Which way should I steer my mom...

J

jcminer

New Member
Hey Guys,

So my dad, years ago, had a computer shop build him and my mom a computer. To give you an idea of how long ago it was, I believe the CPU is an AMD Duron 1400 or something like that. Anyways, my dad is no longer with us and my mom is having issues with her computer. I went over to look at it and it runs very loud and at times sounds like it is dying. The main issue that she is having is sometimes she can't get it to power on at all and other times the monitor won't recognize that it is on and the monitor says it is not receiving a signal. So I opened it up to see if it was having any visual problems, did a little dusting, etc. Got it to work a little but by the time I was done it was having the same issues.

So I guess what I'm wondering now is:

Why is the monitor not recognizing that the computer is on? If it is because the parts are old and need to be replaced, should I steer her towards a $300-$400 computer at BestBuy (my mom needs the computer for a little web surfing and that's about it) Or do you think I can go low end on NewEgg and keep her current box, power supply, hard drive, dvd player and just buy her a new Mobo, CPU, RAM, video card, audio card. Which leads me into a couple of other questions:

The current hard drive slides in and out of the box and locks into place. Is there any reason that kind of technology wouldn't work with a new Mobo?

Also, If I was buying her a Mobo that had audio and video integrated into it already does that make it unnecessary to buy an additional audio and video card if she's not going to be doing anything to fancy on the computer?

Well, before I put you to sleep.....

What do you guys think I should do? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Jcminer
 
T

Turnitdown

New Member
As she's not going to be doing any gaming on it or anything at all like that.
I think your best option would be to save the hastle and just buy her a new machine all together, Choose your machine wisely though. Im sure you can get some great deals at the moment.
Getting a new Mobo, CPU, RAM, video card and audio card would be leading you towards the $300 mark anyway. Unless you have a really tight budget the extra $50 or so will be worth not having to change it all.
 
X

XanderCage

New Member
I'm sure you could build a pc for 300$ better than something valued at 500 retail.
cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103646 $29.99
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153120 $41.99
RAM:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134703 TWO of these $10 each = $20
hd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148316
$59.99
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104044$42.99

that's only $194.96 without shipping.

If a little web browsing is all she's gonna do integrated audio and video card should do just fine.
 
T

Turnitdown

New Member
XanderCage said:
I'm sure you could build a pc for 300$ better than something valued at 500 retail.
cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103646 $29.99
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153120 $41.99
RAM:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134703 TWO of these $10 each = $20
hd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148316
$59.99
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104044$42.99

that's only $194.96 without shipping.

If a little web browsing is all she's gonna do integrated audio and video card should do just fine.
Click to expand...
Wow, Things are so much cheaper in the U.S right now :O
 
J

jcminer

New Member
Thanks for the advice guys. Looking at your advice Xander, I was wondering a few things. I noticed you recommended a PSU, HD but no graphics card. It looked like the board had the audio built into it but wouldn't I still need the graphics card? Were you familiar with the hard drive setup I described in the original post? Would there be any reason to replace that? Also, did you recommend the PSU because I mentioned that it sounded like it was dying and it would be a safe bet that the PSU needs to be replaced? Thanks so much for your advice and anybody elses will also be appreciated.
 
tlarkin

tlarkin

VIP Member
If you build one you don't get a factory warranty and if it breaks you will have to deal with each company individually. Where as if you bought her an HP under warranty she could take it to any repair center and get it fixed for example.
 
J

jcminer

New Member
Ok...I think I'm headed this direction...

OK, I talked to mom a little bit more about where I was in the process and she gave me permission to spend between $400 and $500 to upgrade her computer. As far as I can tell she is ok with the current:

computer case
hard drive
DVD Player

While looking around newegg I'm pretty comfortable with the following unless you guys think I screwed up :):

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157139
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104061

If those will all work ok is there a certain power source I should look for? I think the Mobo says it's 24 pin so do I look for a PSU with 24 pin?

Anything else that I might be forgetting?

Thanks for your help!

jcminer
 
X

XanderCage

New Member
I would personally go with ddr2 800mhz, because i've had nothing but problems with 1066 ram. Other than that i mean you should be set. However, since it is for your mom, i would suggest that you spend less on the hardware of the pc itself, and spend more on a nice monitor or something like that, maybe new speakers. Since it's mainly a web browsing pc, anything that's on the market will suffice, and I know people love wide screen monitors.
 
lawson_jl

lawson_jl

New Member
I still thing the best bet would be getting her a new computer you can get an Acer computer complete with keyboard, mouse, speakers and monitor for about $400 brand new. This way you can give her the benifit of a new computer and none of the hassel of recycling old parts which are likely to fail soon and you'll be in this boat again next year.
 
mx344

mx344

New Member
Cool, pretty nice budget :)

CPU:AMD 7750 BE, it has a stock cooler, with it, and it would be better for multitasking, than the 5200+, even though i love my 5200+:)
CPU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103300
Mobo:ASUS, has been great to me so far, have has 2 boards from them, now problems, and great overclockers, its al little more, but im sure youll be happy with it.:)
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131330
Ram:Get this ram sticks, best Ram brand IMO, they have been great to me, and my friends.
RAM:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146728
PSU: This ill be great for your system.No need for a huge PSU, i am running my computer off of a no-name 400watt psu.
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006

Generally a lot of the good PSU's have 20+4 pin, so you can take the 4 off if not needed...

EDIT: This all is $272.00, not bad for a good upgrade :)
 
Last edited:
B

bengal85

Member
I would just buy a new one I mean the machine is old let it go and upgrade technology is so much better now than it was even 2 years ago
 
mx344

mx344

New Member
^because he is basically upgrading the whole thing... Besides the case,DVD, and HDD, so its beasically like building a new computer...

Plus he is saving hundreds by doing this...
 
X

XanderCage

New Member
I honestly think that not upgrading the HD is dumb. An HD is not dumb, and we aren't even sure if that hd that he has will work with a new MOBO.
 
Y

yuki953

New Member
omg, i had this same problem, its most likely these 2 things...

PSU, yes, this happend once, we upgraded from 1 gb of ram to 4 gb, and we got the same problems as you, what we did was just go out, buy a cooler case + power supply, had about 150 more watts.. that fixed the problem.

if its not the PSU, its your mobo =(

and you only need another OS if you chuck the old one (recomend not doing)
just make the new one the slave to it, bam more space, and keep os+old files
 
Humveeluvr

Humveeluvr

New Member
I would go for a cheap new system that has the warranty to save any hassels down the road, and if need be later you can just add more ram or a video card.
 
mx344

mx344

New Member
jcminer said:
If I go with a new Hard drive do I need to buy a new OS too?
Click to expand...

Yes, you will have to buy a new os, if you don't have the CD for either Xp or vista... But i would also just get a montherbaord that has support for both sata n ide. Do you know what type of HDD you have?
 
J

jcminer

New Member
I'm not sure what kind of hard drive it is other then the hard drive slides in and out and locks into place.
 
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