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I was thinking of getting a new computer for my room, as my Pentium 3 has some serious problems. Now I don't want anything top of the range, just something that will let me do my homework/browse the net and play games. Now I know my dad won't dish out £800-£1200 for a new PC for me so I thought I'd have a look on E-Bay and I found some pretty good stuff on there such as:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&category=51144&item=5111161328
Anyway, I was wondering what you all thought. Is it wise to buy PC's on E-Bay? Have any of you ever bought any on there? How was the PC? Good? Bad?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&category=51144&item=5111161328
Anyway, I was wondering what you all thought. Is it wise to buy PC's on E-Bay? Have any of you ever bought any on there? How was the PC? Good? Bad?
Page:
Make sure you check out the user before buying, some are bad news.
Coin wrote:
> That's cool, that's cool...
>
> I forget - it is possible to keep the Pentium IV? From what I
> remember - last time I looked - it seemed quite "attached"
> to the motherboard.
>
> Also, there's all this extra casing around everything - compliments
> of Dell no doubt - is that a problem?
You'll be able to remove the processor from the motherboard, and all the ducting inside the DELL case will come out too.
> That's cool, that's cool...
>
> I forget - it is possible to keep the Pentium IV? From what I
> remember - last time I looked - it seemed quite "attached"
> to the motherboard.
>
> Also, there's all this extra casing around everything - compliments
> of Dell no doubt - is that a problem?
You'll be able to remove the processor from the motherboard, and all the ducting inside the DELL case will come out too.
That's cool, that's cool...
I forget - it is possible to keep the Pentium IV? From what I remember - last time I looked - it seemed quite "attached" to the motherboard.
Also, there's all this extra casing around everything - compliments of Dell no doubt - is that a problem?
I forget - it is possible to keep the Pentium IV? From what I remember - last time I looked - it seemed quite "attached" to the motherboard.
Also, there's all this extra casing around everything - compliments of Dell no doubt - is that a problem?
Coin wrote:
> How much do you want for the monitor?
I'll have to get back to you on that, I've got a load of other stuff I want to sell as well and I need to sort it all out first, see what I think I'll make from them.
> How much do you want for the monitor?
I'll have to get back to you on that, I've got a load of other stuff I want to sell as well and I need to sort it all out first, see what I think I'll make from them.
Stranger In Paradise wrote:
> One problem you may have is that whilst Dell do give you a Windows CD
> it is somehow locked to only work on Dell computers. I had an old
> e-machines PC with ME on it, so I tried to use the CD on it to give
> it XP, it lets you get so far, then throws up a "this is not a
> Dell computer" type message and hangs, leaving you having to
> reinstall the whole original OS etc back onto it.
This is not always the case. I have a DELL Windows XP CD which installs fine on non-DELL motherboards.
> One problem you may have is that whilst Dell do give you a Windows CD
> it is somehow locked to only work on Dell computers. I had an old
> e-machines PC with ME on it, so I tried to use the CD on it to give
> it XP, it lets you get so far, then throws up a "this is not a
> Dell computer" type message and hangs, leaving you having to
> reinstall the whole original OS etc back onto it.
This is not always the case. I have a DELL Windows XP CD which installs fine on non-DELL motherboards.
Well, thanks to years of improvements, building a PC is not much more complex than a kid's Lego set, except with bigger and more expensive pieces.
I just hate Dell.
And I want to be able to build my own computer, and while mines in good shape, I'd like to learn how to do it, so I can update it myself...
And I want to be able to build my own computer, and while mines in good shape, I'd like to learn how to do it, so I can update it myself...
Coin, why on earth is it Dell's fault you got a crap graphics card? They clearly tell you what card you get, and you can upgrade/downgrade it as well. I paid an extra £40 to get an ATI 9800 and then spent another £8 at PCworld to mod it to a 9800 PRO!
Had this Dell PC for over a year now and it has been 100% problem free, still runs as good as the day I had it and I've installed/reinstalled etc tons of stuff. Plenty of upgrade space as well.
Sure, the stuff like the case/monitor says Dell on it, but if it's okay for tv producers to use then I guess I'll manage eh? Everything is branded anyway so it makes no difference.
EDIT
One problem you may have is that whilst Dell do give you a Windows CD it is somehow locked to only work on Dell computers. I had an old e-machines PC with ME on it, so I tried to use the CD on it to give it XP, it lets you get so far, then throws up a "this is not a Dell computer" type message and hangs, leaving you having to reinstall the whole original OS etc back onto it.
Had this Dell PC for over a year now and it has been 100% problem free, still runs as good as the day I had it and I've installed/reinstalled etc tons of stuff. Plenty of upgrade space as well.
Sure, the stuff like the case/monitor says Dell on it, but if it's okay for tv producers to use then I guess I'll manage eh? Everything is branded anyway so it makes no difference.
EDIT
One problem you may have is that whilst Dell do give you a Windows CD it is somehow locked to only work on Dell computers. I had an old e-machines PC with ME on it, so I tried to use the CD on it to give it XP, it lets you get so far, then throws up a "this is not a Dell computer" type message and hangs, leaving you having to reinstall the whole original OS etc back onto it.
Miserableman wrote:
> Coin wrote:
> But it p!sses me off, because it's a DELL. And I hate DELL. I'd like
> to get Bill Gates and ram dell up his tiny ass, just for the sake of
> it.
>
> What's to hate? Does it go wrong? Is it unstable? If it's only a year
> old, you can borrow practically all the parts you want out of it.
> Seems to me you just want it to be not-a-Dell, which is easily done.
> You just need to change the case, the motherboard and the
> power-supply. BTW, Bill Gates donates more per day to charity than
> you and I will likely ever earn in our lifetimes, so cut the guy some
> slack.
Ugh, it's just, being a Dell... They've needed some better parts, they gave me a really terrible graphics card
> But yeah, I'm thinking of building my own PC. I'll probably have a
> budget of, ooh, around £300-£400. The 712MB ram can be
> removed, so that's about £75 off anyway. Decent monitor,
> 21", but will most likely want a TFT or CFT because it'll fit
> on my desk better (:D). I can salvage my mouse and keyboard, and perhaps
> my speakers, although I'll probably wanting a proper system with a
> big fat subwoofer and maybe some satellites.
>
> Can you salvage DVD / CD / Floppy drives? Because as I said, mine
> was new a year ago and has pretty quality stuff in that department.
>
> Also, bought an ATI Radion (9600?) graphics card about a month ago,
> but, me being so stupid as I am, neglected to check if my
> motherboard
> had a PCI slot, which it didn't.
>
> I sense some confusion here. If you got a 21" CRT monitor with
> your DELL, then you got a good DELL. But any good DELL would come
> with an AGP slot on the motherboard (I assume you meant AGP and not
> PCI - it's inconceivable that any computer made since 1994 would not
> have at least one PCI slot. AGP is a high-speed socket on the
> motherboard specially reserved for graphics cards). So I'm not sure
> exactly what's going on. Are you sure the monitor is 21"? That's
> absolutely *huge*, and I would never get rid of one if I had one
> (which I do, and none of you varmints are having it).
Yeah, sorry a meant AGP. :(.
> So yeah. Can you salvage HD's without the motherboard or is it
> all...
> Complicated?
>
> Well, congrats if you understood that, because I know absolutely bog
> all about building a PC.
>
> Oooh, also, P4 proccesor.
>
> But if you'd help me, I'd be so grateful...
>
> Okay, here's the plan. We're going to turn your DELL into a non-DELL
> by replacing the bits that differentiate your DELL from a machine you
> might build yourself, namely the motherboard, power supply and case.
>
> Now, your choice of motherboard is limited to your processor, which
> you've pointed out is some kind of PentiumIV. I know sfa about Intel
> motherboards, so I'm just going to point you to the board at the
> bottom of this page -
> [URL]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Abit2.html[/URL] -
> because it's cheap and reputable. Please find out what type of
> PentiumIV processor you have and report back before buying, because I
> don't know what version PentiumIV's that board is compatible with.
>
> Secondly, you need a case/PSU. Here you could do a lot worse than one
> of SR's Chieftec Dragons -
> [URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG2930_chieftec_dragon_bl.html[/URL]
> - there are multiple colours available, I presume you'd want black to
> go with the front of your CD/DVD drives from your DELL which are
> usually black, no?
Yep, it's black alright, was considering putting in some case modes, maybe a nice little LCD fan display :D... And the Dragons are so good looking but about twice as much as I can afford, might get my Godmother to bring me one over from America, about $99, which is about £55.
> Once you have those three items, you should be able to put in the
> rest of your components. You will probably also need to reinstall
> Windows, so I hope DELL gave you a Windows CD.
Yeah, I would check, but everything's in the shed right now... My room's getting re-decorated :P.
Pretty sure it is though...
Also, was wondering what the ammount of RAM you put in your PC depends on? As I said, I have removable 724 MB right now, and I'll probably want to keep my 120GB HD (I'm only using about half, don't need anymore).
Another thing, what determines the ammount of USB ports you can have? I have 6 right now, but 8 wouldn't hurt, 6 in the back and 2 in the front...
Can't really think of anything else I could upgrade.
Thanks for the help, by the way.
> Coin wrote:
> But it p!sses me off, because it's a DELL. And I hate DELL. I'd like
> to get Bill Gates and ram dell up his tiny ass, just for the sake of
> it.
>
> What's to hate? Does it go wrong? Is it unstable? If it's only a year
> old, you can borrow practically all the parts you want out of it.
> Seems to me you just want it to be not-a-Dell, which is easily done.
> You just need to change the case, the motherboard and the
> power-supply. BTW, Bill Gates donates more per day to charity than
> you and I will likely ever earn in our lifetimes, so cut the guy some
> slack.
Ugh, it's just, being a Dell... They've needed some better parts, they gave me a really terrible graphics card
> But yeah, I'm thinking of building my own PC. I'll probably have a
> budget of, ooh, around £300-£400. The 712MB ram can be
> removed, so that's about £75 off anyway. Decent monitor,
> 21", but will most likely want a TFT or CFT because it'll fit
> on my desk better (:D). I can salvage my mouse and keyboard, and perhaps
> my speakers, although I'll probably wanting a proper system with a
> big fat subwoofer and maybe some satellites.
>
> Can you salvage DVD / CD / Floppy drives? Because as I said, mine
> was new a year ago and has pretty quality stuff in that department.
>
> Also, bought an ATI Radion (9600?) graphics card about a month ago,
> but, me being so stupid as I am, neglected to check if my
> motherboard
> had a PCI slot, which it didn't.
>
> I sense some confusion here. If you got a 21" CRT monitor with
> your DELL, then you got a good DELL. But any good DELL would come
> with an AGP slot on the motherboard (I assume you meant AGP and not
> PCI - it's inconceivable that any computer made since 1994 would not
> have at least one PCI slot. AGP is a high-speed socket on the
> motherboard specially reserved for graphics cards). So I'm not sure
> exactly what's going on. Are you sure the monitor is 21"? That's
> absolutely *huge*, and I would never get rid of one if I had one
> (which I do, and none of you varmints are having it).
Yeah, sorry a meant AGP. :(.
> So yeah. Can you salvage HD's without the motherboard or is it
> all...
> Complicated?
>
> Well, congrats if you understood that, because I know absolutely bog
> all about building a PC.
>
> Oooh, also, P4 proccesor.
>
> But if you'd help me, I'd be so grateful...
>
> Okay, here's the plan. We're going to turn your DELL into a non-DELL
> by replacing the bits that differentiate your DELL from a machine you
> might build yourself, namely the motherboard, power supply and case.
>
> Now, your choice of motherboard is limited to your processor, which
> you've pointed out is some kind of PentiumIV. I know sfa about Intel
> motherboards, so I'm just going to point you to the board at the
> bottom of this page -
> [URL]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Abit2.html[/URL] -
> because it's cheap and reputable. Please find out what type of
> PentiumIV processor you have and report back before buying, because I
> don't know what version PentiumIV's that board is compatible with.
>
> Secondly, you need a case/PSU. Here you could do a lot worse than one
> of SR's Chieftec Dragons -
> [URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG2930_chieftec_dragon_bl.html[/URL]
> - there are multiple colours available, I presume you'd want black to
> go with the front of your CD/DVD drives from your DELL which are
> usually black, no?
Yep, it's black alright, was considering putting in some case modes, maybe a nice little LCD fan display :D... And the Dragons are so good looking but about twice as much as I can afford, might get my Godmother to bring me one over from America, about $99, which is about £55.
> Once you have those three items, you should be able to put in the
> rest of your components. You will probably also need to reinstall
> Windows, so I hope DELL gave you a Windows CD.
Yeah, I would check, but everything's in the shed right now... My room's getting re-decorated :P.
Pretty sure it is though...
Also, was wondering what the ammount of RAM you put in your PC depends on? As I said, I have removable 724 MB right now, and I'll probably want to keep my 120GB HD (I'm only using about half, don't need anymore).
Another thing, what determines the ammount of USB ports you can have? I have 6 right now, but 8 wouldn't hurt, 6 in the back and 2 in the front...
Can't really think of anything else I could upgrade.
Thanks for the help, by the way.
Coin wrote:
> But it p!sses me off, because it's a DELL. And I hate DELL. I'd like
> to get Bill Gates and ram dell up his tiny ass, just for the sake of
> it.
What's to hate? Does it go wrong? Is it unstable? If it's only a year old, you can borrow practically all the parts you want out of it. Seems to me you just want it to be not-a-Dell, which is easily done. You just need to change the case, the motherboard and the power-supply. BTW, Bill Gates donates more per day to charity than you and I will likely ever earn in our lifetimes, so cut the guy some slack.
> But yeah, I'm thinking of building my own PC. I'll probably have a
> budget of, ooh, around £300-£400. The 712MB ram can be
> removed, so that's about £75 off anyway. Decent monitor,
> 21", but will most likely want a TFT or CFT because it'll fit on
> my desk better (:D). I can salvage my mouse and keyboard, and perhaps
> my speakers, although I'll probably wanting a proper system with a
> big fat subwoofer and maybe some satellites.
>
> Can you salvage DVD / CD / Floppy drives? Because as I said, mine was
> new a year ago and has pretty quality stuff in that department.
>
> Also, bought an ATI Radion (9600?) graphics card about a month ago,
> but, me being so stupid as I am, neglected to check if my motherboard
> had a PCI slot, which it didn't.
I sense some confusion here. If you got a 21" CRT monitor with your DELL, then you got a good DELL. But any good DELL would come with an AGP slot on the motherboard (I assume you meant AGP and not PCI - it's inconceivable that any computer made since 1994 would not have at least one PCI slot. AGP is a high-speed socket on the motherboard specially reserved for graphics cards). So I'm not sure exactly what's going on. Are you sure the monitor is 21"? That's absolutely *huge*, and I would never get rid of one if I had one (which I do, and none of you varmints are having it).
> So yeah. Can you salvage HD's without the motherboard or is it all...
> Complicated?
>
> Well, congrats if you understood that, because I know absolutely bog
> all about building a PC.
>
> Oooh, also, P4 proccesor.
>
> But if you'd help me, I'd be so grateful...
Okay, here's the plan. We're going to turn your DELL into a non-DELL by replacing the bits that differentiate your DELL from a machine you might build yourself, namely the motherboard, power supply and case.
Now, your choice of motherboard is limited to your processor, which you've pointed out is some kind of PentiumIV. I know sfa about Intel motherboards, so I'm just going to point you to the board at the bottom of this page - [URL]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Abit2.html[/URL] - because it's cheap and reputable. Please find out what type of PentiumIV processor you have and report back before buying, because I don't know what version PentiumIV's that board is compatible with.
Secondly, you need a case/PSU. Here you could do a lot worse than one of SR's Chieftec Dragons - [URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG2930_chieftec_dragon_bl.html[/URL] - there are multiple colours available, I presume you'd want black to go with the front of your CD/DVD drives from your DELL which are usually black, no?
Once you have those three items, you should be able to put in the rest of your components. You will probably also need to reinstall Windows, so I hope DELL gave you a Windows CD.
> But it p!sses me off, because it's a DELL. And I hate DELL. I'd like
> to get Bill Gates and ram dell up his tiny ass, just for the sake of
> it.
What's to hate? Does it go wrong? Is it unstable? If it's only a year old, you can borrow practically all the parts you want out of it. Seems to me you just want it to be not-a-Dell, which is easily done. You just need to change the case, the motherboard and the power-supply. BTW, Bill Gates donates more per day to charity than you and I will likely ever earn in our lifetimes, so cut the guy some slack.
> But yeah, I'm thinking of building my own PC. I'll probably have a
> budget of, ooh, around £300-£400. The 712MB ram can be
> removed, so that's about £75 off anyway. Decent monitor,
> 21", but will most likely want a TFT or CFT because it'll fit on
> my desk better (:D). I can salvage my mouse and keyboard, and perhaps
> my speakers, although I'll probably wanting a proper system with a
> big fat subwoofer and maybe some satellites.
>
> Can you salvage DVD / CD / Floppy drives? Because as I said, mine was
> new a year ago and has pretty quality stuff in that department.
>
> Also, bought an ATI Radion (9600?) graphics card about a month ago,
> but, me being so stupid as I am, neglected to check if my motherboard
> had a PCI slot, which it didn't.
I sense some confusion here. If you got a 21" CRT monitor with your DELL, then you got a good DELL. But any good DELL would come with an AGP slot on the motherboard (I assume you meant AGP and not PCI - it's inconceivable that any computer made since 1994 would not have at least one PCI slot. AGP is a high-speed socket on the motherboard specially reserved for graphics cards). So I'm not sure exactly what's going on. Are you sure the monitor is 21"? That's absolutely *huge*, and I would never get rid of one if I had one (which I do, and none of you varmints are having it).
> So yeah. Can you salvage HD's without the motherboard or is it all...
> Complicated?
>
> Well, congrats if you understood that, because I know absolutely bog
> all about building a PC.
>
> Oooh, also, P4 proccesor.
>
> But if you'd help me, I'd be so grateful...
Okay, here's the plan. We're going to turn your DELL into a non-DELL by replacing the bits that differentiate your DELL from a machine you might build yourself, namely the motherboard, power supply and case.
Now, your choice of motherboard is limited to your processor, which you've pointed out is some kind of PentiumIV. I know sfa about Intel motherboards, so I'm just going to point you to the board at the bottom of this page - [URL]http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Abit2.html[/URL] - because it's cheap and reputable. Please find out what type of PentiumIV processor you have and report back before buying, because I don't know what version PentiumIV's that board is compatible with.
Secondly, you need a case/PSU. Here you could do a lot worse than one of SR's Chieftec Dragons - [URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG2930_chieftec_dragon_bl.html[/URL] - there are multiple colours available, I presume you'd want black to go with the front of your CD/DVD drives from your DELL which are usually black, no?
Once you have those three items, you should be able to put in the rest of your components. You will probably also need to reinstall Windows, so I hope DELL gave you a Windows CD.
Page: