New build or Refurbish old PC?

BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
So my brother's old dead Dell Inspiron 530s has been sitting around for two months or so and I have found some purpose for it. To get it operational It needs a new PSU and a hard disk. It has either a TFX12v or SFX12v psu which are expensive for what they are, I assume I'd need to spend upwards of $120 to get it working. With that said, It may be cheaper to just build one of those super cheap newegg supercombo builds. (link here) what are your opinions?

EDIT:Alternatively I've been curious if there are systems similar to the RaspberryPi with an x86/x64 architecture so it can run a stripped down Windows OS.
 
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I'd just build him something new or buy him something cheap off the shelf if what he is doing isn't that demanding.
 
if its about 50 bucks to replace the psu, id just do a psu swap. if its 100 or more, id look at a new machine entirely. just reread...and id probably look at parting it out on ebay and do a new build.
 
$22 bucks and I need a new hard disk? It would still probably end up costing about $100. I was gonna set it up as a box for storage, and other large downloads.
 
Yeah, you are probably right around $100 or so. You may find a drive cheap on ebay or something. I've replaced 2 psu's on those dell slim line units in the last few years. This route would be cheaper than buying new parts. However, not sure how much memory or what processor that 530s has. May be smarter to get buy one of the bundles?
 
johnb35 said:
Yeah, you are probably right around $100 or so. You may find a drive cheap on ebay or something. I've replaced 2 psu's on those dell slim line units in the last few years. This route would be cheaper than buying new parts. However, not sure how much memory or what processor that 530s has. May be smarter to get buy one of the bundles?
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Intel Pentium E5200 and 4GB DDR2 (4x1GB)
 
Should be fine as long as you will have XP on there. Might even be good with windows 7. Dell's driver page only lists up Vista though. So should work with 7.
 
FuryRosewood said:
if your doing downloads and nothing intense, might be worth setting it up with a linux server package? 0.02
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I'd like to be able to download steam games overnight. My computer puts out too much light and heat to keep on overnight. I was originally gonna buy a Raspberry Pi but It can't run steam.

I just reread that and realized it had no relevance to my computer at all... Whatever the case Im still not sure which I should do.
 
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You can fix that dell for under $100.00 bucks, If would like.. Or you can buy some real nice refurbished one's for the same price and up..
 
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