buy new or upgrade?

Mike

New Member
Hey folks... I'm trying to decide whether the system I have (purchased 1999)is worth upgrading, or to just say screw it and start new.

Here's what I've got:
Gateway w/ Windows 98
Motherboard: TABOR II
Processor: Pent II 450 Mhz
Memory: 128 mb 100 Mhz
Video Card: STB AGP
Floppy Drvie: 3.5
Hard drive: 14 GB EIDE
CD-Rom Drive DVD III-ROM and Phillips Recordable/Rewritable CDR
Monitor: VX900 19"
Graphics Acceleratior: nVidia 16MB AGP

I'm not a gamer. Only do occasional music downloading. My biggest problem now, I suspect, is having only Windows 98 which doesn't seem to support a lot of new software these days. Upgrading to Windows XP would help with new stuff but would it screw up everything else? My feeling is that I should start new but, not being that computer savvy, I don't really know. Any opinions will be welcome.

Thanks,
Mike
 

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
I think the most ideal thing to do is:
1. Take the computer to a small store; they have deals to upgrade it to something much more recent. Sure it will be cheap parts but its $200.

2. If you are satisfied with Step1, leave it at that, if you want more then swap out some of the parts (starting with the mobo) and build from there. You're end result will be much cheaper.
 

kb1ghc

New Member
i think it would be best worth it to buy/build a new PC, because that way you could use the old computer for something else, use it as a server, try linux on it, do all kinds of stuff
 

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah good call but if he isnt gonna need another system it would be a lot cheaper to build up :)
 

Yeti

VIP Member
That's almost exactly the same as my parents old computer (Gateway and all). I actually just built them a new computer for pretty cheap. Personally I would start anew, but if you really don't need anything more powerfull than what you have you could just add some memory and a new hard drive and install Windows XP on the system you have. Its not going to be very fast but it might suit your needs
 

Mike

New Member
decision made

Thanks for everyone's input. After considering everything, I decided to go new. I went with the HP a630n which seems to have everything I need. Also, I'm gonna keep the old computer around for a while and experiment around, try doing some of the things I was afraid I'd screw up. Of course, with the new one, I've STILL got questions. Onward to another thread...

Thanks again,
Mike
 
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