You can always add extra hard disks if you want the space, I would add a card reader on unless you already have one.
Not the best graphics card in the world but good enough for most games unless your into Crysys.
[FONT="]Perfectly serviceable, plenty of headroom for extra drives, memory or a better graphics card and less then ?200.[/FONT]
cheers buddy, you didn't have to do all the work. i will have a good look at that tomorrow.
i didn't realise the barebone systems like that, i had a look at a few on another site and they seemed to be playing movies or as a home media system.
edit - you picked the same processor that i did, but the one i had seen was a tenner more expensive. so yeah prolly gonna go for this kit, like the idea of not having to faff with a mother board and a psu.
This lot comes to ?547 with delivery - now that's quite a beefy machine, and includes case and monitor. It's this I would aim for (or fairly similar) if I wanted a machine to last a fair while, a do a fairly good job of anything I might wanna do.
The only things I didn't add were speakers, software, keyboard and mouse. The DVD writer can be deducted if you have one already - however like any new build, I aimed for best performance with similar connections, in this case having both the HD and the DVD writer connected via SATA.
If you are not a gamer, you can save a bit there. If your monitor is good, you can deduct that too. I always start fairly high, and work down if needs be.
I still think for what Mile has said he needs all this is way over the top.
Still future proofing is economy in the long run. I spent about 550 on my last upgrade.
That's exactly my thought, save a little more to get a lot more out of your machine. As I said, it can be worked down from the specs I posted, and some things could be removed altogether, to save some more.
Must admit its good to see widescreen monitors slowly coming down in price, love the one i've got, makes a huge difference and its nice not breaking your back when you need to move it !
- AMD 2100+ XP
- 1 Ghz Crucial CL2 PC133 RAM
- ATI Radeon 8500 64Mb Graphics Card
- 40Gb Maxtor hard drive
- Onboard RAID (isn't that bug spray?)
That's old, even by Athlon XP standards.
PC133 RAM is a technology called SDRAM. Newer socket A boards used DDRAM; most motherboards from the last five years use DDR2 RAM; and the latest boards use DDR3 RAM.
In layman's terms, you can't put one type of memory in a socket designed for another type.
That graphics card uses the AGP 4x interface. Even if you buy a replacement second-hand, any ATI Radeon above 9250 will use the AGP 8x interface, which runs at a lower voltage. Your motherboard is old enough to support SDRAM modules; there's no chance it will support AGP 8x as well.
(Suffice to say, AGP 8x is also obsolete -- modern motherboards use an interface called PCI Express; the latest ones support PCI Express version 2.)
The old hard disk interface, with the ribbon cables, is outdated as well. The new method is called SATA, and once again, it has different connectors.
RAID is something that you'd need two or more hard disks to use. Ignore it if you've just got one disk.
So, your options...
If you can figure out where the problem lies, you can replace whichever component is faulty. You'd normally do this by swapping spare parts until you assemble something that works; if you don't already have a boxful of spares, buying an assortment of stuff (on the off-chance that one of the bits will end up working) is a poor use of money.
The Athlon XP heatsink clips on with considerable force. To take it off and on, you need to jam a screwdriver into the retention clip and lever it off. It's all too easy to break the clip, or stab the motherboard if the screwdriver slips; if you've never done it before, now is not the time to start.
Judging by that hardware spec, you're not somebody who overclocks or abuses your computer. If your computer hardware is beginning to break down, the same is probably true of all the other contemporary equipment being sold on ebay as possible spares.
Once Dell started flogging low-end PCs for 300 quid, there was no longer any money to be made by custom-building PCs for sale. To put it another way, buying the separate components and assembling them yourself won't save you any noticeable sum of money. You might as well buy something ready-made.
This lot comes to ?547 with delivery - now that's quite a beefy machine, and includes case and monitor. It's this I would aim for (or fairly similar) if I wanted a machine to last a fair while, a do a fairly good job of anything I might wanna do.
The only things I didn't add were speakers, software, keyboard and mouse. The DVD writer can be deducted if you have one already - however like any new build, I aimed for best performance with similar connections, in this case having both the HD and the DVD writer connected via SATA.
If you are not a gamer, you can save a bit there. If your monitor is good, you can deduct that too. I always start fairly high, and work down if needs be.
i do appretiate putting all that together, and i'd love to buy one, but i'm not gonig to be able to justifying spending all that.
Comments
how much should i be looking to pay?
Asus barebone PC system Vintage V3-P5945GC Intel LGA775 black / silver (Manufacturer's 2yr Warranty)(BARASUV3P5GC) ?56.52
[FONT="] [/FONT]
Seagate 320GB hard disk drive SATA II 300 7200rpm 16MB cache oem with manufacturer's 5yr warranty(S024094) ?28.49
Intel CPU Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz 800FSB LGA775 2MB cache Retail inc.Fan (3yr Manufacturers Warranty)(S020630) ?44.50
ELIXIR memory 2GB DDR2 800 PC6400 RAM(MEMELIX2048MBAC) ?15.25
ATi Radeon HD 3850 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E DVI TV Out Oem(VIDUNB3850256) ?33.56
Total ?178.32
DVD from your present machine and your sorted.
You can always add extra hard disks if you want the space, I would add a card reader on unless you already have one.
Not the best graphics card in the world but good enough for most games unless your into Crysys.
[FONT="]Perfectly serviceable, plenty of headroom for extra drives, memory or a better graphics card and less then ?200.[/FONT]
cheers buddy, you didn't have to do all the work. i will have a good look at that tomorrow.
i didn't realise the barebone systems like that, i had a look at a few on another site and they seemed to be playing movies or as a home media system.
edit - you picked the same processor that i did, but the one i had seen was a tenner more expensive. so yeah prolly gonna go for this kit, like the idea of not having to faff with a mother board and a psu.
http://ark.intel.com/chipset.aspx?familyID=28994
And the Radeon 3850 requires a minimum of a 550 Watt power supply, but the ASUS barebones machine ships with a measly 300W supply.
And the Intel 945GC chipset sucks donkey balls too. :P
If you're looking for a machine that will last you a good while, and will at least give you some power, I would aim for the ?400-?500 mark.
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/39308/Asus-motherboard-P5KPL-SE
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/17017/OCZ-RAM-Memory-4GB-Kit--2x2048--Vista-Performance
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/40631/Gainward-9800-GT-1GB-426018336-0155-PCI-E
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/37718/Hitachi-500GB-hard-disk-drive-Deskstar-SATA-II
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/38785/Powercool-850W-80--PSU
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/41056/Sony-24X-DVD-R-RW-DL-AD7240S-OB-SATA--24x8x12x
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/17353/Coolermaster-case-Elite-330-Black-silver-midi
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/21245/Iiyama-17--Monitor-P1704S-B1-ProLite-Hard-Glass
This lot comes to ?547 with delivery - now that's quite a beefy machine, and includes case and monitor. It's this I would aim for (or fairly similar) if I wanted a machine to last a fair while, a do a fairly good job of anything I might wanna do.
The only things I didn't add were speakers, software, keyboard and mouse. The DVD writer can be deducted if you have one already - however like any new build, I aimed for best performance with similar connections, in this case having both the HD and the DVD writer connected via SATA.
If you are not a gamer, you can save a bit there. If your monitor is good, you can deduct that too. I always start fairly high, and work down if needs be.
Still future proofing is economy in the long run. I spent about 550 on my last upgrade.
That's exactly my thought, save a little more to get a lot more out of your machine. As I said, it can be worked down from the specs I posted, and some things could be removed altogether, to save some more.
Blimey all that and Miles just basically wants to look at redtube on a larger monitor !
Good point, my bad.
Do you think I should've chosen a bigger monitor? :D
Must admit its good to see widescreen monitors slowly coming down in price, love the one i've got, makes a huge difference and its nice not breaking your back when you need to move it !
That's old, even by Athlon XP standards.
PC133 RAM is a technology called SDRAM. Newer socket A boards used DDRAM; most motherboards from the last five years use DDR2 RAM; and the latest boards use DDR3 RAM.
In layman's terms, you can't put one type of memory in a socket designed for another type.
That graphics card uses the AGP 4x interface. Even if you buy a replacement second-hand, any ATI Radeon above 9250 will use the AGP 8x interface, which runs at a lower voltage. Your motherboard is old enough to support SDRAM modules; there's no chance it will support AGP 8x as well.
(Suffice to say, AGP 8x is also obsolete -- modern motherboards use an interface called PCI Express; the latest ones support PCI Express version 2.)
The old hard disk interface, with the ribbon cables, is outdated as well. The new method is called SATA, and once again, it has different connectors.
RAID is something that you'd need two or more hard disks to use. Ignore it if you've just got one disk.
So, your options...
If you can figure out where the problem lies, you can replace whichever component is faulty. You'd normally do this by swapping spare parts until you assemble something that works; if you don't already have a boxful of spares, buying an assortment of stuff (on the off-chance that one of the bits will end up working) is a poor use of money.
The Athlon XP heatsink clips on with considerable force. To take it off and on, you need to jam a screwdriver into the retention clip and lever it off. It's all too easy to break the clip, or stab the motherboard if the screwdriver slips; if you've never done it before, now is not the time to start.
Judging by that hardware spec, you're not somebody who overclocks or abuses your computer. If your computer hardware is beginning to break down, the same is probably true of all the other contemporary equipment being sold on ebay as possible spares.
Once Dell started flogging low-end PCs for 300 quid, there was no longer any money to be made by custom-building PCs for sale. To put it another way, buying the separate components and assembling them yourself won't save you any noticeable sum of money. You might as well buy something ready-made.
ah right cheers, saved me making a balls up of it there, thanks.
i will start again. :)
don't worry though, i will post what i intend to purchase before i start ordering, just to make sure it all works.
i do appretiate putting all that together, and i'd love to buy one, but i'm not gonig to be able to justifying spending all that.
mother board
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_spec.aspx?ID=en-us0000417
CPU
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/40010/Intel-CPU-Dual-Core-E5400-2-7GHz-800FSB-LGA775
GFX
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/40926/Sapphire-ATi-Radeon-HD-3650-256MB-DDR3-PCI-E-DVI
RAM
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/17219
hard drive
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/41442/Seagate-250GB-hard-disk-drive-SATA-II-300-7200rpm
had a look on the home site for the mother board and it reckoned the CPU, gfx card and the memory were all compatable.
I have a PSU and a fan, but how do i see if these will suffice this kit?
so what do you think, is it going to work together?