Novice PC Question

[jo1010]

‘Historical’ PC re-build?

I have a problem. In one corner of the room sits our old Evesham Evolution 3 PC – complete apart from HDD which is u/s. I’m wondering whether it’s worth reviving this (what was a top spec) machine – I’m thinking this mainly because of the Pentium 3 GHz processor, but would the overall result be worth it?

My basic aim is to have a machine (on a budget) that will just handle quick internet searching and download business documents (200Mb) - no gaming use.

For the cost of
- new disc drive (160Gb as originally fitted) - £70
- OS, say windows 7, - £80
- memory upgrade (512Mb originally on Intel D875 board) to 2x1Gb - £100

Having done that I could have a ‘reasonable’ machine – or would I? The answer hangs on the likely performance of the rebuilt Evesham and the cost of doing the rebuild. At around £250 for the above listed bits, compared with the cost of an off the shelf box (complete with OS, 4Gb RAM and 500Mb disc) for say £340. But for this cost difference to be decisive the performance of the Evesham would have to be close, or better, than the newer machine – otherwise I might just as well spend the extra £90 and have a new machine. Or alternatively look at ebay and buy one of the older machines that gamers sell when upgrading, but that route has some pitfalls as well?

Can you help me decide what to do? (Thanks in advance!)

[Kymmy]

When you say Pentium 3 Ghz is that a P3 1Ghz or a P4 3Ghz?

The earlier could be used as a cheap linux box.. would browse/download OK but that's about it.. The latter could be used with windows (xp or 7 though linux would be faster) and would again do what you want for it.. but don't expect too much either way

[carlwaring]

You would certainly have a reasonable enough machine to handle what you have stated you want it to do; though I don't know if it would run Win7 well enough. (It will according to the specs, but in a 'real world scenario I'm not too sure.

Do you feel competent enough to remove the motherboard completely? If so, you could go for a Mobo Bundle from Novatech and a new hard drive for much the same, or cheaper, price.

[Kymmy]

Not sure where you got your memory prices from but 2x1gb should be no where near £100

Also remember that Linux is free for a GUI/web and doesn't need the memory that windows requires.. Also a 160Gb HDD should be only about 20-30£ new from ebay

[Halcyon]

Old memory can be expensive if you dont go down the Ebay route and want new.

You will find it copes alright but anything like more demanding Flash content on webpages may struggle at times.

You could get a new more upto date machine for about £300

[ZrByte]

Just incase the op takes time to reply it will be a p4 3GHZ in that system.
Personally I would do what a lot of others have already said.
1. Second hand hard drive £30 max from ebay or if you really want to buy new it will cost a bit for an IDE drive but for £70 you can get twice the capacity you quoted here.
2. Linux (Free) and doesn't need a memory upgrade as it will happily run on 512MB.

All done, machine will run smoothly and all for £30 - £70.

Alternatively if you don't like linux does your system not still have a valid XP serial? Because if it does that will do the job fine.

[Rob]

I really wouldn't spend money on a machine that is that old. Consider it obsolete. Yes it could be made to work, but as your own prices suggest you'll still have quite a basic and slow PC compared to the entry level PCs now available for not much difference in cash, and that new entry level PC should still do you well for a few years to come, yet your existing one would already be wanting.

[tweetiepooh]

If it has a CDROM, boot a live Linux from that, optionally store data to USB stick. Or if it can put Linux on USB stick/memory card and boot from that.

But a cheap hard disk and you are away. Use a small Linux distro without the heavy weight desktops (no KDE, no Gnome) and it will work.

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

If it has a CDROM, boot a live Linux from that, optionally store data to USB stick. Or if it can put Linux on USB stick/memory card and boot from that.

But a cheap hard disk and you are away. Use a small Linux distro without the heavy weight desktops (no KDE, no Gnome) and it will work.

Its not that old, it will run KDE and Gnome easily. It would even run Windows 7 fine. Im doing it now on my media centre A P4 3.2Ghz HT with 512MB ram.

[tizmeinnit]

£170 to upgrade this or £189 for a whole new computer ( add win 7 as you already said) no contest me thinks? http://www.ebuyer.com/344621-zoostor...ktop-7873-1056

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

£170 to upgrade this or £189 for a whole new computer ( add win 7 as you already said) no contest me thinks? http://www.ebuyer.com/344621-zoostor...ktop-7873-1056

At the prices quoted in the OP its a no brainer to go with the one you linked to but if they buy the drive secondhand and do the work themselves it'll only cost £30. And if they are on a budget its definitely worth £30 to get going again.

[jo1010]

Thanks so much guys for all the info and pointers on this. As my original prices were way off (for various reasons), it does seem like its worthwhile in spending a little on a disk to find out if it looks like the machine is going to be half capable - although I do appreciate the points made about the very competitive pricing of new kit. At least then I'll know what the machine is basically capable of, and then base a decision of whether to upgrade or start again from that point.

The pricing on memory was from the crucial memory site - I entered the details and noted their recommendation. When I looked closer their price was for DDR ECC memory, and then I realised that they also sold non-ECC memory for less than half the price. Moral of that story I think is to check and then check again.

Thanks to everyone for their input - looks like I'm going to get better educated in the dark arts of technology! Cheers