Slight upgrade.

HomeLAN

HomeLAN

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So, my Mom's computer took a shit - not worth trying to repair. I'm going to build her a new one. I did the last build, too - about 5 or 6 years ago.

Old machine: K6-2 350 MhZ 196 meg PC100, 15 GB HD (Used to be 4 - that was an upgrade), 4MB Trident video card, SB16 soundcard, 3COM NIC, Windows 98.

New Machine: P4 3.0 GhZ (800 FSB), 512 MB PC3200, 80 GB HD, 64 MB Radeon 7000 vidoe card, onboard sound and NIC (Asus board), Windows XP.

A small improvement, for about 5 bills. I suspect I'm going to get very popular, just as soon as I build it and hook it up.
 
Especially considering that this build will actually be quite a bit cheaper than the last one. Incredible.
 
Can you trade the computer in exchange for her coming to visit? ;)

Sounds like a nice upgrade to me. Are you going to restrict her access to a Power User? :D
 
HeXp£Øi± said:
Just curius, why go with Pentium IV over AMD?
Click to expand...

No reason, really. For what she wants, it's about even-steven in the cost category. I haven't done an Intel box in ages, so it's more to give me a little variety than anything. It's not like she's ever going to want to go 64 bit.

I looked around, and the Compaq Presario 5240 was about comparable to the old box, maybe a touch nicer. CNN listed it in 1999 as one of their 5 "budget" picks - in the under $1,500 category. I think I remember that build costing about 900 when I did it. How times have changed.

I am, in fact, going to set her up as a power user. No way in hell am I turning my 70 YO mother loose as an admin on a high speed connection. As for visits, we do OK on that front. It's the other Mom who was being a PITA in that area, and that's getting better.
 
I was thinking in terms of cost/power ration. You could probably save $100 by going with socket 754 and a 2800+ over that 3gz pentium IV cpu and MB and they would be the same speed.
Building a pentium machine sounds fun though. It's probably been five years since i built a new intel system.
 
Of course, you could just say screw it & go to Best Buy

Compaq Presario 3200+ Desktop with 17" Flat CRT Monitor & Inkjet Printer


A smart choice for any home office, with a 64-bit processor, DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive and 9-in-1 media reader for documents and spreadsheets, surfing the Web and playing back movies and music.

Quick-loading AMD Sempron™ processor 3200+ with 256MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM; 80GB hard drive; ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 graphics
17" flat-screen CRT monitor with external JBL speakers; uses one cable for both power and video signal to reduce desktop clutter
High-resolution Deskjet printer with auto red-eye removal and support for borderless 4" x 6" photos; fold-up paper tray to fit tight spaces
Click to expand...

$329. after MiR
 
There's no fucking way on earth I will ever buy a Compaq. Actually, that applies to any pre-built desktop, but Comcrap in particular.
 
At these prices, it's worth considering (of course, I'd never put one on my desk)
 
The last few machines I've put together have been Intel just because I've been able to get smokin' deals on the motherboards.

Well, except the Soyo in the main machine that I bought in September 2004. I'm still waiitng for my rebates.
 
I just did my own upgrade today.. sent in my order at newegg for:
1. Abit AN8 NF4
2. XFX-7800GTX (450\1250)
3. AMD Opteron 146 2.0ghz 1M cache
4. 2 GIG's (2x1g) Gigaram PC3500.
5. F.E.A.R. Director's Edition
6. ArticSilver5
7. ZALMAN CNPS 9500LED Heatsink\fan

stuff should be in on Friday.. :D
 
I'm sure she'll love that 3 gig. That what I'm on right now.
For a non gamer, that 7000 might be ok, but I'd up it later. Of coarse mine is a pci. An agp might be better. :confused:
IMO AMDs are for people that can work on their own comps. I always use intel now for customers
comps. They seem to be less maintainance.

5 bills? Is that with xp-pro? ...Did you go with an asus board...
Come on give us some detail.... :nerd: Sata drive?
 
catocom said:
I'm sure she'll love that 3 gig. That what I'm on right now.
For a non gamer, that 7000 might be ok, but I'd up it later. Of coarse mine is a pci. An agp might be better. :confused:
IMO AMDs are for people that can work on their own comps. I always use intel now for customers
comps. They seem to be less maintainance.

5 bills? Is that with xp-pro? ...Did you go with an asus board...
Come on give us some detail.... :nerd: Sata drive?
Click to expand...

No kidding. What motherboard? That's the most important and interesting part of the entire system.
 
She's NOT a gamer. The card was already in my hands - I was going to upgrade her 4 MB job until I found out how bad the situation was. Since I was dealing with an ancient setup, it's PCI as well (it's tough to locate decent 2X AGP cards these days), but who cares. She's unlikely to get beyond it, and if she does I'll upgrade it. Same deal with the 80 gig HD - I overpaid for that, but I THOUGHT I needed it in a hurry. Now I'm stuck with it. As for the rest, here's the listing from newegg:

ASUS P5VD1-X Socket T (LGA 775) VIA PT880 Ultra ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $66.50
LITE-ON Beige IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9S - Retail $19.99
Intel Pentium 4 530J Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80547PG3000EJ - Retail $176.89
CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB (2 x 256MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model VS512MBKIT400C3 $48.55
Antec Solution SLK1650 Beige Steel ATX Mini Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail $64.00
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $86.95

Tag in $30 in shpping, and there ya go.
 
The only change i would make to that system is the ram module. In five years there's a good chance that machine will be running Vista and it'll be a serious memory hog especially after its first service pack.
Why not go with a single stick of 512 and save yourself from having to dump the 2x256 sticks in the future? The performance difference between 512 and 1024mb under vista will be night and day and if it's $40 either way then why not take the extra precaution? All this of course only applies if you haven't already purchased the memory.
 
HeXp£Øi± said:
The only change i would make to that system is the ram module. In five years there's a good chance that machine will be running Vista
Click to expand...

No, there ain't. She just came off of 98SE. She isn't exactly a fan of change, and she sees NO need to upgrade a functional OS until she's absolutely GOTTA. By the time she needs to go to Vista (or something else), she'll need a complete rebuild anyway.

Also, the stuff's already shipped.
 
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