Heya; I used to build computers for myself and friends but gave it all up a while ago. I'm moving now, and since I'm not going to have dial-up (I was using a 10 year old laptop to check e-mails) I need something that can do allright on a broadband connection. Here's what I have access to now
ASUS A78NX-E Deluxe mobo
AMD 2800+ Socket A Processor
Gainward Ti4200 64 MB GPU
DVD Drive
3.5" Drive
I took my old PC2100 RAM and threw it into my brother's Dell 2400, it stuck, so now he's gone from 256 megs to 1 gig, and I'll pick him up a PCI vid card today, but looking at my old parts, I think I could still put together a decent system for myself with the old parts more cheaply than buying a new system.
First, I don't like the video card; I'm not even sure that the fan works on it, so that's a liability. A new, not-too-high-end card would be great, but I haven't been keeping up with news, and this stuff changes faster than a casual user can track. I pretty much want to play the odd strategy game, and watch movies etc. without any slowdown.
Second, I was never particularly good at building quiet systems. I'd like to build one that has minimum sound output, as I really don't want to have that horrible hum in the background, so any help there is appreciated.
Third, I know I need RAM but I'm used to going with Crucial; any recommendations are welcome.
Fourth, a decent HD?
Fifth, I know this might go under the second point, but what is a good case, esp. for quietude?
And lastly, I don't have any cooling on the CPU. I had some horrible suspended fan-over-heatsink thing that I really hated, so I'm definitely just going to chuck that or sell anything extra I have on ebay for a buck or two.
Allright, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks!
Cheers,
Peter
ASUS A78NX-E Deluxe mobo
AMD 2800+ Socket A Processor
Gainward Ti4200 64 MB GPU
DVD Drive
3.5" Drive
I took my old PC2100 RAM and threw it into my brother's Dell 2400, it stuck, so now he's gone from 256 megs to 1 gig, and I'll pick him up a PCI vid card today, but looking at my old parts, I think I could still put together a decent system for myself with the old parts more cheaply than buying a new system.
First, I don't like the video card; I'm not even sure that the fan works on it, so that's a liability. A new, not-too-high-end card would be great, but I haven't been keeping up with news, and this stuff changes faster than a casual user can track. I pretty much want to play the odd strategy game, and watch movies etc. without any slowdown.
Second, I was never particularly good at building quiet systems. I'd like to build one that has minimum sound output, as I really don't want to have that horrible hum in the background, so any help there is appreciated.
Third, I know I need RAM but I'm used to going with Crucial; any recommendations are welcome.
Fourth, a decent HD?
Fifth, I know this might go under the second point, but what is a good case, esp. for quietude?
And lastly, I don't have any cooling on the CPU. I had some horrible suspended fan-over-heatsink thing that I really hated, so I'm definitely just going to chuck that or sell anything extra I have on ebay for a buck or two.
Allright, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks!
Cheers,
Peter