Desktop Question Revised

[jronald]

Im running a very old Athlon XP desktop. Needless to say its slow. I dont use it much, so normally thats fine. The HDD is failing, and it is maxed out as far as the Mobo goes.

Question may need to be answered via PM:
If I purchased a Dell Mobo, with pieces parts of what I already have I could build a 3.2 ghtz machine. Could I then use a Dell Recovery CD, that are littering Fleabay and load Windows 7?


Thnaks
Ron

[Medessec]

If you wish to improve your computer from a vastly old Athlon XP, you'll be wanting to stay away from Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium D, and all related Celeron CPUs.

I'd recommend anything that takes Core 2 Duo or newer, preferably LGA 1155(second and third-gen Core i-series) or X58(Extreme socket first and second-gen Core i-series). You can find all this hardware for really cheap online, or at E-waste or other electronic surplus. But most Core 2 Duo computers will run Windows 7 very soundly with no issues, and anything newer will scream compared to an Athlon XP machine.

Getting a Dell mobo by itself and then using a Dell recovery CD may not work, because you'll still probably need the OEM key, which is usually a sticker on the actual desktop chassis, not the motherboard. It still might be worthwhile, because the Dell recovery disk may still allow you to load Windows completely, at which point you can see if the SLIC on the motherboard will do it's job. If not, you may be in a world of trouble, and you'll have to just buy a copy of Windows 7 anyways.

Good luck, and hope this information helps. If anyone else finds a mistake and would like to correct/add-on, feel free.

[jronald]

OK, lets revisit.

I really like Plan A with the recovery disc. However thats no gaurentee, I could put it all together. Im confident of the Hardware, not so much on the software.

Plan B
Buy a Desktop (no screen, keyboard or other) for about $100.00. That would give me a known quantity that I could add too.


Basically, the Athlon XP Im using now is some websurfing/Youtube. Hooked to it is an array of HDDs, in a powered housing connected via USB 2, and Ethernet to a couple odd NAS. Other than the W7, its not a very demanding life!


Thoughts/Suggestions?
Ron

[jronald]

Quick update:
Picked up a Compaq Mobo, built by Asus. 4 IDE channels plus 2 SATA channels $9.00
Athlon XP 3200+ was $13.00
Vista Business for $30.00
2 X 250 Gig Maxtor's for $15.00

Recycled case with 680 watt P/S, Keyboard, Rodent, Sound system and Monitor. Pulled a front mounted CF/USB/SD and so on reader and installed it. Recycled a 80 gig Seagate for the primary HDD

About $70.00 so far, got to build it myself (with Uby's help). Explained everything as I went so that the 12 year old understood. Vastly faster than the old one, will be just fine no more than I use it.

Ron

[RealBlackStuff]

I made an accepted offer and bought one of these for $85: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251533999704
Apply the Slic-No Whitelist BIOS and you're good to go.
Got one like this before, works great!

[jronald]

Im necroing my own post, is that like kissing your cousin in West Virginia?

Scrounging today and found 2 Promise Controller, left the ATA66 where I found it, but grabbed the ATA133.
Scrounged some more and found 2 160gig WD HDD's, configuring was a bit of a PITA, but everything is up and running on dual power sources just fine.

Ron