming PC?

[Kantner]

Happy Thanksgiving People, and thanks to whoever decides to help out and reply!


I am looking to build my FIRST gaming rig out of a Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case.

I was wondering what I could reuse out of my 2 old PCs to save some money. I figure the laptop is going to have a lot of integrated garbage, but the memory looked removable, and maybe free Windows? Also if there is a correct procedure to remove said parts, I would like to learn, or know where to learn , as I am currently all but clueless.

The two computers in question are an "Alienware m17x R3" laptop (Worst mistake ever) and a "HP pavilion elite hpe-210y" prebuilt PC.

Here are their exact specs to help you out, I did not include what is broken or what I want to replace:

Alienware m17x Laptop:

Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2760QM CPU @ 2.40GHz; L2 cache size 256
Memory - DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 8GB, 4X2G, 1600MHZ, DDR3
Graphics - Nvidia GTX 580m, Intel HD Graphics Chipset Family
Sound Card - IDT High Definition Audio Codec
Storage - 1 TB SATA Raid0 (2 500GB Drives)

A complete list of all components can be found here but It's painful: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/ServiceTag/6HN66R1/configuration?detect=y

HP Pavilion Elite:

Motherboard - H-Rs880-uATX(Aloe) ; 4 DDR3 Memory sockets; 4 PCI slots
Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 945; 4 core; Socket: AM3/AM2+; Bus Speed: 3600 mHz HT3
Memory - 4 2GB DDR3 Memory; Speed: PC3-10600 MB/Sec (Message as PC3-8500)
Storage - 1TB SATA
Optical Drive - SuperMulti Blu-ray player with LightScribe Technology Drive
A 15 in 1 Memory card reader
A 300W power Supply

Any recommendations for parts for the new rig you suggest would also be appreciated. I just need something that is relatively silent and can record video and audio at the same time without dropping frames or too much audio latency.

I have all the right equipment, just a bad rig.

Thank you for your time.

 

[20salmon]

You won't be able to use anything from the laptop, apart from maybe the HDD (im unsure about this because I have no experience with RAID drives)

From the desktop PC you can definitely snag the HDD, the Blu Ray player and the memory (although an upgrade might be worthwhile, the important thing here is to check whether they are compatible with whatever motherboard you get).

Unsure about your budget, but here are my recommendations:
Motherboard: Z97 from a respectable brand (I prefer ASUS or MSI)
PSU: Between 600W to 750W from a respectable brand (Corsair/Seasonic)
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690k if you plan on overclocking, if not go for i5-4460
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 / H80i or H100, or alternatively an air cooler that fits in your case.
GPU: Atleast 3gb, make sure it fits the case. If I was buying today I would probably go for Radeon R9 270x, but if you have money to spend you can always get something more powerful.
SSD: Get a 60gb SSD drive which you dedicate to windows (unless you want to keep the operating system from the harddrive you salvage from the old desktop PC. However, putting the operating system on a dedicated SSD where you don't save anything else (keep movies and games on the other drives) will make your computer super fast.

 

[Kantner]

From the desktop PC you can definitely snag the HDD, the Blu Ray player and the memory (although an upgrade might be worthwhile, the important thing here is to check whether they are compatible with whatever motherboard you get).


GPU: Atleast 3gb, make sure it fits the case. If I was buying today I would probably go for Radeon R9 270x, but if you have money to spend you can always get something more powerful.
SSD: Get a 60gb SSD drive which you dedicate to windows (unless you want to keep the operating system from the harddrive you salvage from the old desktop PC. However, putting the operating system on a dedicated SSD where you don't save anything else (keep movies and games on the other drives) will make your computer super fast.

Thanks for the speedy reply, I did not know about the Solid State trick for a fast OS so I'll definitely be doing that. Any more info you have to share on other essentials would be greatly appreciated. I am here to learn.

I have a few more questions about your reply as well:

How would I figure out what motherboard the HDD is compatible with? I know it's SATA and I know where it connects, just a bit clueless on the types of motherboards.

From my limited knowledge this looks decent: https://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z97extreme4

I like the graphics card you suggested, decent performance, customize-able and quiet. Why 3gb though? I can't find a 3g version but I can find a 2 and 4 GB. I am just curious what the reasoning is.

 

[20salmon]

I just said 3gb because thats what I have (Gigabyte HD 7950 Windforce) and i've never experienced a game suggesting anything other than maximum graphics (although I don't tend to play the most demanding games, mainly sports games and RPG's).

I honestly have no idea about the HDD question. Don't know whether RAID drives have different connectors, if they need special motherboards, or if you can use them along with non-raid drives etc. Try googling it. I don't really see the need to hold onto the laptop HDD anyway since you will have more than enough with the SSD and your old desktop HDD, better to keep the laptop intact in my opinion.

Edit: If you have the money it is very much worth it to get an additional SSD which is large enough for your games: loading times will be obliterated. I have a 250gb SSD dedicated to games.

 

[Kantner]

bump