Old PC - Worth Reviving with Upgrades?... or "Scrap it! It's a relic!"?

corvus4906

Maybe 12-14 Years ago I built my first ever PC and it was a great achievement while I was in college.

Today...It's still hobbling along ...and I use it only occasionally to browse the web, or play the odd old old game from back then and beforehand. (Think Runescape/Unreal Tournament/Counter Strike 1.6)

While the Computer is on it's last legs... and I've long forgotten anything I learnt back then about building computers...I'm curious if the more knowledgeable group here think this thing is worth reviving with some small upgrades... or it's time to move on.

This has all come about as I'm doing a bit of an office rearranging considering I'll be Working From Home for another few months... so getting a bigger desk etc, and I want to clean up the amount of wires and stuff currently going on here.


The PC is setup as part of my desk and for Work I use a macbook pro with 2 nice Dell U2425 Monitors. I've all the peripherals I need... for the mac/PC like keyboard and mouses etc.
I bought this laptop for convenience a while back i use when for scrolling/downloading from the sofa when watching TV.


So here's a pic & the Spec of the PC I'm not sure what to do with:

• Case: Cooler Master HAF-932
• MoBo: BioStar Tower i45
• CPU: INTEL 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz
• CPU Cooler: Can't remember and i'd need take it apart i think to figure that out...it was good at the time ha
• RAM:4GB RAM
• Graphic Card: MSI GeForce GT 630 2GBA review of it I originally had a 8800 GTX but that died so i swapped the 630 in just to get it back going again.
• Power Supply: 600W
• OS: 64 Bit Windows 10 (No idea of the serial key - suspect lost it over time…it's just upgraded itself over the years.)
• Hard Drives: 2 or 3 of SATA Drives

It's likely awful by today's standards but i wonder is anything worth building from/re-using.If it wasn't too much an investment...for the sake of a project I think i'd like to upgrade.

But maybe it's be better off just to figure out how to get the 2 monitors to work daisy-chained with the laptop and use that instead (no joy yet figuring that out)... and put the old girl out to pasture.

The PC's a bit clunky & I can't say I'm a fan of all the lighty-up bits I did back when in college and more LEDs of course meant is was a better PC :P


Anyways... let me know what you think - appreciate any input

Rob2D

Nah, not really. Case and PSU is all I'd keep.

K.O.Kiki

Keep case unless you want to downsize.

Keep HDDs (though you might be better off consolidating them into 1 new).

Your Windows key should be grand as long as it's tied to the Microsoft account. Reinstall preferred.

BloodBath

If the PSU is 12 years old I'd be ditching that as well.

A cheap entry level PC these days with a Ryzen APU would be significantly faster.

You should fill out the questionnaire template in the stickies if you want some suggestions.

Homelander

It's not really worth anything as a full PC or very useful, though it would be worth a lot more as parts rather than a full PC.

corvus4906

Thanks for the replies - good to know it's not worth reviving. I think i'll back up the files on it to some storage drives and get rid of it so because it's taking up so much space.

Might create a project of a new smaller/neater PC build for a project to do over the next few months...maybe get a components per month to spread the cost.

2 Q's

1) "Your Windows key should be grand as long as it's tied to the Microsoft account. Reinstall preferred."
Is this something i can do on the old PC to be able re-use the key on a new machine i build later? Or would yee recommend that the OS is something to buy new? I'm not up to speed with how windows do their licensing anymore. Think i got the OS free from college back in the day.

2) someone mentioned worth selling as parts... is Adverts best?

Slutmonkey57b

corvus4906 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - good to know it's not worth reviving. I think i'll back up the files on it to some storage drives and get rid of it so because it's taking up so much space.

Might create a project of a new smaller/neater PC build for a project to do over the next few months...maybe get a components per month to spread the cost.

2 Q's

1) "Your Windows key should be grand as long as it's tied to the Microsoft account. Reinstall preferred."
Is this something i can do on the old PC to be able re-use the key on a new machine i build later? Or would yee recommend that the OS is something to buy new? I'm not up to speed with how windows do their licensing anymore. Think i got the OS free from college back in the day.

2) someone mentioned worth selling as parts... is Adverts best?

1. You can do it on the current pc. If you don't, when you attempt to reactivate it on the new install, you will have to jump through some hoops but it can be done.

2. Adverts or done deal.

One point to note, if you're doing actual small build, you'll have to pay a bit extra for itx sized parts, and pay a bit more attention to compatibility of parts when you're choosing.

corvus4906

Went ahead and did built a replacement - fun project in the end https://pcpartpicker.com/b/2xCLrH

Altreab2

corvus4906 wrote: »

Went ahead and did built a replacement - fun project in the end https://pcpartpicker.com/b/2xCLrH

Nice setup and just in time for Santa too Well wear
Did it set you back much in the end? Did you buy from amazon.com or UK? Im finding a lot of parts are out of stock at the moment seems everyone building their own during lockdown

corvus4906

ballpark about 1.5k i'd guess (don't really want to go looking back incase i get a shock if it's more ha)

Yeah between amazon, CCL and Scan i think i got most parts. The GPU i got lucky beating the bots and got from amazon.es. The CPU actually i found on Adverts.

TheBoyConor

I wouldn't have written it off. If it is just light work like browsing or a bit of MS office it would tick along nicely if configured right.

I have refurbished laptops from 2008/2009 and while they are not fast, they do the job with undemanding mundane work like that.

Obviously, if gaming or graphic design is your thing, that is a very different story.