04-04-2005, 12:41 PM
TaiDaishar,Apr 3 2005, 07:04 PM Wrote:Well, what he/we need is just a processor, a new graphics card, the RAM is still useable but he might decide to get more and the hard drive is quite small (less than 20GB) so it might be that he'll buy another one.
The monitor is questionable as it is a little blurry for some reason (anyone know of a way of fixing such a thing?) but still working.
Sound card, keyboard and mouse are entirely unnecessary as they're working quite well.
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You will need a new motherboard and CPU - not just a CPU. I incline towards Athlons myself - but P4's are also fine. Go with NVidia or VIA chipsets with Athlon's or use Intel with P4's. PCI Express will hand you a bit of longevity with video, as it seems to be the way of the future with manufacturers - it is also a wee bit cheaper and faster than AGP boards.
Replace the screen - new CRT's are pretty cheap in 17" and fair in 19". LCD's are dearer and you need to watch the specs a bit - you want fast response (=$).
And new 80GB drives are cheap (and about the smallest that you can buy - I'd get one instead of keeping a 20GB. (SATA 120GB would be better still).
Any reasonably new motherboard will have inbuilt sound - and I suspect that you will need new RAM as your old RAM is probably too slow (unless you bought it recently).
Antec cases are good - and well worth buying - this way you get a new and very stable power supply as well.
Dunno about prices in the US - looks like lots of good advice up there. But you might want to spend a morning in one of the large discount computer stores you have over there. That way you can read the outside of boxes and get choice. (I buy at open air computer markets for the same reason - but I know my gear - I am sorta in the trade). :P
HowGozit