Opinion on Multi Machine Upgrade

[Zetro]

So right now I am running into a litany of issues with my entire home setup and I am trying to wrap my head around on how to as cost effectively as possible complete upgrades that fix all of the issues with the least amount of working hardware left over.

First off the problems:

Server
-Needs 16GB of ram so I can complete more complex VMware labs. Seeing as the board only takes DDR2 upgrading to a DDR3 board would be the most economical way

HTPC
-Board has some squealing capacitors after the machine is powered off. The rest of it is functional though

Workstation
-Not listed in my sig, its an Athlon XP 3200+, NF7-S, in an Antec 3700BQE that I will finally let be taken out of service as it is just way to old

My solutions:

Server

Specs:
Athlon II X4 620
MA790X-UD4P
GSkill PC8000 8GB
4 x 2.0TB WD Green Drives
Corsair TX650
Scythe Katana 3
2 x LG DVD-RW
Antec 300
Yate Loon 120mm Fans (2 front, 1 rear)

-Seeing as I am using an Athlon II X4 620 it fully supports DDR3 I just need a new board and ram to get it done. So I was thinking a Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H as it has 128MB of onboard memory so I don't need to use a PCI-E card and with such a similar south bridge my RAID arrays should just carry over nicely. Also purchased whatever is on sale DDR3 wise at N-CIX to get 16GB of RAM for this. This makes my MA790X-UD4P and its 8GB of ram available. This is the easiest of the three.

Workstation

Specs
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Abit NF7-S Rev. 2.0
OCZ Platinum 2GB PC3200
Sapphire 3850 512MB AGP
Antec 3700BQE Case
Enermax 600W Noisetaker
Thermalright 900A
Antec Tri-Cool Rear/Front
2 x 150GB V-Raptors
2 x 1TB WD Blacks
Promise TX4310 SATA2 Raid Controller
Intel 1000GT Nic

-Taking my NF7-S, 3850 512MB, 2GB of Ram, Enermax 600W Noisetaker and 3200+ out of service as well as the IDE DVD drives, and Panasonic Floppy (yes... a floppy). This leaves me with an Antec 3700BQE, 2 x 150GB V-Raptors, 2 x 1TB WD Blacks, XFX 5770 (spare video card), a 3.5" Card Reader, 2 x LG DVD Burners and the MA790X-UD4P with 8GB of ram. To get a working system I need a power supply (Corsair TX650 V2 I was thinking) and a processor (X2 250).

To sell: Various Socket A Parts and high end AGP Card

HTPC

Specs
Athlon X2 7750
MA78GM-USH2
GSkill PC8000 4GB
OCZ Vertex 2 50GB
Antec NSK3480
Corsair CX430 PSU
Scythe Katana 3 HSF
Yate Loon 2 x 92mm Front Fans (7V) and a Yate Loon 120mm Rear (5v)

I have hated my HTPC setup for a long, long time and I am still debating on even if upgrading it as we speak is worth it. The machine is still functional but after a shutdown the capacitors make a super annoying squeal even after I changed out the PSU from the stock Antec unit. I can easily upgrade it with a new 880G board with DDR3, move the 7750 into my workstation (AM2 processor, no DDR3 support), and use the new X2 250 here. With Fusion processors coming out in a month would it make more sense to just wait? Or since I am buying a new CPU/Motherboard/Ram anyways should I do a budget Intel build?

Sorry this is sort of a brain dump, please let me know if I am on the right track and any suggestions are always awesome.

Thanks

 

[450]

I wouldn't bother upgrading the HTPC.

I think you should sell the whole workstation setup (except for the hard drives), and start from scratch.

Since the workstation seems to require little power, have you thought about moving to a Zacate based setup? You could also get another Zacate board for your HTPC.

For the server, get a Hexacore CPU from Microcenter and a free mobo.

 

[Dangman]

Your server upgrade sounds fine to me.
Your workstation upgrade sounds fine to me as well. Though personally I'd get a X3 CPU just for little headroom for future usage.

Your HTPC upgrade path is a little tricky. If you can, RMA that mobo back to Gigabyte. If you can't RMA that mobo back to Gigabyte, then I'd wait for Llano.