This Barebone System Good?

[Blizzard Warrior]

Hey everyone

I was wondering if this barebone system is any good, mainly the processor, mobo, etc. Ill get RAM for it, but the biggest concern is that after i get this, if my optical drives, FFD, and HDD that i use on my current computer and will be compatible with this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220067455409

-Thanks
Jack

[Blizzard Warrior]

is this a better option?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pentium-D-945-3-4GHz-Dual-Core-P4-DDR-DDR2-BAREBONES_W0QQitemZ220067233605QQihZ012QQcategoryZ140075QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[glc]

No, they both use crap components. You are going about building a computer the wrong way. You don't buy barebones kits off Ebay or from any online vendors like Tiger Direct, they almost always cut corners on quality and make it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread. If your main priority is to have a CHEAP computer, go order a Dell or find an eMachine on sale somewhere. The purpose of building a computer is to have a QUALITY computer customized for your needs, and you buy individual parts from quality vendors such as Newegg.

Case in point: My sister had to buy a computer at the last minute for a Xmas present for her stepson - we found an eMachine with a Pentium-D 805, Radeon Express motherboard, 1 gig ram, 200gb SATA drive, DVD burner, XP Media Center, 56k modem, card readers, onboard sound and video (but a PCI-Ex16 slot), 15" LCD. and a Canon ip1700 printer for 600 bucks out the door. It's really not a bad computer and you can't build anything that good that cheap.

[Blizzard Warrior]

what about this barbone system?

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=506&l1=1&l2=1&l3=382

[glc]

You aren't getting the picture. What is your fixation on barebones kits?

It may be Asus, which is quality, but that's a small microtower case, the motherboard has a SiS chipset, it won't accept a dual core processor, and it has onboard video.

[Blizzard Warrior]

Basically i want to get a decent computer that has solid performance for gaming, and for cost saving reasons, I would like to use my current hdd, and GPU which needs an AGP slot. I would like to use my current case with the fan and opitcal drives etc. just need a new mobo, and CPU. If you have any suggestions for what i should go about doing that would be cool, thanks.

[Binh]

"Solid performance for gaming" is like apple juice, bares bones are like oranges. You can't get apple juice from an orange, get the picture? If your grfx card is AGP, I dont think it'll be enough for gaming, even if you turn EVERYTHING down. Tell us your budget and I'm sure we can help you.

[glc]

If you want to reuse your current case, that's even more reason not to buy a barebones kit.

Please list the specs for the existing system along with your upgrade budget. Be detailed, include the brand and model of everything including the power supply.

[Blizzard Warrior]

My computer is an hp pavilion a320n (http://search.hp.com/query.html?charset=iso-8859-1&hpvc=sitewide&la=en&qs=&lk=1&rf=0&uf=1&nh=10&st=1&qt=HP+Pavilion+a320n+Desktop+PC&ocoldqt=a320n&oc=364172).

My CPU is a AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 2.08 GHz,

512 Mb RAM (bought this 512 stick from newegg)

GPU is a Radeon 9200/9250 series AGP slot 256 mb (also from newegg)

MoBo is Manufacturer's name - ASUS A7N8X-LA HP/Compaq name - Explorer 2
Processor Socket Type Socket A (PGA462)
Processor Family AthlonXP (Barton, Thoroughbred, Palomino)
Processor FSB Frequency 266/333 MHz
Chipset Name NVIDIA nForce2
Memory Type DDR
Memory Speed PC2700/PC2100
Memory Sockets 2DDR DIMM (184-pin)
Maximum Memory 2 GB (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) (its 1 gig)
more info here (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00006476&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=364171&lang=en)

other info:
Hard drive:
120 GB Ultra DMA
5400 rpm

DVD drive:
16x maximum

CD-RW drive:
48x/24x/48x

Diskette drive:
1.44 MB (3.5-inch)

Modem:
High-speed V.92 ready data/fax

Video graphics:
Integrated nVidia GeForce4 MX graphics with up to 64 MB allocated video memory

Sound/audio:
Integrated AC97 audio
Six speaker configurable

Power supply specifications:

input voltage - 100-127 v ~ 6 A, 200-240 v ~ 3 A

max. output wattage - 250W

[blue60007]

Sorry, you might be able to re-use the optical drives but that's about it.

A 9200 series card is going to be a sad gamer. You might as well get onboard video, I imagine performance would be roughly the same (some of the latest integrated chips are actually halfway decent). Case probably can't be re-used either. It's likely micro-ATX and would limit your choices, plus it might be proprietary and you probably can't mount a standard motherboard and/or power supply in there. Speaking of power supply, it isn't going to work for a new build either...just not powerful enough.

Also the hard drive is 5400 rpm and will limit the performance (I suppose you could use it for the meantime and upgrade later though).

Also, how much can you spend on this build/upgrade? If we've got some numbers to work with we might be able to recommend something for you.

[Blizzard Warrior]

hm, my budget it pretty low, cuase i was hoping to just get a mobo, CPU and RAM, what range would you consider low though?

[newbuilder14]

Well, how much do you want to spend? If given a budget we can more than likely configure a setup for you if it is within reason.

For the future: Others (including myself) can follow your topic easier if you keep everyone in just one thread. :)

[dirtyp]

I would say get a hec orion 585 watt psu at mwave, your lackiing power...

You could get a hybrid board that supports ddr and ddr2..
this gives you the option to upgrade the ram when you have money..
but you need to get another stick of ram for gaming 1 gb is the min...

A new video card go to ati there selling a cf x800 for $75... You wont find much better with out spending at least 50 bucks more...

Check your board you might just be able to get a faster cpu and that will save alot, but you dont have enuff ram,power, or video.. Amd are good with overclocking you could add ram and video and oc it till it dies...

[glc]

As HP's go, that's not a bad machine. Your gaming issues are due to that video card - it's no better than the onboard Nvidia graphics. Put your money away and start saving more till you can afford a whole new build. There's really not much in there that will easily and logically transplant to a new build.

[Blizzard Warrior]

Hey,

Im sorry about the multiple threads, if you want to delete the others or merge them thats cool. I was looking at some pc's and i found one w/ the following config, it has an ASUS mobo, but im not sure about the rest of the quality. thanks,

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ 2.0Ghz Socket AM2 CPU
CPU Fan: AMD 64 Heavy Duty Cooling Fan With Heat Sink
Motherboard: ASUS M2V K8T890 (up to 5000+ CPU support)
Memory: not included (supports up to 4GB DDR2 533/677/800 memory)
PCI Express: 16xPCI Express slot
IDE/SATS: Supports two SATA/SATA2 and four IDE drives
PCI slots: 4 PCI and 1 PCI Express 1 slots
USB: 6 USB 2.0 ports ( 4 back and 2 front ports)
Sound: AC 97 6 channel 5.1 Full duplex sound (onboard)
Network: 10/100 RJ45 onboard network (Ethernet, cable or DSL)
Ports: 1 serial, 1 parallel, 1 microphone jack
Case: Black Neon Mid Tower 400w power supply (front USB)
Power Supply: 400W ATX power supply
Case Bays: 4 external 5.25", 1 external 3.5" , 6 internal 3.5" bays
Case Fan: 80mm case fan with neon light
Software: All driver disks and manuals are included.

and my budget is sitting around 400 bucks
-Jack

[Blizzard Warrior]

I was looking at this build as well (btw is there any really diffrence between athlon and sempron cpu's?)

box and mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856110055)

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220088)

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103633)

GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814195036)

HDD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106)

Comes out to about 464 bucks.

[dirtyp]

Like I said man you need a video card and memory, You can use the sytem you have with a agp card.

Then when you upgrade just get a board that has agp there alot still around, I normaly wouldnt reccomend a agp bt for under a 100 bucks not much difference.

With 4 cores coming out and conroes becoming popular all the other cpus will drop in price.
You could probaly get a p4 940 for 75-100 just wait a few months, then throw in your card.
By that time dx10/vista will have its flaws worked out.

So get a card that will play current games, worry about the other stuff later. You should upgrade ram but it will be worthless with your new build so stick it out.

[Blizzard Warrior]

So you reccomend I get this

Ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145407) so it will now total a gig.

and this for GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057)

im just not sure if my PSU can handle that, or my CPU

-Jack

[flanzig1]

Your CPU is fine but your PSU won't handle much above the 9250 video card. The old 9800Pro recommends at least 300w. That 1600Pro will need at least a 350w.

[Blizzard Warrior]

when you say my CPU is fine ur referring to the one of my current computer, the Athlon XP 2800+ right?

and btw what would u reccomend for a PSU, and is it possible that my HP might not be able to use standard PSU's but rather ones that HP make?

[Foosa]

First of all what games do you want to be able to play? Games like Half-life 2, Fear, Oblivion, and Rainbow six: Vegas, will require more power than say World of warcraft.

cpu-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103622
mobo-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569
case/psu-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155
cd/dvd rom-
reuse your old one
ram-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145480
hdd-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106
video card-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130017
os-xp home
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116169


total-612$
That is about as cheap as you can get without getting into inferior parts. But that set up will give you the performance you are looking for.

[Blizzard Warrior]

Cool thank you, btw could i just use my current version of windows on my PC on my new one?

[flanzig1]

If Windows came with the HP computer then no you can't use it. If you have a retail version then yes as long it is removed from the old PC.

[Blizzard Warrior]

Ah, ok thank you