Hey everyone! I've been using an old Dell server tower for over five years now, and while it's been okay for my schoolwork, it's starting to lag a bit. My friend just upgraded his PC and gave me his old one, so I'm looking for advice on which parts I should use from either system. Here's a breakdown of my current setup:
- Dell Precision Tower 5810 with an Intel Xeon E5-1603 CPU at 2.8GHz (4 cores)
- NVIDIA Quadro K2200 GPU
- 16GB of 2133MHz DDR4 RAM (4x 4GB sticks)
- 500GB HDD (ST500DM002)
And here's what I got from my friend's donated PC:
- ASUS Prime H310-Plus motherboard (which has way better cooling)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 GPU
- Intel i3-8300 CPU at 3.7GHz
- 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 RAM (2x 8GB sticks)
- 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
- 250GB M.2 SSD
What's the best way to combine these setups?
2 Answers
I'd recommend not pulling any parts from that old Dell. It's a complete system and not worth modifying. The new PC is far superior. Plus, it sounds like you're dealing with ECC RAM in your current build, which isn't compatible with most consumer motherboards. Just enjoy your friend's system and maybe sell the old one for some extra cash!
Honestly, you don't need to combine anything. The donated PC is significantly better than your old setup. Just focus on using the ASUS motherboard, Intel i3-8300 CPU, and the newer RAM. The graphics card in your friend's old PC is also a solid choice for gaming and everyday tasks. You might want to consider selling your old tower—it could still fetch you some cash. Don't hesitate to let go of it!
I thought it might be close, but it seems like I'm better off leaving the old tower behind. Thanks for the clear advice!