newbie looking help- please?

**serverguy** · #31 19th Jan 2008, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by beetee

The following was detailed on the receipt,
Reinstall to own HDD(whatever that is)
512mb RAM
New Case
AMD 3000+cpu
.Brian

I guess that is feasible.

I don't know what the bit about Reinstall to own HDD is about either.

**philthomas** · #32 19th Jan 2008, 01:57 PM

Hmmmmm. ...... well I have to agree with serverguy ..... this guy certainly didn't do you any favours.

A new case approx £30-£35
512mb RAM approx £25-£30
AMD 3000+ Sempron 18 months ago maybe £50 approx ..... current price £18 here

Also he fitted a Sempron, which is a slow cut down Athlon CPU .... not really useful for anything demanding at all.

Looks like he charged you around £185 or more Labour, for at most a few hours work.

**serverguy** · #33 19th Jan 2008, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by philthomas

Looks like he charged you around £185 or more Labour, for at most a few hours work.

20 minutes ........

**philthomas** · #34 19th Jan 2008, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by serverguy

20 minutes ........

LOL ..... ok I was being generous

**beetee** · #35 19th Jan 2008, 02:03 PM

Ah well you live and learn,
the problem now is would I be better buying a new computer or fitting a dual monitor graphics card.?
brian

**philthomas** · #36 19th Jan 2008, 02:06 PM

What do you use the PC for ?

**beetee** · #37 19th Jan 2008, 02:08 PM

Sports trading(most used as in full time)
Photography(part time)ie photoshop etc.

**beetee** · #38 19th Jan 2008, 02:11 PM

I have 2 monitors could you advise a good system as in tower only?.

~~cheesewheels99~~ · #39 19th Jan 2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Carbon

I see no reason for him to have to figure out the mobo - if he needs a new gfx card, all he has to do is look for a physical PCI-E slot.

You can pretty much get anything, if you're not a gamer. Most if not all new cards have dual outputs. Try a 8500 or something.

ya i didnt see all the posts before that they wernt there

**serverguy** · #40 19th Jan 2008, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by cheesewheels99

ya i didnt see all the posts before that they wernt there

That is why it is best read the topic first.

**philthomas** · #41 19th Jan 2008, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by beetee

Ah well you live and learn,
the problem now is would I be better buying a new computer or fitting a dual monitor graphics card.?
brian

Sooner or later we all have to ask ourselves that question ...... i.e. how much more money do we want to throw at our old, often outdated and well used machine.

If your machine is reasonably fast and responsive, for your needs, then a dual graphics card wont break the bank, especially if you consider fitting it yourself and not using your previous fella. You may need a new PSU though.
On the other hand, if the system lags and feels sluggish and you fancy a change to something a bit more modern, cut your losses and grab the most up-to-date spec you can get for your intended budget.

Without labouring the point and I know nobody likes being ripped off, you have already upgraded this system once and the following observations might help you decide :

The ASROCK motherboard is a very basic/cheap model and by the screenshots and other information you provided , it is supporting 1 GB of 400DDR RAM and an IDE Hard drive (HDD) and I imagine this a fairly small one, by todays standards.
We haven't discussed what Power Supply Unit (PSU) is fitted either and this may not be adequate for a modern PCI-E Graphics Card.

A new box will allow you to choose a decent brand/model motherboard, which will support faster RAM and faster SATA Hard Drives, will have a larger Power Supply Unit (PSU) and give you the choice of a faster Processor (CPU) and Graphics Card.

Personally I would suggest looking for a Custom build, rather than looking for one off-the-shelf, that way you can specify exactly what goes into it and allow for some future proofing.

Give us a budget, if you decide to go for new and we can advise you a bit better.

**beetee** · #42 19th Jan 2008, 03:09 PM

Phil thanks for that reply,
budget isnt really a problem,I am more worried about getting what I pay for,ie not being ripped off again.
I have 2 monitors which are adequate for what I work at,so If I was to spend in the region of £400-£600
could you advise some spec for me.
I am not a gamer,I do have lots of music and picture files,I use a well known sports exchange which needs to be on constantly and refreshiing ie updating constantly(which I presume tkes a good proceesor.In my spare time I frame pictures,some of which I manipulate on Photoshop,apart from that,my computer would be used for surfing the web.My broadband is 8MB of which I usually attain about 5MB.
So thats about it really,that would be my requirements.
Brian

**philthomas** · #43 19th Jan 2008, 03:22 PM

OK .... a few questions :

1. Are your monitors TFT or CRT and do they have DVI or VGA inputs ?

2. Do you intend to install your existing Windows XP Professional OS on the new box and have you got the Installation CD/Product Code ?

**beetee** · #44 19th Jan 2008, 03:26 PM

Phil,
my monitors are TFT and are VGA i think(blue connectors)
I dont have a CD for my XP.
brian

**philthomas** · #45 19th Jan 2008, 03:33 PM

OK .... give me a bit of time and I'll see what we can find for that budget.
Unfortunately the cost of an OEM version of Windows XP Pro, is going to bump the price up, by a little over a £100, so if you can find the disk it will be in your interests.

Also dont just accept my opinion, I'm sure other folk on here will make suggestions for a system too, so wait for some more responses and weigh them all up, before making a move