building a pc

[polski]

im planning on building a computer and have about 800 to spend. I have parts from my old computer that I am thinking about using. I am not using the computer for gaming just for work and school basically. I have a 20gb hard drive and 256 sdram. Any suggestions?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

You're probably not going to want to use that ram over again. What speed is it?

Do you need a monitor? Keyboard/mouse? Speakers? Windows?

 

[biostud]

A64 2800 socket 754
nForce3-250 s754 mboard
512 Mb PC3200
Radeon 9200
Seasonic S-12 330W (get this if you value silence)
80Gb Seagate 7200 rpm
a nice looking case w/o PSU

 

[polski]

yea the ram is very slow...i dont need a monitor/case and any of that just the pc it self. I was thinking maybe p4 2.8 but i don't know which motherboard

 

[Promethply]

Yeah, you can use your old hard drive, but the SDRAM's a gonner.

If you'd like to save some money, just keep most of your peripherals, unless they're not working anymore.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Do you know what kind of case you have? Does it have decent airflow? Is it a full sized ATX case that will fit a powersupply above the motherboard area, or does the powersupply go in front of the motherboard with the same height on top?

 

[Promethply]

Originally posted by: polski
yea the ram is very slow...i dont need a monitor/case and any of that just the pc it self. I was thinking maybe p4 2.8 but i don't know which motherboard

If you're using socket 775 and don't mind integrated graphics, then have look at this:

ASUS P5GD1-VM

 

[polski]

I'll be buying a new case to maybe 1 for 80 but this is what i was thinking
Intel Pentium 4 3.0E GHz Socket 478 1MB L2 Cache 800MHz FSB
2x256 pc3200 ram
80Gb Seagate 7200 rpm
cheap video card

which motherboard should i go with? Should i even get the 3.0ghz p4?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Most systems recommended here are A64 systems. You can get a very nice system for not too much based off of one. A64 shines when it comes to gaming and performs well for everyday tasks too.

What are you hoping to accomplish with this upgrade?

What are you using now that doesn't run well?

You should definately go for a gig of ram in your new system. You can get a 2x512mb kit for around $90.

 

[polski]

im mostly going to use my computer for work and school and maybe some video editing. My old pc is a 1.6ghz and motherboard recently fried so i figured it's about time to get an upgrade

 

[Promethply]

Originally posted by: polski
I'll be buying a new case to maybe 1 for 80 but this is what i was thinking
Intel Pentium 4 3.0E GHz Socket 478 1MB L2 Cache 800MHz FSB
2x256 pc3200 ram
80Gb Seagate 7200 rpm
cheap video card

which motherboard should i go with? Should i even get the 3.0ghz p4?

Didn't know that they still sell socket 478 -- in that case check out this mobo:

ASUS P4GE-V

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Maybe something like

MSI motherboard with integrated vid
A64 3000+
Antec Case w/ 350watt PSU
gig of corsair

add in a harddrive you want and you should be fine.

Can you reuse your optical drives then?

 

[polski]

thanks i might use my old video card

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: polski
im mostly going to use my computer for work and school and maybe some video editing. My old pc is a 1.6ghz and motherboard recently fried so i figured it's about time to get an upgrade

Most mboards will get the job done, look for features you need like firewire and SATA, so no need to spend money on things you don't need.

I would really recommend investing in a silent CPU cooler + PSU if you use your computer a lot, it really makes the experience much better.

 

[necine]

just buy yourself a cheap dell. no reason to build here... get a cheap dell deal and you might need to buy more ram.

 

[polski]

i have decided to go a64 3200+ with a Neo2 Platinum motherboard

 

[stevty2889]

If you want to use a socket 478 P4, I'd recomend this motherboard.. It's got decent intergrated graphics, so you won't even need a video card, but does have an AGP port in case you want a video card later.

 

[AwesomeJay]

Asus socket775 motherboard

P4 3.0

1GB PC-3200

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: polski
i have decided to go a64 3200+ with a Neo2 Platinum motherboard

Why not get the motherboard I recommended with integrated graphics?