What do you guys think on upgrading pre-builts?

[weed]

My current gaming rig was actually an old HP Elite 7500 MT which i upgraded the crap out of, I've upgraded the GPU from a GT 730 to an RX 550 and got a 500 watt PSU and added an extra 3.5 Terabytes of storage (for all you non mathematicians yes it started out with 500 gb) I've upgraded the ram from 4gb to 8gb and im actually thinking to keep on upgrading this PC and stay with it?

What is your opinion on upgrading pre-builts?

[RollinLower]

if you already own a prebuilt, then yes upgrading is a good alternative. if you are in the market for a totally new pc tho building yourself seems like the better route to take.

[ProjectBox153]

Those old Dell OptiPlex systems make great platforms to upgrade. 

[weed]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

Those old Dell OptiPlex systems make great platforms to upgrade. 

Im actually in the market for old PCs that can be  easy to upgrade to do some of my 'experiments' on 

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, weed said:

Im actually in the market for old PCs that can be  easy to upgrade to do some of my 'experiments' on 

That's why I love the OptiPlex's. I have so many of them, ranging from P4 to C2D. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

The only worry is the power supply. But if it's from their business lineup, I would imagine they're at least decent enough to last 5 years that most companies seem to cycle through their computers (... I'm only speaking from a sample size of 2).

[weed]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

The only worry is the power supply. But if it's from their business lineup, I would imagine they're at least decent enough to last 5 years that most companies seem to cycle through their computers (... I'm only speaking from a sample size of 2).

I have a corsair 500 watt PSU which i cant remember the name of

[weed]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

That's why I love the OptiPlex's. I have so many of them, ranging from P4 to C2D. 

How are they like after upgrading and are they reliable? cause you sir have caught my attention 

[Hybris5112]

Having gotten my start on upgrading pre-builts the only time it becomes a waste of money is when the case starts limiting you.

 

Mid towers (The most common pre-built I've worked with) can't handle big gpus has limited HDD bays and case ventalation starts to become a concern when loading up with high end processors.

[weed]

Just now, Hybris5112 said:

Having gotten my start on upgrading pre-builts the only time it becomes a waste of money is when the case starts limiting you.

 

Mid towers (The most common pre-built I've worked with) can't handle big gpus has limited HDD bays and case ventalation starts to become a concern when loading up with high end processors.

Thats actually something I've noticed starting to happen in my HPs case it only has 1 case fan and is really cramped on the inside i had a GTX 460 before the 550 and it was quite tight fitting it inside the case.

[ProjectBox153]

Just now, weed said:

How are they like after upgrading and are they reliable? cause you sir have caught my attention 

As far as the C2D ones go, I've run one with two PSUs at once and a janky ass HDD setup, and it worked fine. Both of my main servers are OptiPlex machines. The upgrading couldn't be easier. Just pull a latch at the top and the side pops off. There are no screws required for the PCI/PCIe expansion slots and no screws required for the hard drives. Heck, even the CPU can be changed with two screws. 

[Guest]

I think that upgrading prebuilt systems is a cheaper alternative if your on a budget and want to get into PC gaming. The dell optiplex prebuilt systems can often be found cheap on ebay, upgrade the PSU, RAM, graphics card and add in an SSD, you have a budget 1080p gaming system that can play most games at decent fps. I mean, prebuilt systems are cheaper alternatives when your on a budget and they often come with decent hardware for the price.

[weed]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

As far as the C2D ones go, I've run one with two PSUs at once and a janky ass HDD setup, and it worked fine. Both of my main servers are OptiPlex machines. The upgrading couldn't be easier. Just pull a latch at the top and the side pops off. There are no screws required for the PCI/PCIe expansion slots and no screws required for the hard drives. Heck, even the CPU can be changed with two screws. 

You have caught my attention and my wallet i will be searching for ones on sale thank you for that information.

[Hybris5112]

3 minutes ago, weed said:

Thats actually something I've noticed starting to happen in my HPs case it only has 1 case fan and is really cramped on the inside i had a GTX 460 before the 550 and it was quite tight fitting it inside the case.

At that point I would either look at either a new case or at least adding a front fan to the current one as large or as many as the case/motherboard can support.

[vanished]

If you already have one, which most people do, as long as it's half decent and relatively new (say 2011 or better) it can be the best way to make something significantly better for cheap.  Add a GPU (prebuilts usually have a shit one or none at all), add an SSD if it doesn't already have one (single biggest upgrade you can do to general usability), possibly upgrade the PSU (most prebuilts don't have much wattage and possibly questionable quality), and eventually case (prebuilts are usually ugly and have poor airflow), and at that point if you wanted to throw out the prebuilt and move all those parts into a new custom rig, you could 100%.

[ProjectBox153]

8 minutes ago, weed said:

You have caught my attention and my wallet i will be searching for ones on sale thank you for that information.

Ones newer than mine can be had for cheap on eBay. I'd recommend looking there. 

[weed]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

If you already have one, which most people do, as long as it's half decent and relatively new (say 2011 or better) it can be the best way to make something significantly better for cheap.  Add a GPU (prebuilts usually have a shit one or none at all), add an SSD if it doesn't already have one (single biggest upgrade you can do to general usability), possibly upgrade the PSU (most prebuilts don't have much wattage and possibly questionable quality), and eventually case (prebuilts are usually ugly and have poor airflow), and at that point if you wanted to throw out the prebuilt and move all those parts into a new custom rig, you could 100%.

This is a problem where i live because everything is overpriced to crap.

[vanished]

1 minute ago, weed said:

This is a problem where i live because everything is overpriced to crap.

assuming the CPU & RAM aren't an issue, which if you're gonna bother upgrading it better be the case, what I listed is probably the order I would recommend getting parts in, assuming your main use for it is gaming.  if you don't game skip the GPU

[weed]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

Ones newer than mine can be had for cheap on eBay. I'd recommend looking there. 

What do you reccomend starting the upgrades with?

[weed]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

assuming the CPU & RAM aren't an issue, which if you're gonna bother upgrading it better be the case, what I listed is probably the order I would recommend getting parts in, assuming your main use for it is gaming.  if you don't game skip the GPU

I've already done all of your steps, I've already upgraded my the GPU, PSU, and added an extra hard drive if you can just recommend a good looking mini atx case for less than 80$ then im perfect

[vanished]

3 minutes ago, weed said:

What do you reccomend starting the upgrades with?

If it's the first one in your sig ("Home rig") I would say SSD all the way.  Since you have one on your other PC, you must really notice the difference. And if not yet, you will in a few months  

[weed]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

If it's the first one in your sig ("Home rig") I would say SSD all the way

I aint talking about the home rig im talking about the OptiPlex if i get one, the home rig already has 4tb of storage i forgot to write i have 1 more 3tb wd blue hdd

[vanished]

Just now, weed said:

I aint talking about the home rig im talking about the OptiPlex if i get one, the home  rig i already have 4tb of storage i forgot to write i have an 1 more 3tb wd blue hdd

Well back to the case, if that's what you're looking for, there should be lots of options under $80.  A quick search on amazon turns up lots of good looking ones.  One thing to keep in mind though is you'll want to make sure the motherboard isn't proprietary, since the mounting holes might not line up if it is.

[weed]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Well back to the case, if that's what you're looking for, there should be lots of options under $80.  A quick search on amazon turns up lots of good looking ones.  One thing to keep in mind though is you'll want to make sure the motherboard isn't proprietary, since the mounting holes might not line up if it is.

Sadly the motherboard is proprietary its the original HP case motherboard, i dont know any good lga 1155 motherboards

[ProjectBox153]

1 hour ago, weed said:

What do you reccomend starting the upgrades with?

I'd recommend throwing a GPU in there and some more RAM, as well as an SSD (if you have the budget) and it would be wonderful.