advice on whether to replace / restore

Fifer73

Hi to all

Looking for some advice guys on whether to replace my aging desktop , or perhaps buy either a new one, or look at getting one built again .

My current desktop which was built around 8 years ago ( might have been longer not to sure )

its not the best now - dvd drive a bit hit and miss , usb ports sometimes dont connect first time .

information that i have been able to find on pc is as follows

windows xp home SP3
AMD Athlon 64 processor 4000+
1.0gb ram
NVIDIA GEFORCE FX 5200

I am not techie savvy at all , i can turn it on and off thats about my limit, unsure at what i should be looking at if i buy a new machine .

Went into my local pc world ( happy for other suggestions of where i should be looking instead ) but didnt have the slightest idea on where to start

would consider desktop / laptop
Happy to consider getting one built rather than off the shelf

Or could my pc be rebuilt and brought up to date

I use pc for internet , tv catch up occasionaly , skype ,
office ( excell and word now and again ) no gaming - other half sometimes plays football manager

budget wise £350 ish would be the highest i could go

Any advice on what my options / costs could be

Which recommended pc / laptop to buy or avoid would be greatly appreciated

many thanks

bluesnake

It's always nice to have a new pc.

However £10 for 4 port card from ebay may cure the usb issue. While you splodging out cash, some memory 4Gig I would suspect to be under £50

If you after a laptop I would look here http://www.hotukdeals.com/computers/deals/hot. Personally I would avoid Acer and many older designs with the Nvidia graphic in them were pants too.

All this aside, I just built up my old PC to give to a friend, and it is spec wise very similar to yours, but with poorer graphics, also about 8 years old. It will do the job, but could do with an SSD drive in it

Fifer73

Thank you for the reply , I have been using a 4 port usb thingy ( technical i am not lol ) which has helped short term

If i upgraded the hard drive , how much roughly would a newer version of windows be to bring old pc up to date ?

A friend said i would be cheaper buying new system , which is why i posted on the forum , as i want to review all options before i decide on what to do .

Happy to consider all makes
and will look at laptops alsp

NiftyDigits

Fifer73 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply , I have been using a 4 port usb thingy ( technical i am not lol ) which has helped short term

If i upgraded the hard drive , how much roughly would a newer version of windows be to bring old pc up to date ?

A friend said i would be cheaper buying new system , which is why i posted on the forum , as i want to review all options before i decide on what to do .

Happy to consider all makes
and will look at laptops alsp

You need to identify the Motherboard if it is a custom built PC.

You can do that with CPU-Z

Fifer73

Thanks Nifty
pc wouldnt run / save CPU-Z , not sure why

got this from system information if its any good to those in the know


but other information i have been able to get from pc , which will mean a lot more to all you in the know , whether i can save this / rebuild

or point me in the direction of a new / refurbished unit .

system manufacter : micro star international
system model : MS-7312
System type x86 based pc
processor x86 family 15 model 95 stepping 3 authentic AMD 2600 Mhz

googler

This machine should be perfectly serviceable for the uses you describe, perhaps just needs a little tweaking to bring it up to scratch.

Do you have your original installation discs for the Operating System (Windows XP) ?

Fifer73

Thanks for that googler,

I have had a look in my little box, where i normally keep printer disks , pc disks etc and cant find any of the instilation disks relating to the instal of XP

Does anyone know of roughly what i would need to bring machine up to date with windows 8 ( or is it 8.1 )

compaired with buying new / refurbished / on built

many thanks

googler

Install a replacement optical drive first. It's easy. Lots available on eBay. Lots of how-to guides on YouTube and all over the web.

eBay UK tells me you can get an XP installation CD for less than £10. Install XP from one of these, download Chrome and Firefox, then disable Internet Explorer as a Windows Component. Optionally, install a new Solid-State drive as your primary drive, then put your current HDD back as a secondary drive. The SSD will make it fly.

If you have a free PCI slot, install a PCI-USB card to give you working USB ports. Check the existing ones to make sure they're not gummed up with dust and dirt.

Do you have install discs for Word and Excel, and any other primary applications that you use?

Ben84

Fifer73 wrote: »

Or could my pc be rebuilt and brought up to date

It's not really practical in my experience. 8 years has seen most everything change how it connects to everything else, so the moment you put in a modern motherboard everything else connected to it needs changing too. You'd be able to re-use the keyboard and mouse, perhaps case and monitor.

You could investigate if the USB ports are dirty/dusty for no cost. The DVD drive may benefit from cleaning too. If they're really getting worn out you could probably get some replacement parts quite cheaply, even free if you look around. Old computers are everywhere and you could get a DVD drive out of one of them. USB cards are less common, maybe you'd have to go online to find one. Your computer is reasonably old however, I would not be surprised if the power supply and processor fan are in poor condition. None of my original equipment ones have lasted 8 years, but it does depend how much it's used.

Anyway, this system does seem able to manage the things you need it for. Fixing it up a bit would work, but if the no cost/very low cost options don't work, personally I'd look in to getting a refurbished computer. I wouldn't pay out for a windows 8 disc, it's an expensive option and you'll still have an old computer that doesn't work with most modern software. The hardware requirements for windows versions are surprisingly low, but quite what you'd do with an 8 year old computer running the latest version of windows is a mystery to me. In fact, with the poorer compatibility windows 8 has with the older software that's suited to the computer, it could in fact become less useful! Usually I promote fixing stuff, but really computers are another matter. I was browsing for my sister yesterday and saw this actually, which gives some idea what you can get on even a small budget: http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/14849/Lenovo-M58-SFF-Desktop-PC-Core-2-Duo-3-0GHz-4GB-160GB-Windows-Vista-Home-Premium/

googler

You don't actually NEED Win 8 or 8.1 for what you're doing. If you're happy with XP, carry on with it, just use a browser other than Internet Explorer and you'll be fine.

Fifer73

Thanks for the replies guys , food for thought to what to do ,
I have microsoft office 2003 on pc and again cant find the disk either .


I wouldnt be comfortable trying to remove or replace items on pc myself, but may look at a local shop that do refurbs sytems or a quote to update what i have already , as i would rather save money than buy new if needed.

had a brief look in pc world the other day , to then get told if i wanted office and anti virus etc it would cost an additional £120 on top of pc/ laptop . This made me think i could spend just that money alone on either repairing what i have, or buying a refurb unit at around that money or a little more to have a perfectly good little unit to deal with what i use .

thanks for all the advice guys :T