Upgrade or new computer?

[l337killa07]

Current computer specs:

Pentium 3 Approx 933 mHz (its 10 years old, give me a break)
80 Gig hard drive ( I think its 80, I have it split into diff partitions so I'd have to check)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, although comp came with and is designed for Windows ME
384 mb RAM
Page File: 237 mb used, 907 mb available (not sure if thats relevant?)
Graphics Card: nVidia Vanta (I know, I know, I KNOW ITS SHITTY!!! ) Integrated RAMDAC 16 mb RAM
Sound card: Conexant Audio (Never had any issues with it, so I won't need to upgrade I dont think)


So what should I do with this comp? I can get a SEMI-decent computer for $500 around where I live (my sis actually got a Gateway laptop for $400 last july, its pretty decent, ill post specs later) and I can always wake up super early for black friday deals, which I plan on doing this year. Should I upgrade this computer, using the same case and whatnot, or buy a new one, or build a custom one?

As far as computer usage goes, I'm a light to moderate gamer, meaning I don't need to have a 1 FPS and 2 ms ping, and I'm not Fat1L1ty, nor do I spend sleepless nights playing video games and rotting my eyes out. I've been known to play for maybe a MAX of 2 or 3 hours, and thats in a game on Steam (Counter Strike sometimes, but most often its Day of Defeat).

I play strategy games like Starcraft, Age of Empires (1, 2 and expansion), Diablo (1 and 2), and a decent amount of emulation every now and then. Other than that, I spend lots of time browsing the web, and my computer is on from when I wake up until when I go to bed. I'm not a video editing buff, nor do I watch movies or anything else. I LOVE LOVE LOVE music so I wouldn't mind having a bigger hard drive for more of my music. I have lots of photos but I actually spent about 2 hours the other night deleting about 400 mb of photos (most just duplicates of each other)...and that about sums up my computer usage. (Is it just me or did that sound like an eHarmony ad or something? Lol)

So new comp, use old case and just upgrade components, or build a custom made comp? I've thought about this more than once, and building a custom costs ALOT more....I'm a college student with a shitty $7/hr retail job, so my budget isn't very high....if I werent to buy ANYTHING and just pay for gas, I would have saved up about 1k in 3 and a half months (I know, and thats why I restate that I'm and UNDERPAID college student, and still have to live with parents). I'm getting a laptop either from overseas when I go to visit family, or on Black Friday, or some other time where I can find something online or something. So I'm getting a new computer, but mostly for college-related stuff. So as far as my desktop, think I should just upgrade components?

I figure, it costs about $100 for a decent graphics card, another 100 for a cool blue LED case with liquid cooling, $100 for a decent speed DVD burner, as well as peripherials (speakers, mouse, keyboard, webcam, printer, etc.) So that's $400-$500 in just building a custom, not including the cost of ram, a new processor/motherboard, and other pieces.

Sorry about the super long post, I guess I just couldnt my ideas out in just 1 paragraph

So any comments are more than appreciated. And please, when you insult my shitty computer, be nice about it

[Ahkei]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186115 - mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145488 - RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103052 - CPU

Use your existing case, HDD, and optical drive. Cheap as chips.

Though you could go with either a 250 or 320GB seagate after that, for all your musics and shit, and if the onboard vga isn't powerful enough, go with a Geforce 7 series, an 800 or a 900 preferably.

[l337killa07]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186115 - mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145488 - RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103052 - CPU

Use your existing case, HDD, and optical drive. Cheap as chips.

Though you could go with either a 250 or 320GB seagate after that, for all your musics and shit, and if the onboard vga isn't powerful enough, go with a Geforce 7 series, an 800 or a 900 preferably.

Well I can always buy an external 200 gb or whatever hard drive, and mount it internally later on. I don't have THAT much music, but I am definately a music fan and will benefit from not having to delete music to make room for more (although I would anyways, since songs get old, fast).

The onboard VGA sucks major bullocks (as they would say in the UK), and I plan on getting a MUCH better graphics card, but that is later on down the line, after I get my car worked on, pay off college tuition, and my other expenses =\.


Just a random thought....my brother is going to give me his ps2 since he bought a 360...and he bought the PS2 hard drive that was for games like FF11.....do you think I could take that out of the enclosure it comes in, maybe stick that in my comp as a backup drive? I mean its just a computer hard drive formatted in I believe FAT32 format...so if I would just disconnect it, connect the ribbons on my comp to it, format it in NTFS, think it could work? That'd eliminate my need for a new hard drive altogether.

I forgot to mention in my orig post that I have a small backup hard drive, at 4gb. Its just big enough for me to stick all my crucial files (programs, hard to find songs, porn, etc) on before performing a clean install.

[Panda Man]

I disagree with that CPU, that's an OEM. NEVER EVER go with OEMs, except sometimes maybe with HDDs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103733

Includes HSF and can be returned to AMD, whereas that OEM can only be returned to newegg, and that's after only a 30-day warranty.

To complete that list

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229 - GPU

As for the case and PSU, toss it, it sounds like the original computer is an OEM so forget about it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068 - case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153028 - PSU

The PSU is VERY important, don't play around with a cheap generic one

EDIT - Oh and you could also consider ECS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813135003R

Foxconn is ok as well.

[Ahkei]

I wasn't completely serious. I was just looking for the cheapest stuff.

[Panda Man]

Just a random thought....my brother is going to give me his ps2 since he bought a 360...and he bought the PS2 hard drive that was for games like FF11.....do you think I could take that out of the enclosure it comes in, maybe stick that in my comp as a backup drive? I mean its just a computer hard drive formatted in I believe FAT32 format...so if I would just disconnect it, connect the ribbons on my comp to it, format it in NTFS, think it could work? That'd eliminate my need for a new hard drive altogether.

You could try it, won't hurt anything other than that hard disk

I wasn't completely serious. I was just looking for the cheapest stuff.

[l337killa07]

You could try it, won't hurt anything other than that hard disk

Which only has my important, non-recoverable data. No harm done right?

I wasn't completely serious. I was just looking for the cheapest stuff.

Which is good sometimes, but I know it pays to not skimp on stuff like computers. Get it not too cheap, not too expensive, because it will be outdated in a year, guaranteed. But for my current situation, I'm not going to get uber cheap, or uber expensive, just midrange.

I disagree with that CPU, that's an OEM. NEVER EVER go with OEMs, except sometimes maybe with HDDs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103733

Includes HSF and can be returned to AMD, whereas that OEM can only be returned to newegg, and that's after only a 30-day warranty.

To complete that list

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229 - GPU

As for the case and PSU, toss it, it sounds like the original computer is an OEM so forget about it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068 - case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153028 - PSU

The PSU is VERY important, don't play around with a cheap generic one

EDIT - Oh and you could also consider ECS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813135003R

Foxconn is ok as well.

Do me a favor? I'm computer literate, thats a fact, but some of those abbreviations I just don't recognize, or have never bothered to learn. Explain please?

I'm not a big guy about hardware, so I don't know what the l337 rig is to have, or what is top quality and crap. So bare with me as I learn.

[Panda Man]

Which only has my important, non-recoverable data. No hard right?

Do me a favor? I'm computer literate, thats a fact, but some of those abbreviations I just don't recognize, or have never bothered to learn. Explain please?

I'm not a big guy about hardware, so I don't know what the l337 rig is to have, or what is top quality and crap. So bare with me as I learn.

You have something other than your bro's PS2 data on that thing?

The current build listed will serve you well, it's low cost and will perform well.

CPU - Central Processing Unit
GPU - Graphical Processing Unti
RAM - Random Access Memory
PSU - Power Supply Unit
mobo - Motherboard

Feel free to ask if you need anything else defined

[Ahkei]

Get it not too cheap, not too expensive, because it will be outdated in a year, guaranteed.

That stuff I posted is already outdated by at least a year.

[l337killa07]

That stuff I posted is already outdated by at least a year.

Haha, I figured as much.....don't you just love technology?

You have something other than your bro's PS2 data on that thing?

The current build listed will serve you well, it's low cost and will perform well.

CPU - Central Processing Unit
GPU - Graphical Processing Unti
RAM - Random Access Memory
PSU - Power Supply Unit
mobo - Motherboard

Feel free to ask if you need anything else defined

well yea, I do have my porn which I don't wanna lose, but then again there are always websites

No I think you might have misread my post....I was asking if I could use the PS2 HDD that people bought for games like Final Fantasy 11, format it, and put it in my computer....would that work?

CPU and RAM I know, GPU and PSU I didn't know, and mobo I kinda figured out


Also just another tidbit..my dad has a similar computer to mine, although his is 1.0ghz even, even though both were bought (probably) around the same time.....I got this computer Xmas day in 8th grade, which was '03. My bro had used it probably for 2-3 years before that, so that makes it about 7-8 years old. Whats surprising is that on my dads (Its an HP Pavillion too), his power supply busted and he had to get a new one, yet mine hasnt busted yet. Only thing I've had to physically replace is my fan, and a cd-drive, thanks to an exploding gameshark disk, but thats another story for another thread.

[Panda Man]

No I think you might have misread my post....I was asking if I could use the PS2 HDD that people bought for games like Final Fantasy 11, format it, and put it in my computer....would that work?

CPU and RAM I know, GPU and PSU I didn't know, and mobo I kinda figured out


Also just another tidbit..my dad has a similar computer to mine, although his is 1.0ghz even, even though both were bought (probably) around the same time.....I got this computer Xmas day in 8th grade, which was '03. My bro had used it probably for 2-3 years before that, so that makes it about 7-8 years old. Whats surprising is that on my dads (Its an HP Pavillion too), his power supply busted and he had to get a new one, yet mine hasnt busted yet. Only thing I've had to physically replace is my fan, and a cd-drive, thanks to an exploding gameshark disk, but thats another story for another thread.

That's the hard disk I've been talking about all along You can't hurt anything other than that disk, I don't know if it is a standard IDE hard disk or what.

Don't use that power supply. If you take ANY of my advice, get a new psu that will actually be capable of powering your new build

[l337killa07]

That's the hard disk I've been talking about all along You can't hurt anything other than that disk, I don't know if it is a standard IDE hard disk or what.

Don't use that power supply. If you take ANY of my advice, get a new psu that will actually be capable of powering your new build

I will take your advice. Although I won't have this build for some time to come, and if my new laptop is good enough to just replace my desktop, then so be it. USB mini-mouse, here I come!!!

I was just thinking about the whole "outdated" thing, and I bet that some of this stuff could be outdated by the time we're done typing a post lol.

[Panda Man]

Depends on how you define outdated. A 3800+ XP and 9800XT could still be of good gaming use.

[Inferno.]

Once you have a new pc use that as a server/torrent machine.

Get a new one altogether. Old parts = going to die sooner than new parts.

Get a Core 2 Duo E6600, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8600, 250GB SATA HDD, 18x DVD+/-RW drive. Make sure to get a good PSU (550w+). Buy a decent motherboard too, I have a Gigabyte designed for quad cores. It's cool.

[Panda Man]

ugh, astaroth, did you even read the thread? This isn't a performance build either