Posted on 05/18/2008 8:30:30 AM PDT by RebelTex
FWIW, myself and several family members have had very negative experiences with this firm.
Others I've talked to have done fine.
I suggest the ThinkPad R61i (76509LU). We bought two from Newegg a few weeks ago, and they have been nothing less than superb. Specs include a Pentium Dual Core (essentially a Core 2 Duo with less cache), 1 gigabyte of memory, DVD burner, 15 inch widescreen, Windows XP, and everything else a ThinkPad has. And, we paid about $600 for them.
As for your existing system, most new system boards do not support older DDR memory, Socket A processors, or even AGP video cards. You could keep the case and power supply, and maybe the drives. But why keep PATA drives when you could go for cheap and faster SATA drives?
If you're into desktops, check the PowerSpec PCs sold at Micro Center. Even the low end systems at $250-$300 are fairly good these days.
Looking at Newegg on the processor:
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On the Motherboard
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The motherboard has an integrated graphics adapter....does require DDR2 Memory...
Some of the reader reviews seem to indicate working with Vista....so windows XP should work,...most Linux distros will work...Ubuntu works for me on an ECS board with the 6100.
That AGP card is the equivalent to a $55 to $75 pci-e card now.
Your case is still near top of the line, I’d keep it,
your power supply if that old is only pumping out 60 to 80% of the 450W capacity due to capacitor deterioration.
You can buy replacement 3GB RAM (even as good as DDR2 CAS 5) for $75 after rebate if you keep your eyes on fatwallet.com and slickdeals.net
Look for a mobo/cpu combo, intel E4XXX cpu. Biostar or intel mobos often are had in combos.
www.frys.com is having an anniversary sale this very moment, they got some crazy deals.
you want to buy almost a new system, mobo, cpu, power supply, ram and video card.
Or check out the Lenovo factory outlet:
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/lenovooutlet
some good refurbished desktops, and many very good refurbished laptops to be had. If you go to fatwallet.com and create an ID there, shop through fatwallet and get 25% off some lenovo new systems until 5/19.
fatwallet.com
slickdeals.net
pricegrabber.com
Dell Precision 370 Mid-Tower PC Retail $279.99
Hard drive is very small....40 Gig...but it includes Windows XP Professional OS.
I don't have a lot of experience with very low end "made in Communist China" electronics.
The price is certainly jaw-dropping.
But the sort of thing I'm talking about - like an older Tyan dual Athlon MP - was a state of the art server motherboard until just a few years ago, and shouldn't have any problem humming along until the year 2020 or beyond [at which point the reliability of the electrical grid as provided by the local utility conglomerate will become more of a problem than the reliability of the mobo, owing to dysgenic fertility].
But, again, I can't argue with the prices on the "Made in China" parts.
Yeah, that's why I tend to surf eBay and Craig's List for old server parts - like the old Tyan server mobos I was talking about above.
For instance, just a few months ago, I grabbed a used Intel server mobo/combo off of eBay, with dual 3.06GHz hyperthreaded P4 Xeons, and 2GB RAM [upgradeable I think to 12GB], which was state-of-the-art circa 2005, and it cost me all of about $225 [if it had been purchased back in 2005, it would have cost $5000-$10,000].
And I don't mean to diss RebelTex, but I think part of his problem here is that he went with the cheap Soyo mobo in the first place.
My gut instinct is that if he'd spent a few more dollars on a quality mobo [Tyan, Intel, maybe Asus], then that system of his would have been humming along for another 50 years.
Keep the OS, CD, DVD, Power Supply, floppy drive, case, video card and card reader. Purchase a new AGP Mobo, AMD CPU, RAM and 2 hard drives in a RAID 1 configuration. Here's the equip and cost (from Newegg):
Motherboard: MSI K9MM-V AM2 VIA K8M800 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail: $50
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400 - Retail: $50
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor Model ADH4850DOBOX - Retail: $90.
Hard Drives: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3160815AS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM: $51 x 2 = $102.
Here's the procedure:
Remove the old Mobo/CPU/RAM from the case.
Install the new CPU and RAM then install the new Mobo into the case. It's a mini ATX and your current ATX case should have the mini-ATX anchors in it.
-Install peripherals including your old hard drives(s) on the ATA IDE channel.
Install the 2 new SATA drives as well. The Mobo comes with the cables for them.
-Boot up into BIOS and go into the Boot Devices menu and select the IDE channel to boot from rather than the SATA since you'll be booting into the old system at firest.
-While still in BIOS setup RAID 1 (mirroring) on the 2 SATA drives.
-Boot to the old system on the IDE channel. Use the Mobo disc and install all devices.
-At this point you have a bunch of options and I recommend just going over to the new drives ASAP since your old drives are old and prone to failure.
There's many ways to put your old drives' system onto the new RAID array and I recommend googling them to see which one is right for you.
So, for $300 you've got new hardware (5-yr. Hard Drive warranty) running the old system. And XP SP2 is better than Vista IMO.
Good luck.
>>>>>Yeah, that’s why I tend to surf eBay and Craig’s List for old server parts - like the old Tyan server mobos I was talking about above.
All good points which I’ll keep in mind for a future BYO.
A new desktop barebones system with SATA would let you use all your existing drives AND an new C: (like 500gb, for instance). Find one that can use DDR or DDR2 sockets.
Most new electronic is either from Taiwan or China.
Do you use a Floppy drive.,...newer MoBo are leaving that attachment out.
Also, you didn’t metion XP Home or Pro. If it’s Home you’ll have to do a new install to the RAID drives at first boot -don’t forget F6 and RAID floppy disk. Then you can do a backup and restore from old system to the new system. Don’t worry about Re-activation. Wait until the new system is up then call the 1-800 number and tell them you upgraded your hard drives and system. They should give you a new Activation code at that point.
Right, but traditionally there has been a HUGE difference between the two.
Personally I'd pay the extra $50 or $100 for the name-brand Taiwanese part [Tyan, maybe Asus] over the no-name part from Communist China.
If your computer is built with a quality mobo, it will last pretty much forever.
AGP is almost over. I would replace everything, especially if it really is 7 years old.
A lot of eBay merchandise is counterfeit. Beware of anything sold as new.
When I looked on craigslist all I saw were people reselling the Fry’s sale items from last week, marked up 25%.
I’m not going into hardware specs and such, as I’ve found most people wind up going with what they wanted in the first place. And, that’s a good thing. :)
What I will say is, I’ve switched to Linux over a year ago, and I couldn’t be happier!
It was difficult, at first. But, as I slogged through day to day, I found more and more free and open source software that would, indeed, replace the windows equivalent.
Being that I use my systems for business, you can imagine, I had some windows based software that were proprietary and had no windows counterparts. That is true.
So, I ventured into the world of “Virtualization”. There are 4 or 5 offerings in the Linux world, all free and open source. I tried 3 of them, and came away with VirtualBox. VB runs any windows software I’ve thrown at it, and does so with grace, no hacking required. It just works “as advertised”, and is simple to install, again, no hacking required.
So, don’t be wary of trying a Linux distribution, there are plenty to choose from. After I tried Mandriva, Linspire, Lycoris, Red Hat, and Novell Suse, I settled on Ubuntu, which is a Debian based distribution.
Just this last week, I switched from Ubuntu, to an Ubuntu derivative called Linux Mint. I find it to be much more user friendly, and it’s a bit quicker, as in snappier, than the standard Ubuntu. As well, it works flawlessly with my virtualization application, VirtualBox.
Back to your original post. LOL As far as hardware goes, I will say, since you seem to be the kind who will hang on to your PC for awhile, you might plan for the future in building one.
That would mean, to me, that you would want (at least) a Dual Core cpu (either Intel or AMD) that includes virtualization support/extensions, a full featured BIOS, and a minimum of two graphics adapters (video cards). I would build a system around these components.
Virtual Machines are big, and getting bigger. I’m seeing applications being written for virtualized environments and much more widespread use of Virtual Machines in the business community.
BTW, FYI, I still have one brand new-in the box, Soyo SY-71WA-F (socket 370) in inventory. LOL
What Tyan are you looking for? I have several used, one in use now, an S2462UNG Thunderbird K-7 (dial proc).
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