Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TheBoy]

Thanks for all the info., even though a lot of it is over my head at the moment. This is another reason why I thought of building my own outfit; I hate not being able to understand the ins and outs of something I use every day.
Thanks, Nige, for the links. I'll have a read and see if it sways my decision. Hope you and Chris are both well.
Bill.

Not sure if still available, or if been updated, but 'Upgrading and reapiring PCs' by Scott Mueller used to make for decent toilet reading

[shyboy]

Thanks, Jaime. I'll have a go at tracking it down. Sounds just what I need.
Bill.

[dispondent 1]

my two cents worth build your own and think first what you want it for ! oof forum, looking at smutties on internet, gaming, whatever,
then you can build your own specs with the best you can afford,
and if you get a problem you have only one item to deal with and not a complete unit thats been put together just to make the speck sheet look good! i always build my own never had any real problems, its not difficult ( cant be i can do it ) my mobo is getting on a bit so will change that soon with a new case ? 100 quid? use graphics card h/ds sound card ect ect then in a few months update graphics card sound whatever, its not so hard on the wallet  thats the way i would go

[willyboy]

Aldi warranty not always what it seems  you cant upgrade it usually that easily as Towers are usually small m8 had one could hardly fit a new gr/crd in as he wanted to upgrade it then if owt does go wrong you have to remove your newer items & put the old crap back in to return it...
Depending on what you want it to do gaming especially  I really do think buying seperates is better not always cheaper, as pre built models generally (Aldi)  have just a good enough psu just a good enough cooler, gr card is always some model that no gamer as heard of or a cut down vers of a decent one, a cheapo case & mainly an oddball motherboard  & Ram always they tout the 500/600/750gb Sata II hdd  to make it look good IMHO

[STMO123]

Hi Guys and Gals,
Wisely or not, I'm thinking of trying to upgrade an old PC which I haven't used for 5 years, as a project, and wonder whether this is a sensible proposition. The main purpose would be to drag myself into the 21st. century knowledge-wise, and to provide a second outfit for flight sim. gaming, internet access, word processing etc.
There seems to be plenty of info. and guides on the Internet, which I think I could follow OK, but I would appreciate an opinion from the experts on whether the idea is feasible for a raw beginner with no basic knowledge. Cost considerations would not be critical, and I'd like to be able to upgrade further in the future if my skills improve, and/or I live long enough. 8-)
Opinions would be much appreciated.
Bill.

You're fiddling with stuff again Bill.

[MindlessJD]

Much easier to do than it used to be as you no longer need to REALLY understand the details of how bus based devices connect!

Ow the fun of IRQ's, DMA's etc....

Less of an issue on lost cost mobos now due to how they connect up PCI/PCIe now - but the reverse of that is poor documentation on such mobos, so you have to plug a card in to see what irq its wired to.

Which is what I said....reality is the chances are the only card you will plug in will be a graphics one!

Where as of course you used to have an audio card, I/O card, Drive interface card, graphics card......modem....

Hmmm, looking at my (almost dead) desktop which runs with side off to disperse the smoke that will bellow out any second now...

Forgetting the video card, I see a soundblaster live car, a gigabit nic card (the onboard gigabit has long since blown up), scsi card, and a firewire card.


Actually looking at it, it needs replacing, but its become a
battle to see how long I can keep it running for

Hehe. That's what I'm doing with an old machine that I'm using as a file server!