Hands on: Rebuild, recycle and re-use

If you’re a serious hardware enthusiast, you’ll know that incremental upgrades can only go so far to satisfy your desires for the best performance; there comes a time when only a new build will do.

For me, that process traditionally took place annually, so imagine my surprise when I realised I’d actually assembled my main PC more than two years ago.

I’d built this system around an Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard, which had proven adept at accommodating new technologies. Over the years it had gone from being a Pentium 4 with 2GB of Ram and a single hard disk to a Core2Duo with 6GB of Ram and four hard disks, three of which were in a hardware Raid 5 configuration.

It had served me well, but a failed attempt to install a 45nm quad-core processor proved it was time to move on.

In November's article, Is it time to upgrade your hardware?, I described two types of build: those that are timed to exploit the latest technologies, and those that simply recycle a number of existing parts with a few key new ones.

If you have the budget for the former, then it makes sense to investigate a new build based around Intel’s latest Core i7 architecture (previously Nehalem), or perhaps wait for the mainstream versions to become available.

Since I already had significant investments in both memory and what was until recently a top-end CPU, I opted for the recycle option. I’d be building a new PC, but almost entirely with existing components acquired over the past year. It wouldn’t boast the latest architecture, but it would still be a decent upgrade over my existing configuration, while also ensuring the least waste.

While more a rebuild than a brand new build, projects such as these can be satisfying. You get to re-use your best existing parts and only buy what’s needed to satisfy your requirements. Crucially, it also gives you the chance to perform a clean reinstall, so you can wipe the slate clean.