This might get a bit long...
System #1:
- 5yrs old, over-worked, poorly maintained, case yellowed by 5 years of sunlight
- Pentium III 533Mhz, 384MB PC-100, ATI Rage 128, 20 GB HD which is ALWAYS has 99% free space
- 17" monitor, missing one of the brightness pins (it seems) picture is so dark, I think it might actually be absorbing more light than it emits
- Heavily soiled 102 key mulimedia keyboard and optical mouse which I'm positive could provide shocking advances in bacteriological warfare techniques
Info:
This system has been worked into the ground by my dad and younger brother, neither of whom could use a computer to find their way out of a paper bag. I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy it. I'd feel incredibly guilty selling it anway, knowing the anguish that person would experience "trying" to use it. My question is whether there are companies that take old parts and recycle them for a bit of cash, or if there is anything else I can do with it besides leaving it on the curb or hiding it in the attic?
System#2: Current:
- S478 P4 2.66Ghz w/HT (overclocked to a stable 2.75Ghz) 800Mhz FSB
- Abit IS7-E I865i
- 1024GB generic mish-mash DDR400 CL3 (suprisingly stable when overclocked, but incapable of operating at CL2, unsure wether this is single or dual channel memory)
- ATI 9800 Pro 128MB DDR AGP 8x
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2
- 1 40GB and 1 80GB 7200RPM UDMA hard drive
- Enermax D43028 350W PSU
Info:
This is my current system. I bought it two years ago from a local store a friend recommended for $2500CAD. I think if I'd been smart I'd have built it myself, saved a few hundred dollars and been more careful about what components I included (ie brand name RAM). I've been able to overclock all of the components reliably, thanks to the consistently low temperatures inside my case. It's time for me to upgrade though, so I'm going to be replacing all of its major components and using them to build System #3, my dads new system in a new case at stock temperatures with a lot of idiot-proofing. I've been reading a lot of comparison articles, forum posts, and reviews to try and determine which new parts to buy and have a pretty good idea of what I want. I'm hoping that you, the Anandtech community, will be able to provide some guidance, answer a few questions, and point out any incompatibilities that I may have missed, before I go spend a whole whack of cash again.
Here are what I have in mind for the upgraded System #2 and the new System #3 at the moment.
System #2:
- Motherboard: Somewhat undecided, I was originally going to go with the 925 or 915 chipset to have PCIe and DDR2 but I need to complete this project before Christmas (the new system is a gift to my dad) and I have been unable to find any retailers selling competitively priced PCIe GPU's that aren't back ordered until new years at the earliest. It also appears, from lab tests that DDR2 isn't much faster than lower latency DDR (while being 30-50% more expensive) at the moment and may go the way of RAMBUS. With those considerations in mind I'm now looking the 865PE chipset. I don't have any experience with AMD but would consider going this route if significant and well documented advantages exist.
- Processor: If I stick with the 865PE (most likely since I will be hard to sell on AMD simply due to my familiarity with Intel components) I will be upgrading to either the P4 530 or 540 processors (3.0 and 3.2Ghz respectively, both with 1M L2 Cache and 800Mhz FSB). Are the extra 200Mhz of the P4 540 worth the extra $50?
- GPU: I have been a long supporter of ATI cards but am finding myself drawn to the eVGA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB. As I mentioned before, I had originally wanted to go the PCIe route to open up the potential for an SLI set up down the road. The AGP 8x 6800 GT is at the price point I am looking for and supports SM3.0 which leads me to believe it will be more future-proof in that department than say an ATI X800 XT. The cooling solution looks mighty spiffy on the eVGA card too
.
- Memory: I havn't decided on specifics here yet. It would have been DDR2 as required by the 925 and 915 chipsets. With the 865PE chipset I am looking at 1024-1536MB of DDR. My biggest question regarding memory choice is speed. I see offerings of DDR at 400, 500, 533, 550Mhz but havn't come across any 865PE motherboards that support greater than 400Mhz dual channel DDR. Am I missing something here?
- Power Supply: I'm not sure about this one. My current power supply is an Enermax D43028 rated at 350W. With the new components I am throwing in will it be necessar to upgrade? I intend to overclock down the road but probably no more than 5%. After upgrading I will have 2 Hard Drives, 2 Optical Drives and an Audigy 2 in addition to the components above.
On to the new system, which will for the most part inheriting my old parts. I'm not too worried about hardware compatibility here since I know the major components work well together. I intend to build the system into an Antec Sonata case which is smaller than the full tower that the parts came out of (the reduced size, and therefore airflow is one reason I won't be overclocking this time around), but everything should still fit if the Sonato supports a standard ATX motherboard right? Also, while looking for a new LCD monitor for this system I have come across several that have a 15Pin D-Sub connector. The ATI 9800 Pro that it will be interfacing with has sVideo, DVI and VGA output. Is the D-sub connection something entirely different or just another name for one of these interfaces? I'm not really familiar with LCD tech since the last monitors I bought was a CRT. My dad is sold on the idea of having a flat screen though, but I'd like to keep the cost down. Any recommendations here would be appreciated.
That's all for now, sorry it's so long. All help is welcome, thanks in advance
AJ
System #1:
- 5yrs old, over-worked, poorly maintained, case yellowed by 5 years of sunlight
- Pentium III 533Mhz, 384MB PC-100, ATI Rage 128, 20 GB HD which is ALWAYS has 99% free space
- 17" monitor, missing one of the brightness pins (it seems) picture is so dark, I think it might actually be absorbing more light than it emits
- Heavily soiled 102 key mulimedia keyboard and optical mouse which I'm positive could provide shocking advances in bacteriological warfare techniques
Info:
This system has been worked into the ground by my dad and younger brother, neither of whom could use a computer to find their way out of a paper bag. I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy it. I'd feel incredibly guilty selling it anway, knowing the anguish that person would experience "trying" to use it. My question is whether there are companies that take old parts and recycle them for a bit of cash, or if there is anything else I can do with it besides leaving it on the curb or hiding it in the attic?
System#2: Current:
- S478 P4 2.66Ghz w/HT (overclocked to a stable 2.75Ghz) 800Mhz FSB
- Abit IS7-E I865i
- 1024GB generic mish-mash DDR400 CL3 (suprisingly stable when overclocked, but incapable of operating at CL2, unsure wether this is single or dual channel memory)
- ATI 9800 Pro 128MB DDR AGP 8x
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2
- 1 40GB and 1 80GB 7200RPM UDMA hard drive
- Enermax D43028 350W PSU
Info:
This is my current system. I bought it two years ago from a local store a friend recommended for $2500CAD. I think if I'd been smart I'd have built it myself, saved a few hundred dollars and been more careful about what components I included (ie brand name RAM). I've been able to overclock all of the components reliably, thanks to the consistently low temperatures inside my case. It's time for me to upgrade though, so I'm going to be replacing all of its major components and using them to build System #3, my dads new system in a new case at stock temperatures with a lot of idiot-proofing. I've been reading a lot of comparison articles, forum posts, and reviews to try and determine which new parts to buy and have a pretty good idea of what I want. I'm hoping that you, the Anandtech community, will be able to provide some guidance, answer a few questions, and point out any incompatibilities that I may have missed, before I go spend a whole whack of cash again.
Here are what I have in mind for the upgraded System #2 and the new System #3 at the moment.
System #2:
- Motherboard: Somewhat undecided, I was originally going to go with the 925 or 915 chipset to have PCIe and DDR2 but I need to complete this project before Christmas (the new system is a gift to my dad) and I have been unable to find any retailers selling competitively priced PCIe GPU's that aren't back ordered until new years at the earliest. It also appears, from lab tests that DDR2 isn't much faster than lower latency DDR (while being 30-50% more expensive) at the moment and may go the way of RAMBUS. With those considerations in mind I'm now looking the 865PE chipset. I don't have any experience with AMD but would consider going this route if significant and well documented advantages exist.
- Processor: If I stick with the 865PE (most likely since I will be hard to sell on AMD simply due to my familiarity with Intel components) I will be upgrading to either the P4 530 or 540 processors (3.0 and 3.2Ghz respectively, both with 1M L2 Cache and 800Mhz FSB). Are the extra 200Mhz of the P4 540 worth the extra $50?
- GPU: I have been a long supporter of ATI cards but am finding myself drawn to the eVGA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB. As I mentioned before, I had originally wanted to go the PCIe route to open up the potential for an SLI set up down the road. The AGP 8x 6800 GT is at the price point I am looking for and supports SM3.0 which leads me to believe it will be more future-proof in that department than say an ATI X800 XT. The cooling solution looks mighty spiffy on the eVGA card too
.- Memory: I havn't decided on specifics here yet. It would have been DDR2 as required by the 925 and 915 chipsets. With the 865PE chipset I am looking at 1024-1536MB of DDR. My biggest question regarding memory choice is speed. I see offerings of DDR at 400, 500, 533, 550Mhz but havn't come across any 865PE motherboards that support greater than 400Mhz dual channel DDR. Am I missing something here?
- Power Supply: I'm not sure about this one. My current power supply is an Enermax D43028 rated at 350W. With the new components I am throwing in will it be necessar to upgrade? I intend to overclock down the road but probably no more than 5%. After upgrading I will have 2 Hard Drives, 2 Optical Drives and an Audigy 2 in addition to the components above.
On to the new system, which will for the most part inheriting my old parts. I'm not too worried about hardware compatibility here since I know the major components work well together. I intend to build the system into an Antec Sonata case which is smaller than the full tower that the parts came out of (the reduced size, and therefore airflow is one reason I won't be overclocking this time around), but everything should still fit if the Sonato supports a standard ATX motherboard right? Also, while looking for a new LCD monitor for this system I have come across several that have a 15Pin D-Sub connector. The ATI 9800 Pro that it will be interfacing with has sVideo, DVI and VGA output. Is the D-sub connection something entirely different or just another name for one of these interfaces? I'm not really familiar with LCD tech since the last monitors I bought was a CRT. My dad is sold on the idea of having a flat screen though, but I'd like to keep the cost down. Any recommendations here would be appreciated.
That's all for now, sorry it's so long. All help is welcome, thanks in advance
AJ
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