Hi,
My birthday is tomorrow, so for it, my parents are putting in $200 for new computer parts. Currently, my dekstop computer is a hand-me-down HP Pavilion with the following specs:
-80GB Hard Drive
-30GB Hard Drive (added in myself)
-Crappy CD-RW drive
-Crappy DVD drive
-512MB RAM (2 256MB sticks)
-Intel Pentium 4 1.6 or 1.8 GHz processor
-Creative SB Live! Sound Card (added in myself)
-Dynex USB 2.0 4-Port Card (added in myself)
-GeForce 4 MX (64MB RAM) (traded out with family's computer myself)
-Running Windows XP
Now, for the new computer parts, obiviously, if I want to get anywhere, I will need to start from the base up since I am on a properiety HP motherboard now apparently. From my calcuations, with my price range, I should be able to get the following three components:
-New case
-New Motherboard
-New Processor
-Possibly new $30 DVD/CD-RW drive
Additionally, I can put in some of my own cash twoards this, but I am not sure I want to put in more than $50 to $75 at max even though I could put in a few hundred as I am saving for a car.
Also, for the remaining components, I plan to add those (RAM, Sound Card, USB Card, Graphics Card, HDDs) in from the old computer until they are replaced over time. Heck, the faster processor alone would be nicer.
Anyways, what would be the best things I could get from microcenter.com for my budget? I can go either AMD or Intel, just which ever one has a better, cheaper, faster processor. I plan to go at least Dual-Core. To me it looks like the AMD® Boxed Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ is a pretty good deal for what I am looking to build.
So, using microcenter.com (no online-parents say it is to much hassel/shipping), what components would be best fit for me to get? Any additional advice?
Thanks!
*One note: It was originally going to be between $200 worth of components or $200 twoards a 19"-22" LCD screen to replace my HP CRT monitor, I feel like the hardware is more productive/worth it.
*One other thing: If I want to at a SATA drive, do I need a specific MoBo for that? I want my new motherboard to at least be able to support SATA HDDs.
*Another thing: I just ran CPU-Z and found out my RAM is DDR, while it seems some motherboards require DDR2. Can I use DDR RAM or do I have to get DDR2 RAM?
My birthday is tomorrow, so for it, my parents are putting in $200 for new computer parts. Currently, my dekstop computer is a hand-me-down HP Pavilion with the following specs:
-80GB Hard Drive
-30GB Hard Drive (added in myself)
-Crappy CD-RW drive
-Crappy DVD drive
-512MB RAM (2 256MB sticks)
-Intel Pentium 4 1.6 or 1.8 GHz processor
-Creative SB Live! Sound Card (added in myself)
-Dynex USB 2.0 4-Port Card (added in myself)
-GeForce 4 MX (64MB RAM) (traded out with family's computer myself)
-Running Windows XP
Now, for the new computer parts, obiviously, if I want to get anywhere, I will need to start from the base up since I am on a properiety HP motherboard now apparently. From my calcuations, with my price range, I should be able to get the following three components:
-New case
-New Motherboard
-New Processor
-Possibly new $30 DVD/CD-RW drive
Additionally, I can put in some of my own cash twoards this, but I am not sure I want to put in more than $50 to $75 at max even though I could put in a few hundred as I am saving for a car.
Also, for the remaining components, I plan to add those (RAM, Sound Card, USB Card, Graphics Card, HDDs) in from the old computer until they are replaced over time. Heck, the faster processor alone would be nicer.
Anyways, what would be the best things I could get from microcenter.com for my budget? I can go either AMD or Intel, just which ever one has a better, cheaper, faster processor. I plan to go at least Dual-Core. To me it looks like the AMD® Boxed Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ is a pretty good deal for what I am looking to build.
So, using microcenter.com (no online-parents say it is to much hassel/shipping), what components would be best fit for me to get? Any additional advice?
Thanks!
*One note: It was originally going to be between $200 worth of components or $200 twoards a 19"-22" LCD screen to replace my HP CRT monitor, I feel like the hardware is more productive/worth it.
*One other thing: If I want to at a SATA drive, do I need a specific MoBo for that? I want my new motherboard to at least be able to support SATA HDDs.
*Another thing: I just ran CPU-Z and found out my RAM is DDR, while it seems some motherboards require DDR2. Can I use DDR RAM or do I have to get DDR2 RAM?
