Help me design an upgrade desktop PC for my wife?

Question

We have an older Compaq desktop. the motherboard only supports 512mb ram, and it's too slow for office2003 and Autocad. I'd like to buy a new barebones system, some ram, CPU, and then move my IDE HD, CD/RW and DVD/RW over to it. Already have mouse/kbd/monitor/etc also. Lots of choices on Newegg and other sites, but how to know what to buy that all works together? Nearly anything would be faster than what we have now, don't need a "screamer" and don't even need super powerful graphics. This isn't a gamer system, 'ya know?
I'm no stranger to the insides of a PC, but just need some help buying some componets that will play nicely with each other. Don't care if it's vista compatible either. Win XP home is fine for us, I don't even want to reinstall my OS, it messes with the licensing for Office.
Best answer is a shopping list from newegg or other site with reasons why. Can we keep it under $300? If more, why?

Answer 1

Get these combo deals.... Get the one with the Gigabyte Motherboard...$120 If you need further low price.....Get the PC Chips one...$104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductComboList.asp?ItemNo=N82E16819116249&Subcategory=343&PageSize=10&SortField=0&Page=1

Get one of these cabinets with power supply included....

For good looks and 350w supply....$24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811147051

For cheap price and 450w supply...$20 ($10 after mail in rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811145046


This is the CPU cooler for you...$10.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16835150055

And Ofcourse 2GB Ram...2x69.49=138.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820161626

And the total is less than $300

And you have a Dual core processor from intel double better than P4. Intel 945chipset motherboard and that too from Gigabyte. 2GB Ram waoooooooo...........!

Answer 2

Yup, Newegg is where I shop but they have been getting awfully slow about delivery lately.

People will probably disagree but I would purchase:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 2.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - $80. This comes with the fan. I have had one in my PC for 9 months and run everything, including games.

ASRock 939Dual-VSTA Socket 939 ULi M1695 ATX AMD Motherboard - This MB will give you an AGP and a PCI 16 so if you have a AGP card in your Compact you can use it, if your compaq has onboard video then purchase a cheap PCI 16 card. You can also upgrade this later to an AM2 processor. Great card for the money. $67

A-DATA 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory $77, gives you a matched pair for 1 gig of DDR 400 memory

That’s $230 plus $20 for shipping.

You'll need a case if your old compact case won't work and I'm betting that it won't. I would by a cheaper case and expect to put an upgraded power supply when you can.

APEVIA X-Infinity ATXB6KLW-BK/420 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 420W power supply for AMD/Intel Power Supply - Retail $63 after 10 rebate. Not a really good case but probably better than the compaq. Spend another $50 and get a better one if you want but I'm trying to keep you at least close to your budget and get you a good rig for the next 2 or 3 years.

If you like ATI firmware:
ASUS EAX300SE-X/TD/128 Radeon X300SE 128MB 64-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - $39

or maybe if you prefer Nvidia firmware:
FREETECH PX6200TD-128M GeForce 6200 128MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card

Ok, if you need the video card and buy a good case it'll run you $400 but if you don't buy a good case and don't need a video card you can get by with a little over $300. I've used all of this I think that your wife would be very pleased with this system and, because of the MB you can continue to upgrade as you get a few bucks. Your OS will cost you about $90. Buy the upgrade and then let it check for itself or borrow somebody elses Windows (doesn't matter the type) and stick it in.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Barebones:

I really like this ASUS. It has an AMD Sempron, which from personal experience is better than a Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, which is more than enough for WinXP, an ASUS Motherboard, one of the best brands in the industry, and an AGP slot for a decent video card. And it's only $179.99, leaving a whole $180 for a graphics card and maybe another Hard Drive.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2900351&Sku=M450-2402%20F

Video Card:

This Radeon 9600XT has 256MB of RAM built in, and is more than powerful enough for whatever multimedia tasks that the PC could be used for. It's price: 74.99, leaving $105 for another hard drive and and money in your wallet.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1282028&CatId=935

Extra HDD:

I know you said that you have an IDE, but why not get a SATA as well? This Seagate Barracuda will give you another 160 GB, enough for pictures and videos. And it won't break the bank either, at only $64.99. And you get $40 to spend for whatever you like.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2563508&CatId=2457

Hope this was some help to you!

Answer 4

Try Tiger direct.com They have barebones with some of the components already with bundle. You can also by a motherboard bundle which has moterboard and cpu combo. You can use your old hard drive. You can use your dvd and cd drive. Buy motherboard with sound and lan and video on board. This will by pass moving lan.sound and video over.

Answer 5

Below may be exactly what you're looking for, not a "screamer" but a nice barebones kit for $220 after rebate. Seems to have most of what you're looking for, and you still have $80 to play with in your budget, which can easily get you a decent graphics card.

Answer 6

I would choose an AMD processor as it is just as good if not better than Pentium and is cheaper. I would also choose something that has support for you existing components, but also has current technology for future upgrades (SATA hard drives, PCI Express, etc). I would also choose something that has built in video and sound, so you do not need to replace all components. I would also reccommend a 64bit motherboard and processor. This will increase overall speed, even in a 32bit environment. You will need to do a repair reinstall on Windows XP http://www.overclockers.com/tips1155/ to get it to work with your new equipment. If you have service pack 2 currently installed you must slipstream your SP2 into your XP installation and use the new CD for installation. Directions for this process can be found here. http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

The following is a list of components that would work very well together at a very reasonable price. The prices do change from time to time and may be slightly different when you check them out, but will be close.

It is a new technology motherboard 64 bit and 32 bit operating system compatible. PCI express ports, built in internet ports, built in sound and video card, supports your current hard drives and SATA hard drives if you ever want to get them. The processor is a 64 bit and 32 bit at 2Ghz (3200+). Ram is Kingston lifetime warranty 1Gb (two 512Mb) DDR dual channel RAM 3200+ 400Mhz, recommended in the owner’s manual of the motherboard.The power supply is an upgrade to run the new types of motherboards and new types of hard drives.

Motherboard $60.99 free shipping

http://www.amazon.com/K8M890-Chipset-HT2000-Channel-Onboard/dp/B000HNH800/sr=8-1/qid=1170223366/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0154713-4482452?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Processor $69.99 free shipping

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-processor-Socket-ADA3200BPBOX/dp/B0009B0KOQ

RAM $79.99 shipping $7.00

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-1GB-DDR400-KVR400X64C3AK2-1G/dp/B00009XFVN/sr=1-1/qid=1170223583/ref=sr_1_1/002-0154713-4482452?ie=UTF8&m=A2YLYLTN75J8LR&s=electronics

Power Supply $58.19 free shipping

http://www.amazon.com/EARTHWATTS-380-Watt-ATX12V-V2-0/dp/B000KQ3QQY/sr=1-1/qid=1170222473/ref=sr_1_1/002-0154713-4482452?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

$10 mail in rebate on power supply

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/00/00/00/50/60/07/50600721._V47547095_.pdf



Total now $276.16

-$10 rebate

Total after rebate $266.16

Answer 7

If you don't need high performance, get a AMD Sempron compatible motherboard with intergrated graphics, and get a Sempron that matches its socket type. For the RAM, simply get the RAM type the motherboard requires.

Answer 8

image enjoying cards checklist in the event that they're low profile or no longer. Get a low profile image card through fact a prevalent sized wont greater wholesome. Low profile value much less, yet they're going to by no ability provide you that top overall performance a prevalent card does.

Answer 9

I tell this to everyone. It's more than likely cheaper, and better, to buy a new computer then to upgrade an old one.

This is a good site to look at for prices

http://www.pricewatch.com