NEW New Computer Tweakathread

[nynnja]

Thought my video card crapped out but now it appears my mother board crapped out. Boo-hiss. It's going on 5 years old so I guess I can't be too sad. My company's IT guy suggested the following and I'm looking for a second opinion (or alternatives).


Motherboard - $44.99 (Free Shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813153170
Processor - $72.99 (Free Shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116367
Memory - $42.99 (Free Shipping)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134718


FYI: My goal here is to make a reasonable upgrade to a perfectly useful but not extraordinary system. I basically use Quicken, Excel, multiple browsers, and a handful of other programs. I've pretty much forgotten about gaming on my PC with the exception of Minecraft.

[Macheath]

I won't pretend I've got experience with those particular parts and tell you "hey, looks fine" -- I will, however, point out a slightly more expensive option from the ArsTechnica "Budget Box" (my favorite and most trusted resource) and let you make up your own mind:

AMD Athlon II X3 445 3.1ghz ($77)
Asus M4A88TD-M/USB3 micro ATX motherboard ($75.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3-1333 CL9 1.5v ($53.99, $43.99 after rebate)

[nynnja]

I thought they stopped doing those builds a couple years back (2008) otherwise I would have checked it out. Thanks for the tip.

[nynnja]

New questions of the day:

1. If I buy one new SATA HD and keep my old IDE HD as a backup will that IDE drive slow down the whole system or just accessing that drive?

2. I know my video card is old but will it choke on Win7? Would I be better off using the video onboard the new mobo?

[nynnja]

I'm going with a new SATA HD, and an external enclosure for my existing HD as a backup, and my IT guy says my existing video card is fine. So I'm all set to order and of course the mobo Mac linked is gone. Anybody see a similar inexpensive option?

This MSI one seems close. Any reason not to get it?

[nynnja]

Yeah, I know, I'm mostly just talking to myself here. It's ok. I ordered the ARS system above but with the MSI board I linked. Plus a 500GB SATA HD and an external IDE enclosure for my old drive as a backup. New system = $292. I feel pretty good about that. Hopefully by next weekend it's all up and running.

[Macheath]

The motherboard I linked was the open box version. You could have bought a new one if you'd searched for it.

[nynnja]

I tried that but got bad results. User error.

Anyway that MSI one is identical and also open box so I saved $20.

[digiphreak]

New questions of the day:

1. If I buy one new SATA HD and keep my old IDE HD as a backup will that IDE drive slow down the whole system or just accessing that drive?

Too late yeah I know but the IDE drive will only slow down operations that access that drive. So your plan here is all fine and good.

[nynnja]

Good to know. Got the same answer from IT guy, but that's when he suggested a $10 external USB enclosure for the backup so it can be stored in a different place. Pretty harmless, cheap, and potentially a great safety. Granted if my house burns down I'm screwed, but I put that near the bottom of the list if my house is gone.

I might still throw an IDE drive in there for daily backup.