BSOD: Time to replace some hardware?

[TechnoPro]

My mothers PC is a rebuilt Compaq Presario that's 4-5 years old. It's been upgraded with a new Seagte 120GB HDD, more RAM bringing the total up to 384 MB, XP home, and a DVD-RW drive.

It is now constantly blue screening, each time with a differemt error STOP code. I look up the error codes and they all point to different problems. I always suspect bad power or bad RAM when a PC erratically blue screens like that.

The PSU is a relatively new Antec True Power so I don't suspect that. Memtest86 and Memtest86+ both fail during testing, but no errors appear - each progam just stops at a certain interval. Do people agree that one or both sticks of RAM are no good?

I'm debating whether or not it's worth buying new memory for such an aged machine, or would I be better off investing in a new CPU / motherbaord / RAM combination. Opinions, please.

 

[TechnoPro]

Anyone?

 

[allanon1965]

invest in a new machine...or build her a new one.....

 

[techdemon]

New PC or build one relatively cheap salvaging the HD and optical drives to keep the cost down. You could get new MB, Proc, and RAM for right at $200 and she'll see big boost in comparison to her current system.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: techdemon
New PC or build one relatively cheap salvaging the HD and optical drives to keep the cost down. You could get new MB, Proc, and RAM for right at $200 and she'll see big boost in comparison to her current system.

Thanks. I've decided on building a new one and salvaging all of the other newer parts. I am spending ~$320 on the MB/CPU/RAM as a I want a little more horsepower for myself when I am over there working.

I'm looking at the following:

* Abit AN7 motherboard
* Athlon XP 2700+
* Crucial 512MB PC-3200 RAM