PongRiddims Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Hello friends, I've mentioned in other threads that I have a bundle of old laptops and base units going to waste that I'm need to shift. I've decided I'm going to salvage what I can from them, it anything, and build a new tower. The main use for the tower will be to play football manager and to record my vinyls, although may also be used for Kodi/streaming. I've never done this before so will please allow for noob questions.Firstly, how do I identify what motherboard or CPU I need for my requirements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Also, am I correct in thinking my cpu and soundcard would be the most important things for what I'm trying to achieve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 My guess would be that you need to look up what the minimum specs are for the things you expect to run and choose your kit accordingly. By guess would be that the games you want to play would be the most demanding and the graphics the most important in that respect. I don't think either the streaming or the recording would be too demanding and on-board sound should be fine. But in my experience when you build a computer for a limited purpose you soon get frustrated when it won't something a little more demanding. There will be VTers with more expert knowledge than my own so wait to see if my lousy answer provokes a better one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 My guess would be that you need to look up what the minimum specs are for the things you expect to run and choose your kit accordingly.By guess would be that the games you want to play would be the most demanding and the graphics the most important in that respect.I don't think either the streaming or the recording would be too demanding and on-board sound should be fine.But in my experience when you build a computer for a limited purpose you soon get frustrated when it won't something a little more demanding.There will be VTers with more expert knowledge than my own so wait to see if my lousy answer provokes a better one.[emoji4] It's a good answer thanks mate. I did consider on board sound but I'd like a phono input if possible, don't suppose many on boards have that? I genuinely have no idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted October 21, 2015 Administrator Share Posted October 21, 2015 Why phono? It's just going to do A-D. Does the kind of plug really make any difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Why phono? It's just going to do A-D. Does the kind of plug really make any difference?In fairness, probably not, ok ignore phono nonsense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I've never used it myself but I've heard lots of good things about the build a PC subreddit. I think if you are clear and concise with your questions (ie, state budget, exactly what you want the machine for, country you live in) then you could get help from some genuinely knowledgeable people. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Cheers Rev x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Laptop and desktop components don't tend to mix very well. You will struggle to successfully splice them together. You may be able to use a laptop CPU in a desktop motherboard, but that's probably about it. Do you have a licensed version of Windows installed on any of the computers? If not you'll need to buy Windows in order to use football manager. If it were me, I'd focus on making a project out of the desktops and install Ubuntu on the best working laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 The most important components are your CPU and motherboard. RAM is inexpensive to upgrade if you don't have sufficient. You can probably buy vinyl converters / sound cards on amazon, this is a much lesser consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Thanks PV, makes sense. You're all such fantastic people for helping out a noob like me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 (edited) The most important components are your CPU and motherboard. RAM is inexpensive to upgrade if you don't have sufficient. You can probably buy vinyl converters / sound cards on amazon, this is a much lesser consideration. As for ripping vinyl I got very decent results using a phono cable from my amplifier tape output, connected to a phono to mini-jack, which plugged into the line-in on my soundcard. Using Audacity, I was able to remove clicks and other noise and save as mp3, wav or even flac (lossless) files. For Audacity (free) to work you will need to enable the mixer in Windows or install a mixer in Linux (available in software centre). It didn't improve my taste in music though. Edited October 26, 2015 by MakemineVanilla 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 The most important components are your CPU and motherboard. RAM is inexpensive to upgrade if you don't have sufficient. You can probably buy vinyl converters / sound cards on amazon, this is a much lesser consideration.As for ripping vinyl I got very decent results using a phono cable from my amplifier tape output, connected to a phono to mini-jack, which plugged into the line-in on my soundcard.Using Audacity, I was able to remove clicks and other noise and save as mp3, wav or even flac (lossless) files.For Audacity (free) to work you will need to enable the mixer in Windows or install a mixer in Linux (available in software centre).It didn't improve my taste in music though.[emoji4]Yeah I used to record using line in but always had some real bad popping noises, thinking about it now it was probably my set up. Good shout mate thanks. I've enlisted the help of my cousin to help me with this too now, gonna start pulling apart the old machines and seeing what can be kept and scrapped this week, thanks all for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarjei Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 (edited) Putting together a PC is fun (for some people, I guess ). Mine is currently made up of three different builds, with hard drives and coolers from many years ago in a modular cabinet made to last a lifetime. It's a fun project to keep going. But making a desktop out of old laptops sounds more like frustration. Or do you have desktops too?I mean the pieces won't necessarily fit, physically or by function. You need a motherboard, and a motherboard will only take a certain set of CPU-, GFX card- and ram-types, ect. So whichever motherboard you decide on is going to limit what you can use on the build.I would figure out which is the most powerful CPU (as that is what FM will mainly require) and select the motherboard based on that. If you've got Intel a CPU made for LGA1150- or LGA1155-socket will probably the latest one.Then you would need a motherboard with LGA1150/1155 socket, and at that point you can basically just check it's specs to see what ram type and GFX type it will function with (DDR3 and PCIe respectivly in this case) and see if you have some of those lying around. Edited October 27, 2015 by tarjei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Ah, it's not just laptops, I basically have a collection of desktops and laptops that I've accumulated over the years that I've done nothing with, so it's just a case of anything worth keeping I will, but I doubt the laptops will be much use to be honest. Another good response thanks mate, what do you mean by modular cabinet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarjei Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 It's a big cube case with pretty much every part being replaceable, and lots of holes for screws for various solutions.It's not a cheap option short term. It was pricey at the time, and I had to buy some parts separate, like trays for the hard drives. But I've had it for like 10 years now and there's not much to suggest I will have to replace it any time soon as it will fit any form-factor. I've got 7 hard drives, a blue ray, fan control and many other goodies in there but still plenty of room and great airflow to keep it cool. Lot's of space so it stays cool with little noise.Below is the one I've got if you're curious. I'm sure there are plenty of newer and better option out there now though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Ah OK, so basically like a top end case with maximum customisation options? Looks interesting that does, off to Google prices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Right, after much consultation with my Tech Support cousin, it appears all old components are rubbish, so I've ordered myself an i5 cpu, a gtx 960 graphics card, a new motherboard that I can't remember the name of and some other bits, thanks for your help fellas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 From my days of building them, the motherboard is the most important component you can buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PongRiddims Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 If I've spent £40 on a Mobo have I spent enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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