repost from Tech

[Shojin]

You can just disable on-board graphics when you put in a graphics card.

If you have the know how you can just build your own low-end PC, which people here could probably help you with. Not sure how good the Canadian newegg is but you could probably use that. Get a cheap dual core processor, 2gb of ram if you're using 32bit OS, 4gb if you're using 64bit OS, a mobo that suits your needs, there are some nice cheap ones out there, then you can use the HD from your old computer. Getting a PCI-E slot will make it so much easier for you to find a good graphics card

[Shojin]

Damn newegg.ca is pretty overpriced

[Shiroikage]

DirectCanada is hard to beat for Canadian prices.

[Shiroikage]

NCIX sometimes has bitching deals, but they own DirectCanada so that site sometimes matches them.

[Shojin]

Anyway I just put together quick this rough build

Spoiler: show

http://i40.tinypic.com/2rysqpc.jpg

Not the best, but probably a big upgrade from your PC, plus it has a nice graphics card, you can go cheaper if you don't game much, 9600's are $20-30 cheaper, or you could go with ATI.

[Blarg]

You can just disable on-board graphics when you put in a graphics card.

If you have the know how you can just build your own low-end PC, which people here could probably help you with. Not sure how good the Canadian newegg is but you could probably use that. Get a cheap dual core processor, 2gb of ram if you're using 32bit OS, 4gb if you're using 64bit OS, a mobo that suits your needs, there are some nice cheap ones out there, then you can use the HD from your old computer. Getting a PCI-E slot will make it so much easier for you to find a good graphics card

By building it msyelf I assume you mean use my hands to actually assemble the parts, I think that is above my know how. When I did get my pc years ago I chose the parts in that I chose what vid card to get, what HD and whatnot but that's probably the extent to which I can build a pc.

If I can just get a graphics card equal or a bit better than the 9800 pro for 50$ I will just do that since I don't play any state of the art games, just wow and occasional CS or TF2

[Blarg]

Anyway I just put together quick this rough build

Spoiler: show

http://i40.tinypic.com/2rysqpc.jpg

Not the best, but probably a big upgrade from your PC, plus it has a nice graphics card, you can go cheaper if you don't game much, 9600's are $20-30 cheaper, or you could go with ATI.

Is that all that's needed for a computer to run? Do you not have to get fans and a case. For sub 300 I will probably just get a pc like that. The 50$ rebate on the card is just so they can give the game, is it possible to not get the game at all and get the card for cheaper.

[Day]

Man, if you can put legos together you can put a PC together, it's not as hard as you would think, most things can only go in one place and shit.

[Shojin]

Most stuff usually comes with stock heatsinks and fans, cases have fans also, this is the bare bones you need, the HDD, disc drives you could probably use from your old PC. Additional cooling fans are pretty cheap if you want those also, around $20-40 for a decent one, and can lower temps by 10-20c. But usually stock fans are fine unless you do intense gaming/use system intensive applications, or overclock.

[Blarg]

I am bad at legos but my brother could probably build the pc if I can't. Can you post the link to that computer shojin

[Shojin]

I used newegg.com, and I dont think they ship to Canada, I was just using it as an example as to how cheap you can build a semi-decent PC by yourself. If you can recreate it or build something similar, if you have any questions on whether one piece will work with your configuration then people here can help guide you

[Blarg]

The only power supplies around that price are 400W ones, is that too low, the 500W ones are about 50$

[Shojin]

400W should be enough yeah, but I personally wouldn't go under that. Most pre-built computers come shipped with a 300-350W PSU.

[Blarg]

I have no clue on how to check compatability and mostly chose based on price and how it sounded.

Ultra LS600 Lifetime Series 600W Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, PCI-Express in Canada at TigerDirect.ca

Newegg.ca - Foxconn G31MXP-K LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

NCIX.com - Buy Kingston ValueRAM KVR667D2N5/2G PC2-5300 2GB 1X2GB DDR2-667 240PIN DIMM Memory - KVR667D2N5/2G In Canada.

NCIX.com - Buy EVGA E-GEFORCE 9600GSO 650MHZ 512MB 1.8GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card - 512-P3-N963-TR In Canada.

Coolermaster Elite RC-330 ATX Blk Case 4X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS 1X120MM Rear Fan Front I/O Panel - DirectCanada

Amd Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition Dual Core Processor Socket AM2+ 2.7GHZ 3MB 65NM 95W Retail Box - DirectCanada

like 330$~ but probably need some extra shit like fans and whatnot

I have a dvd burner and cd drive I think I can move on over.

[Shojin]

something like this for RAM

NCIX.com - Buy Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory - TWIN2X2048-6400C4 In Canada.

As that mobo has a memory standard of DDR2-800

[Blarg]

I bought a 1g stick of ram a year ago for my computer (came with 1 gig), does ram fit in all sorts of computers?

[Shojin]

Lots of different types of RAM. The mobo you picked out uses DDR2, so any DDR2 SDRAM sticks you choose should work but sometimes you get the case where a mobo won't work with some RAM sticks for whatever reason. Apparently you can use different speeds of ram (assuming they're both the same type), but the bus will run at the speed of the slowest stick. Although I've never tried that and wouldn't recommend it.

DDR2 DIMMs are not designed to be backward compatible with DDR DIMMs. The notch on DDR2 DIMMs is in a different position from DDR DIMMs, and the pin density is higher than DDR DIMMs in desktops. DDR2 is a 240-pin module, DDR is a 184-pin module. Notebooks have 200-pin modules for DDR and DDR2, however the notch on DDR modules is in a slightly different position than that on DDR2 modules.

Higher performance DDR2 DIMMs are compatible with lower performance DDR2 DIMMs; however, the higher performance module runs at the lower module's frequency. Using lower performing DDR2 memory in a system capable of higher performance results in the bus running at the rate of the lowest performance memory in use.

So seeing as that mobo has a standard of DDR2-800 (PC-6400, basically ram where the memory clock runs at 200mhz and the bus clock runs at 400mhz) I would go with that to avoid any issues

[Blarg]

Lots of different types of RAM. The mobo you picked out uses DDR2, so any DDR2 SDRAM sticks you choose should work but sometimes you get the case where a mobo won't work with some RAM sticks for whatever reason. Apparently you can use different speeds of ram (assuming they're both the same type), but the bus will run at the speed of the slowest stick. Although I've never tried that and wouldn't recommend it.



So seeing as that mobo has a standard of DDR2-800 (PC-6400, basically ram where the memory clock runs at 200mhz and the bus clock runs at 400mhz) I would go with that to avoid any issues

Went a bit over my head. Is what you are saying is that I should use the Ram that you linked and not swap my ram in the computer i have no over because it would just make the new ram run slow?

[Skjie]

Drive out here, I'll put it together if you buy me beer.

[Shojin]

Went a bit over my head. Is what you are saying is that I should use the Ram that you linked and not swap my ram in the computer i have no over because it would just make the new ram run slow?

I don't know what RAM you had for your old computer, but its usually best to stick to the RAM best suited for your PC yeah. But it HAS to be the same type (like, DDR, DDR2, DDR3), you can't use DDR ram in a DDR2 mobo. And vice-versa. DDR3 is the newest out there, and the most expensive, some of the newer processors (like the i7) require DDR3 RAM.