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Building a new comp

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 6:08 pm
by spacejay
For anyone computer minded perhaps you can help me.

I have an old PC that I built ages ago that still runs Windows XP. Every now and again I say to myself that I should sort something out that is a bit more up to date, though I don't really do much apart from browse on the internet, watch the occasional thing and use word processing, nothing in th least taxing. I guess I would like something a bit quicker because I do find using it a bit frustrating sometimes when I am trying to do a few things at the same time.

Anyhow this is what I have at present : AsusM4A78-HTPC motherboard with Athlon II x2 250 processor and 1.78GB RAM. I want to just replace these and re-use everything else ie power supply, hard drive, case etc so which sort of bundles would give a meaningful upgrade but be on the cheaper side - I do not have a clue as to what is good or not though presume that anything slightly modern would be an improvement. I would be running Windows 10 on it.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:19 pm
by kimangelis
It's not simple I'm afraid.....

There is little point in upgrading your existing components as new stuff is so much cheaper. It's a bit like spending £1000 on new bits for your 1998 car when the same amount will buy you a 2005 model with change. You're going to have to bite the bullet I'm afraid, and ditch what you have, then buy a newer PC. The probability is that your existing set-up will not be germain to Windows10 so a newer unit will prove cheaper and fool-proof in the long run.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:27 pm
by George Hincapie
The Athlon is ancient. It is doubtful a modern ATX board would fit the case you have and it certainly wouldn't work with your power supply.

Spend £400 and buy a new one. I can suggest an option if you wish.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:00 pm
by slinger
I have to agree with what's been said above. Make sure you back up all of your documents, music files, images etc. first though. If your budget stretches to a machine that runs W10 from a Solid State Disk (SSD) I would highly recommend it too. Windoze loads faster then shite off of a shiny shovel on the new machine I've just built.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:34 am
by Simon Hickie
You will run into issues re. RAM and processors (& possibly graphics cards) if you try to reuse the motherboard. So, if you still fancy a rebuild, you'll need a new motherboard, RAM, processor as a minimum. Is graphics capability important to you? If not, you will get away without needing a graphics card. W10 can be had cheaply. Your power supply may or may not be sufficient.

I feel no need for an SSD on my system. If you get one, do not allow PC to hibernate and do not defragment the drive.

I'd recommend going down the Intel route for processors: Intel Core i5-7400 with stock cooler; LGA 1151 socket motherboard such as the GIGABYTE GA-B250M-DS3H; 1 x 8gb stick of DDR4 ram. A new hard disk wouldn't go amiss - a 2Tb something or other. You can probably reuse the case & CD/DVD drives, mouse & keyboard and maybe the power supply, but not much else.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:22 am
by Classicrock
It's actually impossible to work with old style boards or at least it's not worth time and expense. Just dump it and buy a new machine with Windows 10.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:18 pm
by Lindsayt
The last PC I bought was a Dell 7040 i5-6500, for £200.
It's been faultlessly running Blue Iris on Windows 10 as a cctv system for 4 months now.

If all you want is a general purpose home PC, then a used, recent model, HP or Dell business machine makes a lot of sense.
Far better than buying some wank off PC World.

Re: Building a new comp

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:51 pm
by Simon Hickie
Sound advice from Lindsayt and what I would do next time if I felt the need to have a desktop PC.