Rebuilding Server/ Buying Used Pc - Need opinions and suggestions

[michael_knight 3]

So I just received some bad news...It's been confirmed that my current PC is crap and won't run Live TV. That said I'm debating either upgrading the CPU or buying a Core I3, I5 Or I7. I'm hoping I can get a few suggestions as I'm just starting out using Emby and HD Homerun Here's the background:

 

I have a Frankenbox that I took off someone's hands a few years ago.It's an Intel Pentium Dual e2160@ 1.8ghz and the box has 4gb of ram (the max amount of ram for this board). I'm running server 2012 on it. I own the copy of 2012 Server but I don't own any other OS at the time I would have to pay for Win 7-10

 

 

I have 2 Hard Drives in it. One for the OS and the other for files. The drive the OS is on makes a defrag sounding sound so I think I may need to upgrade that, but not sure if it's being overworked because of the low processor

 

The cord for the internal soundcard to connect to the mother board is cut (can't remember if I bought it that way or if I messed it up) The internal video card is outdated as well. I thought about buying another used video card and sound card

 

The Processor Socket is a LGA775 The fastest processor I can get for this btw is a Intel Core 2 Extreme Socket QX9770 which has 4 cores at 3.2Ghz. Ebay doesn't have many of these. I've found a Qx9650 which is a 3Ghz processor with 4 cores.

 

I'm leaning towards buying a used processor (9650 or 9770) and buying a cheap video card and sound card for the server. I have seen various bench tests using the 9650 ranging from 30-60 fps depending on the software used. I don't want to however buy this chip for 50-100 dollars and be disappointed.

 

I'm interested in any comments you have to help me make my decision.

 

Here's the specs for the motherboard

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3485#sp

 

[BrianG 11]

I personally wouldn't spend $50-$100 for a new CPU for an old system that may have other components fail in the near future due to age. I think I would probably look at some CPU/mainboard/RAM combos, or even a barebones PC. I think you'll get better performance for your dollar and more power savings as well since newer technology seems to be more energy efficient.

 

Maybe an AMD based system? Generally cheaper and their APUs do have a decent "video card" built into the CPU so no need for an external one. Just did a quick search on Newegg and you can get a motherboard, AMD chip, and 8GB of RAM for about $200 to start.

[colejack 30]

If you really want to upgrade just the CPU i would just get a faster dual core like an E8600 @3.33GHz for $20 from ebay. I wouldn't spend any more than $20-25. Don't mess with the rest of it. Save your money for a mobo, RAM, and CPU upgrade later.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=e8600&_sop=15

Edited November 6, 2015 by colejack

[wiretap 30]

I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade the socket 775. If I were to do a cheap budget build server with used parts, go with a socket 1366 Xeon or 1150 Xeon. You can pick them up on ebay for next to nothing, and they have plenty of performance. I just build a ESXi based server for Emby with a Xeon e3-1240 + Supermicro X9SCM + 16GB ECC and got the combo for under $200 from a server/datacenter wholesale store on Ebay. Hell, you can even pick up 2011 Xeon e5 8-cores for as low as $160 now.

[Bert 49]

[michael_knight 3]

No one intentionally cut anything, I don't use this box for much obviously, I looked in the box and noticed the speaker cord was snapped. things happens. If you haven't messed up a computer before you haven't been doing this business long enough... In any case I bought a Quad core Q9550 from a friend and it's working. Thanks everyone for all your help!

Edited November 13, 2015 by michael_knight