Little advice needed (new pc)

[scott81425]

hello,

I just found this website and you fellas seem to know what you're talking about. I need to upgrade my pc. I have a few options on what I can do about that, but I was told that the mobo in my current pc doesn't offer that much in terms of expandability. its running an athlon 1.8ghz processor, and has AGP but no pci-e. Should I upgrade the parts of that computer? Should I buy a new mobo. Should I go Ebay and buy a barebone system? Or, should I go Dell? I have heard terrible things about dell's service, but I have owned an HP computer for 2 years, and have never even had to place a call to them. Usually you can get a decent dell 5150 refurb for around 400, which is about 100 less than what I am looking to spend. Please advise.

 

[macdude425]

Welcome to TF. What are you looking to do with your computer after it is upgraded?

Dell is probably not your best option. Their lower-end models are not well-built, and the high-end ones are terribly overpriced.

 

[talldude123]

That current system should be able to last you another 2-3 years, if you take good care of it, without upgrading.

I would just recommend upgrading the video card once in awhile, to keep up with the latest games.

Dell's are so expensive in the long run, since you cant use any parts. You have to use "DELL" parts.

 

[WorldIndustries]

Stay away from pre-builds, like everyone else says. If you want, you could possibly upgrade the CPU with a little research (or just give us your motherboard specs, and we can find out for you).
You could also upgrade the RAM, and video card as talldude suggested.

 

[scott81425]

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4807540

i think i may have found a winner. i am looking, mainly, for an everyday use pc. it will be used for mild gaming, but probably not anything too serious. from what i have read, i think an amd athlon 2.2 would be sufficient, but i'd like to step up to a 2.8 if i go with intels counterpart. at least 1gb of ram, but it doesn't have to come with that, i can always upgrade. 160 gb hard drive. and preferrably a pci-e x16 slot, but i would settle for agp. where i get lost in all this is the socket style. i mean- i have a case and a 400 watt power supply in my current computer, but i don't know what i would need to do to put in a new mobo.

 

[scott81425]

wow. i got a lot of replies while i was typing mine up. so, you think it would be more cost effective to just buy a 160gb hard drive, and put in 1gb of ram? maybe i'm not very good at searching for deals online.

 

[talldude123]

You could put in a larger hard drive and more RAM, and that would make the PC run alot faster and smoother.

Check out Newegg for the best deals in upgrading computers.

 

[scott81425]

any thoughts on that compaq pc? another problem i have with constructing a new one, is that i don't have a retail disk of xp. my computer has a COA on it, but i don't have the disk. so, if i went barebones, i would also have to buy that.

 

[talldude123]

The Compaq is okay, but....

1. Lots of preloaded junk, like Norton and HP stuff

2. 512 MB RAM isn't going to be enough when the huge 160GB hard drive is full.

3. The graphics are 128MB integrated, not good enough for any games out there.

What is your current system specs?

 

[scott81425]

currently, on my desktop, i am running a 1.8 athlon processor (i don't know the exact model number) with a whopping 256 mb ram and a 60 gig hd. it has a pc chips 825 mobo, that on one of the other forums in internet land i was told uses a crappy chipset. thats where i am interested in upgrading. but my understanding is, if you change the mobo, you have to reinstall windows. and thats not an option, as i have no disk. well, i take that back, it is an option, but i think just buying that compaq and another gb of ram, and i would be better off.