Desktop Computer Rebuild: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Dec. 5, 2011 8:07 a.m. PHeller Dork

I've got a 1.8ghz Sempron 64, 2gb ram, 600gb Seagate, 7gb Raptor, and a few drives in an old ATX case. I built this computer for $550 in 2006. It's time to take her out to pasture.

Now, my parents need a computer, but my mom doesn't like the quirks of this old one. The drives don't always open, the USB's are quirky, and she doesn't understand that operating system is on the smaller drive and storage is on the big one.

However, the old system still moves pretty quick. Most its that 10,000 rpm Raptor that helps for loading of the OS (Win 7).

I'd love to take the two HDDs, disc drives, and monitor, and build a new system...but is it worth it? To buy a case, motherboard, and ram might cost $400, but my mom can't buy a new computer and monitor for that price.

What I use it for: ArcGIS 10 Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, etc Google Earth Other mapping related big data type stuff. I would really like to learn video editing, and be able to watch Hulu comfortably on the system.

Not doing much of any gaming anymore, so video card doesn't really bother me.

I do want the biggest screen I get, though.

Suggest away!
Dec. 5, 2011 8:45 a.m. Xceler8x SuperDork

You know you can get a pretty good lappie for $400 right?

Office Depot's Laptops from $100 - $500.

I'm a fan of Toshiba's myself.
Dec. 5, 2011 9:07 a.m. scardeal HalfDork

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+SyncMaster+27%22+Flat-Panel+TFT-LCD+Multifun...
Dec. 5, 2011 9:15 a.m. mtn SuperDork

Best buy had a deal that ended Saturday: Lenovo 15.6" screen, 320gb drive, 4gb DDR3, AMDE450 processor, $299. Damn hard to beat that one. Like I say, it ended on Saturday, but keep your eyes peeled and they'll have another deal as good or better soon.
Dec. 5, 2011 9:29 a.m. Johnboyjjb Reader

Watch Newegg or Tigerdirect too. They have some great deals every now and then.
Dec. 5, 2011 11:21 a.m. SyntheticBlinkerFluid Dork

TigerDirect always has brand new $299 Acers and Asus laptops every couple weeks. Usually pretty good specs.

They also have $249 Emachines, but I wouldn't touch one with a 10ft pole.

I need to keep an eye out though, I want to get the wife a laptop for Christmas. It's gonna be last minute too.
Dec. 5, 2011 12:19 p.m. PHeller Dork

I don't want a laptop.

Restrictions on RAM and hard drive space...not to mention you only get a screen thats 17.5" or so...

I also have a little Asus 1215n which suits all of my needs for a laptop.

I like a mouse, a real keyboard, and a rear monitor for getting things done.
Dec. 5, 2011 1:28 p.m. nderwater SuperDork

Floods in Thailand have caused hard disk prices to rise sharply in the past two months. I should have pulled the trigger earlier in the year on a Core i3/6GB/1TB desktop from the Dell Outlet - it was the best deal I'd seen at $350 including tax and shipping. My advice is to check techbargains.com a coupe of times a week to keep an eye on desktop package prices.
Dec. 5, 2011 2:00 p.m. ultraclyde HalfDork

If you can get good Mobo / processor packages from Tiger or one of the builder houses for a couple hundred bucks, why not keep the case and reuse the drives and ram? I'd bet you can pick up a combo pack for cheap since it will have to use the older DDR2 RAM (I'm guessing). You can always add a larger monitor down the road.

Of course, finding a desktop on sale as mentioned above is pretty common these days. And you get all new shiny bits.
Dec. 5, 2011 2:58 p.m. Xceler8x SuperDork

PHeller wrote:

I don't want a laptop.

Restrictions on RAM and hard drive space...not to mention you only get a screen thats 17.5" or so...

I also have a little Asus 1215n which suits all of my needs for a laptop.

I like a mouse, a real keyboard, and a rear monitor for getting things done.

Understood.

Typically laptops are more expensive so finding a desktop with more horsepower in that price range should be cake. Just check out Best Buy, Office Depot, etc. The officer stores usually have some good deals on pc's if you're not interested in the latest gaming setups with Nvidia cards.
Dec. 5, 2011 3:40 p.m. donalson SuperDork

as mentioned HDD priced recently jumped... we're talking a 1TB for $50 is now running $180... but you can still find some local and at the big box stores for cheap (espeically externals... which are just normal HDD inside)

anyway with what you have I would look at the build kits at tiger or spec something from newegg

or... depending on what socket your mobo is you could possibly upgrade just the processor and slim it down to 1hdd

another option... just find an ATX mobo and processor... if your ram is ddr3 then you can even use that if you really wanted to...

lots of options but it depends on what the specs of the other bits are... but most older folks don't tend to need the power
Dec. 5, 2011 5:21 p.m. Johnboyjjb Reader

Don't forget you can always pull the 600GB hard drive out and stuff it in the new one instead of buying a new HD. They have combo deals like this that are pretty good too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.757848
Dec. 5, 2011 5:49 p.m. bigbens6 Reader

400 WITH a new screen is gonna be tough.... 400 for just the internals is doable... can you list specifically what you have in there, memory type/speed, PSU, case size, and that will go a long way to deciding what you can or cannot do with a 400 dollar budget.
Dec. 5, 2011 8:05 p.m. pigeon Dork

Dell Vostro Intel i3 WITH 20" LCD for $400 From Techbargains: Dell Vostro 260 Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Sandy Bridge Desktop w/ 20in LCD $399 Dell Small Business has the Dell Vostro 260 Mini Tower Intel Core i3-2120 Dual-Core Sandy Bridge Desktop Computer w/ 20" LCD Monitor for $399.00. $8 Shipping. Tax in most. 20" Dell E2011H LCD; Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core Sandy Bridge; 2GB RAM; 250GB HDD; DVD burner; gigabit; Windows 7 Home Premium; 1yr warranty; 15mo Trend Micro Business Security; keyboard/mouse
Dec. 5, 2011 8:06 p.m. Xceler8x SuperDork

There are 142 desktop units on Best Buy's website for under $500. I'm betting at least 10 of those are under $400.
Dec. 6, 2011 12:15 p.m. bigbens6 Reader

the problem with those dell's is longevity, they will need replaced relatively soon as they are already kind of out of date, and 2 i am not so sure they are gonna be good for video editing, streaming hulu should be easy for most hardware these days, but video editing or even large pictures is gonna take a decent chunk of memory to run WELL, and preferably some relatively fast memory as well, 2gb @ 1333 is pretty basic requirement these days, when you start brining up multiple image layers or video segments its gonna be tasking your old HDD ALOT for data instead of your memory, 4gb @ 1600 is the minimum I would accept myself....

A quad core will help this a TON for multitasking as well so you can have rendering going on while uploading while bringing in new stuff, or else your gonna get bogged down quite alot., and your going to want enough space to hold said files...