Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Douglas
Been reading up on RAM etc to see what options I have.
It's looking like it may be more cost effective for me to just go get a whole new box. The broken one is 6 years old and so are all the peripherals in it (fans, pwr supply etc.).
If I got a new box with SATA drive(s) in it, could I just sub my present SATA drive in or would it be easier/better to use it as a slave?
I was running Vista 64 without any problems, and liked it better than my wife's Win 7. I don't really want to go to WIN 7 or 8, but if that's what will be so be it.
If looking at new boxes, what cpu should I be looking at as a minimum? The old computer handled my pics and videos fairly easily and quickly. I'm not sure how much of that was due to its being a quad core processor.
Any suggestions would be helpful. If I have to I'll use my DVD player/burner from the old computer. I definitely will be using the old HD in some fashion as all my pics etc are on it and my old old computer won't interface with SATA as far as I know.
I really appreciate everyone's input so far.
Thanks.
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It's almost always cheaper to build your own than buy a retail box. There are exceptions, you could find a crazy blow out / loss leader sale or good deal on a factory refurb but we are not talking savings of 50% over building the box yourself.
As far as the 6 year old peripherals.
The case is not a wear item, no need to ever replace.
Case fan, you can find them all day long everyday from $5.00 and up and take 5 minutes to swap out.
case fan : Micro Center
Power supply. You can get 500W starting at $20.00. 15 minute swap.
Diablotek EL Series PSEL500 500 Watt ATX Power Supply PSEL500 - Micro Center
CD/ DVD. For readers only $10.00 and up. Writers $15.00 and up. 5 minute swap.
dvd drive : Micro Center
Hard Drive. 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA drive, $55.00 and up. 5 minute swap.
Toshiba 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive DT01ACA100 - Bare Drive 965038 - Micro Center
Add in the the $69.99 AMD bundle plus new RAM you can walk out of Microcenter with everything you need all at once for $200.00
Personally if funds are an issue I would not replace functioning peripherals until necessary.
I would strongly consider grabbing a hard drive as that is the most critical component related to data loss but the other stuff I'd take a wait and see approach.
If you are totally paranoid about data loss grab 2 hard drives. The Gigabyte board in the bundle has an onboard raid controller.