Guest A1bertFish Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I've finally come to terms with the fact that my pc is obsolete, and needs some new stuff. Come this January, I'm going to get a new tower, mobo, and processor. Anyhoo, what I'm seeking is some advice as to what will/will not work for mdk (well, for the mobo anyways). I'm by no means rich, so I have to make due until I get some cash (difference check from financial aid ships the 5th, and alot of that goes to books/supplies). I started this thread to get some input. I've been perusing www.pricewatch.com, looking for some good deals, but I really want to make sure everything is going to work for me before I spend any loot. Since this is more of an upgrade than a new purchase, I don't need everything. This is what I have: floppy cd-rw keyboard, mouse, speakers, and other peripheral crap 256mb ram chip (I think it's SDRam, and I don't know how many pins, but I'll post a for-sure when I get home to check) internal modem (linmodem) ethernet card usb2/firewire card My graphics AND audio are on my mobo, so I'd have to get one that supports one or the other or both (so as not to have to buy many many things, and I'd rather get a new graphics card than a sound card if I had to choose, since my field of study is graphics and all...). I can't keep using my old tower, because it's really freaking small (1 5 1/2" bay!!!), and I doubt any new mobo I get would fit. Finally...price range. I'm not looking for overkill here, people. A mobo with a processor that's > 2mhz, a tower it'll fit in, and anything else I may need (emphasis on NEED that I can't gut from my old hp. I'm trying to keep it around/under $150, give or take $50. I'll even start y'all out: $12 tower (plus whatever other expenses get tacked on with options) at http://www.str8buy.com/stusmitoca40.html. Thanks in advance!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtweidmann Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I rebuilt my house mate's computer about 2 months ago for £270 and its runs really well. So it can be done! I would recommend getting things that are well matached to each other. There is not point in having a super fast processor if you buy really slow RAM for instance. Specifics: AMD AthlonXP - cheaper than Intels and just as good, eg 2600 are fairly cheap Epox Motherboards - Used several and never had a problem RAM - the fastest your CPU can support, something like DDR400 or 333 Decent hard drive - HD access makes a big difference to overall system performance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I have Epox/amd myself, and excellent combo. I must caution you about the tower, though. $12 does not include the power supply, and a cheap power supply can be real trouble. I would not spend less than $40 dollars on a case with power supply, which means an upgrade is really more in the $200 range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 1. Do not skimp on powersupply. A good brand name power supply can be the difference between a smoothly running computer and a burned up one. A good Powersupply with lower wattage rating is actually better than a mediocre one with higher wattage rating. 2. Good cooling is a must for today's power hungry components. You can get a good heatsink / fan combo for under 30 dollars, but I think anymore is overkill. 3. Buy second best version of components. The price difference between say a 2500 mhz and a 2800 mhz computer can be 100%, while the performance difference could be less than 5%. 4. Be on the lookout for deals. Anandtech's Deal Forum is a good source of information. You can get a good MB+CPU combo for around 100 dollars, if not less. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 (edited) While Ixthusdan recommends the XP2600+, I would go even 'cheaper' than that. The 2500+ has the Barton core with a larger L2 cache and therefore will give you better benchmarks. Isn't £270 == $465 US? I believe I got mine rebuilt for around $300 US with: New tower ~$35 Sparkle 300W PS ~$15 512 PC2700 DDR RAM ~$80 AMD XP2500+ ~$90 Asus A7V600 MoBo ~$81 Edited December 5, 2003 by Steve Scrimpshire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Buy little Shuttle cube box. ??I can't go on www.shuttle.com for the moment, later perhaps ?? Very little, very silent, very nice and may be you could have it with Mdk pre-installed: [LINK]http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/press/pr?n=/pr/business/2431&wslang=en[/LINK] roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vdubjunkie Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Two other things to consider are that a lot of the mobo + cpu combos nearly give you the cpu free and are often really decent equipment. The other thing is that if you are going to spend more than you thought on something, make it the tower. It is the single most overlooked under considered important component that people don't put enought money into. I've read many an article about how people had heating, etc. problems only to see them all vanish after moving to a quality case. Plus, the psu is important too, and a good case will come with a good psu usually. As far as compatibility goes, anymore it seems like the list of components that don't work is a much smaller list all the time. Most stuff does work. I was amazed when I plugged in my brand new (using new memory card architecture) Fuji Finepix camera and linux just loaded it up and waited for me to use it. NICE!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopDog Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Buy little Shuttle cube box. I agree, I buildt myself one of these babies in august this year; http://www.pdanorway.com/shuttle.htm ...and I love it. Of course, if you are planning on having multiple HD's or CD/DVDROMS, Shuttle is not an option, but otherwise, it's not that expensive and looks great B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Well I'm stuck between Roland and Vdujunkie.... The shuttles are a bit more than you expected but you get a fully upgraded everything and they look very CUTE. I have two!!! On the other hand you limit your expandability!!! I would throw or give away you old RAM. Its a law of diminishing returns. You can get 512MB PC333 for 50 quid/$ or thereabouts thus providing a better return on the rest of your investments. On the non-aesthetic side... (but being into graphics I guess this might be important) I have had several PC's without any case. If you have a dedicated room I have just stuck them on the plastic mounting things on a piece of wood. This itself can be mounted upside down on a desk. PSU's are very important, Id rather splash out extra on a good PSU than the case. If you get a built in graphics card then go for the cheaper stuff. A GeForce3 is perfectly adequate for now and you don't feel like your throwing away investment later. On the whole I don't like built in NIC/sound but they are so cheap its hard to ignore them. I don't know where you are and this wil lmake a difference too. I know for instance in France buying cheap PSU's is difficult without a case whereas you can buy the super-dooper clockers ones easily. In the UK cheap PSU's are easy to come by. Sometimes I hack one and use it to suply power to disks/cd etc. thus lowering the load on the other. Its pin 10 I think needs grounding (this is from memory ut its the power good line) Probably your most realsitic option is to SELL the HP and try and get a reasonable amount to put towards your new machine which you can then choose more thoroughly. I am pretty sure I know your case!!!! I had the same trouble upgrading a mandrakeusers HP.... Its probably fine for someone who just wants internet acccess ...which is what the current old HP is doing right now :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland Posted December 7, 2003 Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 He is a review about Shuttle and Mandrake link roland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 I am currently using a Chaintech 7VJL Deluxe Apogee motherboard, Athlon XP 2500+, and 768 MB DDR333 (to match the cpu). I am using the onboard sound, though not the onboard LAN at the moment. Both are compatible with Mandrake 9.1. This motherboard comes with Thiz Linux 6.0. and a bunch of goodies. The only reason I am using 768 MB on this, is that I have win98se installed as well, for my windows games. No kernel patching needed for this one, and it uses the KT400/vt8235 chipset. Sound is 6 channel surround. Also incuded are the CBox, which has 4 USB 2.0 ports, Mic, and Headphone jacks, and fits in a 3.5 inch bay, and a nice headphone. Some things I ported from my old motherboard, for now, since I will be having a secondary system. I got the mobo, cpu, and ram via eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest A1bertFish Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 Howdy all. After careful consideration, I figured I'd shop around locally for the equipment, as well as find someplace to help me assemble it (I've never messed with anything more than opening the case and plugging something in). Anyhoo, the best quote I got was a total of $215. I didn't write down everything, and I'm going in tomorrow to talk to the guy face to face, but this is what I wrote down: Mercury case, with 300 watt power supply - $45 Biostar MoBo, onboard video, audio, lan, usb2.0 - $65 2ghz processor (it's either AMD or Celeron, I think AMD) - $89 2 ball bearing fans for 8 a pop The timing changed, and I'm getting a christmas upgrade (my 'rents rock sometimes), and I'm afraid of getting the wrong things. The guy is gonna help me out in putting it together, so there's an added plus. I'll post more info tomorrow about the MoBo. Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 Biostar is not exactly the best motherboard around, but I think if it runs, it will run. Although you better check what chipset it uses. I mean, you can get an NForce2 mb for under 100 dollars nowadays and AMD Athlon XP2500+ (Barton core) should be around 85 dollars too. When in doubt, shop around. Or use mail order. (not sure whether the internet taxing thing applies in the States nowadays). http://www.newegg.com is what I use for guidance of what the price should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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