[Walker]

Hello, this computer I have right now is collecting quite a bit of age

1.0Ghz, 512 MB SDRAM, GeForce 5500 256mb RAM are the specs as of right now....

The main thing I want to replace is the cpu and the motherboard. My CPU cooler is breaking as we speak too so I would like the motherboard to have a nice cooling system. I checked my motherboard manual and it is at the max amount of memory and can't support high speed processors. Anyways, where is a good place to buy new OR used motherboards with just processors on them? I would like to just put all my old parts on the new motherboard until I can afford to start upgrading other features.


thanks for your time, i can post any information needed.

[Advertisements]

Well for proper reccomendations we will need a rough budget, also if you want to keep the gfx card we will need to know if its PCI or AGP.

[warriorscot]

Well for proper reccomendations we will need a rough budget, also if you want to keep the gfx card we will need to know if its PCI or AGP.

[Walker]

It is PCI, and my budget is around probably 200. I was checking out pricewatch and it seems like i can get a decent upgade for for that. I am not looking for a massive upgrade, just maybe something like 2.0Ghz so where I can try out age of empires III

[warriorscot]

Youra actually in a bit of luck there usually PCI is bad but in your case its good because it means you can get a PCI-E motherboard and not need a new gfx card right away, i would probably try and get an nforce4 motherboard(a gigabyte or MSI maybe an Abit are best bet for cheap and high quality) and get a 939 AMD a 3200+venice is a good choice right now as they are fast enough to do about anything but are quite cheap.

What you might need is a new powersupply for this more powerful hardware as well, these will run about 50 quid for a decent one.

[Walker]

about how many us dollars is 50 quid?


also, do you have any reccomendations on where to buy a combo that you speak of? or should i go ahead and buy the parts seperately somewhere?

[SRX660]

Walker, you might want to take a look at this. I know that you will have to wait to get the rebate back, but the price is right.

http://www.tigerdire...CCODE=WEM1105AF

SRX660

[warriorscot]

That system isnt exactly ideal it doesnt offer much more upgrade potential that what he has now sure its cheap but its not ideal. Also 50 quid works out as about 50 dollars as the prices are generally the same and i was using quid as the saying not actually the actuall meaning as in pounds sterling.

[Walker]

Walker, you might want to take a look at this. I know that you will have to wait to get the rebate back, but the price is right.

http://www.tigerdire...CCODE=WEM1105AF

SRX660

That does seem nice for the price. So if I purchased that, everything mentioned comes installed? or seperate?

The only thing is, it doesn't support PC133 SDRAM.... am I going to have a hard time finding something that supports my ram?


P.S. Does tigerdirect.com have a pretty good rep around these parts?

[SRX660]

It all comes as parts that you have to assemble. Yes, it is limited in upgrades compared to the fastest available now. It can also be upgraded to a pentium 4 3.4 processor, 800 FSB, has 2 SATA ports( 150MB) to upgrade the disk space. It still can run IDE drives also. DDR ram is cheap and still faster than the old sdram.

Heres DDR-400 512Mb for $40

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145026

Via chipsets usually dont support dual channels so just about any memory will do. I do like the crucial stuff but i would go with a gig of memory. XP runs nice on a gig of memory.

This gets you a new system that can tide you over until you can get a real fast system. It will still blow the doors off a 1 gig system. I have a athlon 1 giger system i built a few years ago and even the intel D101ggcl beats it at games. I have built 2 of the intel D101ggcl systems, and 2 biostar N7CG400 systems for people that are happy with them. I dont really like the ultra cases as they are kinda cheaply built( but not really bad cases) and tiger direct charges you tax on sales which i think is kinda cheap. No one can seem to match tiger direct for the prices tho. I have had no problems on RMA's(returns)and the rebates can be a pain to have to print out and send in. But thats just normal stuff. Again, be aware that ultra products are kinda cheap but they do what is needed to do. One thing against this kit is that the mach speed motherboard is no longer produced. They have moved on to newer systems. I have not had problems with the mach speed motherboards but they are not cutting edge either. Just basic run everyday stuff.

Its your decision but i just thought i'd throw that one out there as its only good for a couple of days.

SRX660

[warriorscot]

Well if youre planning on putting something together that you want to game with and keep for a little while its not the greatest choice, but its up to you. Also all the US staff have always told me newegg is cheaper than tigerdirect.

[The Colonel]

Well it all depends, for Motherboards, CPUs, and GFX Cards, newegg is cheaper. For barebones, PSUs and memory, tigerdirect is cheaper.

...

CompuVest is cheaper than both xD

[jrm20]

Well it all depends, for Motherboards, CPUs, and GFX Cards, newegg is cheaper. For barebones, PSUs and memory, tigerdirect is cheaper.

...

CompuVest is cheaper than both xD

Every site has their ups and downs or pros and cons... Newegg is the best site by far because everything is all positive if you have a defective device they will not b!t[h or moan about it like memory or motherboards and they will replace it with the same product. Their shipping is by far the best available and they have no tax in all states but 2 states..

Tigerdirect is not a bad site but you hardly ever get a rebate back from them if they offer one on a product.. They have tax and their processors are like $10, $15 or $20 more than newegg is.. The Motherboards is the same thing about $10-$20 more than newegg.. Overall if you build a custom system from newegg and buy all the parts from them you will end up saving money in the end because factor in the cheaper prices on mobos,cpu's, and video cards then no tax then cheap shipping.... So OVERALL newegg is your best bet.

About the cheapest site I have seen would be zipzoomfly they are about $5 less than everyone on some stuff like sound cards and mobos sometimes...