Old school computer

[Lethhy]

Hey guys, 

New to hardware and forum scenes but i'd like to learn more, bare with me. 

I got given an old junk computer from a grandparent, and have decided to upgrade some of the components to make it usable for my little sister for daily use, facebook, etc. 

 

1. It's an desktop computer running windows XP with a local security policy on it, (cant break through registry, an old work computer i assume). So if i install a new internal hard disk and install windows 7, will that work? What sort of hard disk will i need or do you reccomend?

2. It's running a pentium 4 processor, should i upgrade it or is it fine for general use?

 

3. It's a Dell motherboard, not sure what model

[voaz]

I would go for some extra ram ( 4GB or 8GB in total recommended ) and a fresh new SSD. This will without a doubt speed speed up the PC alot because the high read speeds of the SSD itself.

 

The most common reason of PCs becoming slower is that the HDDs are dying, so adding an SSD to any old system will be a huge upgrade.

[kristaps552]

Once you've installed windows 7 on the ssd, if you go that route, you can format the old hdd and use it for mass storage, as in music, movies etc.,

[SirRoderick]

Any hard drive will work just fine, the important thing is that you're doing a totally clean install. Meaning using either a blank drive or formatting an existing one (win7 setup does that automatically)

 

You COULD see upgrading it if possible, pentium 4's aren't exactly spirited by today's standards. Problem is you'll need a new motherboard for that as well since the socket that the CPU installs into has gone through some changes over the years. There are several sockets around for both intel and AMD CPUs, so you should always make sure they match before buying components. For Intel for example the LGA 1150 socket is most common, and you could fit an i3 or i5 processor in there. So you go and grab a LGA 1150 mobo like this, just an example http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-1150-CrossFireX-Motherboard-GA-Z87-D3HP/dp/B00CU4L4M2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389698579&sr=8-1&keywords=lga+1150+motherboard+ATX and a matching CPU like this one http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-4570-Quad-Core-Processor-BX80646I54570/dp/B00CO8TA4I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389698605&sr=8-3&keywords=i5

 

What components you end up using obviously have more to do with your budget.

 

Now changing the mobo leads to another possible problem. Does that old computer have DDR3 RAM memory? Because if it's the old DDR2 then it won't fit in any modern board and you need to get a stick for that as well, at least 4GB should do 8 is the best possible situation.

 

SO when all is said and done it's sometimes a better idea to start over instead of upgrade because of all of those dependencies. Or just run it as is and see if it's fast enough

[brownninja97]

the P4 will not handle windows 7 well, it will run badly, im  sorry but you are going have to call it a day for that cpu, you are better off getting a £40 apu witha £30 motherboard and ahh hell you basically need a new pc.

[Clonzoo]

Isn't there also a possibility that the mobo won't be able to fully support the speed of an ssd? It all depends on how old it is, but as far as I know many of the older motherboard can only support the speed of a mechanical HD,(Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am talking about ancient Mobos) therefor spending money on an ssd without getting a new mobo is pointless. And You will need more ram, a new processor and therfor an new mobo for windows 7 anyways. If you have money to spend, Just upgrade everything, you might have to change out the power supply aswell.

[Lethhy]

Thanks for all the replies , appreciate it. 

Reason i wanted to do this was as a little project to learn the bits and pieces, what's good and what's not of the hardware side of PC's. I mean i could easily go out and buy half decent notebook for $500 with an i3 for these purposes i've listed, but i do like the challenge. 

So, will any Hdd be compatible with an old motherboard or are the ports different, do you think?

 

I think if i buy a new HDD, then see how it goes, if it's too laggy and cant perform simple tasks beyond measure, i scrap the project and have a spare HDD laying around. no harm in that i guess.
 

[DIV1D3]

You could buy individual parts totalling $300-$400 and get yourself a very nice everyday PC (excluding all of the peripherals). You can definitely keep the HDD, just some more storage, and on the subject of storage a 7,200RPM HDD will suit fine, no need for an over expensive SSD for checking Facebook and doing assignments.

[Clonzoo]

Thanks for all the replies , appreciate it. 

Reason i wanted to do this was as a little project to learn the bits and pieces, what's good and what's not of the hardware side of PC's. I mean i could easily go out and buy half decent notebook for $500 with an i3 for these purposes i've listed, but i do like the challenge. 

So, will any Hdd be compatible with an old motherboard or are the ports different, do you think?

 

I think if i buy a new HDD, then see how it goes, if it's too laggy and cant perform simple tasks beyond measure, i scrap the project and have a spare HDD laying around. no harm in that i guess.

 

Any mechanical hard drive should do fine. However sata ports vary, so that why I fear your mobo might be to old for an ssd.

[Nallown]

Any hard drive will work just fine, the important thing is that you're doing a totally clean install. Meaning using either a blank drive or formatting an existing one (win7 setup does that automatically)

 

You COULD see upgrading it if possible, pentium 4's aren't exactly spirited by today's standards. Problem is you'll need a new motherboard for that as well since the socket that the CPU installs into has gone through some changes over the years. There are several sockets around for both intel and AMD CPUs, so you should always make sure they match before buying components. For Intel for example the LGA 1150 socket is most common, and you could fit an i3 or i5 processor in there. So you go and grab a LGA 1150 mobo like this, just an example http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-1150-CrossFireX-Motherboard-GA-Z87-D3HP/dp/B00CU4L4M2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389698579&sr=8-1&keywords=lga+1150+motherboard+ATX and a matching CPU like this one http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-4570-Quad-Core-Processor-BX80646I54570/dp/B00CO8TA4I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389698605&sr=8-3&keywords=i5

 

What components you end up using obviously have more to do with your budget.

 

Now changing the mobo leads to another possible problem. Does that old computer have DDR3 RAM memory? Because if it's the old DDR2 then it won't fit in any modern board and you need to get a stick for that as well, at least 4GB should do 8 is the best possible situation.

 

SO when all is said and done it's sometimes a better idea to start over instead of upgrade because of all of those dependencies. Or just run it as is and see if it's fast enough

also he needs to keep in mind that his motherboard might be using IDE cables instead of SATA cables for the HDD so I'm guessing that any HDD will work fine as long as it has the right plugs.

[Leonard]

Not knowing your motherboard exactly...i would put in a 120GB SSD and put back windows XP on it. As @brownninja97 stated windows 7 may run a bit laggy for the pentium 4.

 

Any HDD would work and most likely your is an IDE connection but you can get IDE to SATA like this one.....http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-IDE-To-SATAConverter-CB-IS100/dp/B000Z3K47G/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1389703585&sr=1-5&keywords=ide+to+sata or this one.....http://www.amazon.com/IDE-SATA-Adapter/dp/B000RK89M4/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1389703585&sr=1-3&keywords=ide+to+sata so you could use a SATA HDD but where you would run into problems would be large capacity HDDs due to the limitations of 32bit OS. A simple partitioning of the HDD would fix that problem for you.

 

I would look into the RAM but it it is working properly i would leave it. I would change the CPU cooler with a new one as i am sure the old one has served its prupose, don't forget to remove the old thermal paste and put on new thermal paste. 

 

A general cleaning of the PC would not hurt too....seeing as it is more than 10 years old.

[Lethhy]

Update: 

 

I reformatted the existing HDD, W7 runs relatively smoothely although its evident that the computer needs more RAM. It currently has 2x 512mb DDR2. 

Anyone know where i can get cheap ddr2 ram from? preferably 2x2gb.

 

EDIT: 

 

I'm Australian.

[antoainb]

Update: 

 

I reformatted the existing HDD, W7 runs relatively smoothely although its evident that the computer needs more RAM. It currently has 2x 512mb DDR2. 

Anyone know where i can get cheap ddr2 ram from? preferably 2x2gb.

 

EDIT: 

 

I'm Australian.

 

Nowadays finding cheap DDR2 ram is hard (especially from good brands), but if you search ebay you could get some better deals.

 

Make shure that you get the right number of pins and get it new from a good seller.

[martinrox1568]

see if you can get xp. That penitum won't be able to run windows 7 that smoothly.

[Lethhy]

see if you can get xp. That penitum won't be able to run windows 7 that smoothly.

It's running windows 7 perfectly fine aha, I've found some ddr2 ram online 4gb total for about 25$ . 

[Guest Generallee]

SInce it's an old computer I'm not sure it has an onboard Sata3 port to plug an SSD. Although you could put an SSD in a Sata2 port, it would be a waste of speed since you won't be able to get all the performance. Try considering a CPU/MB upgrade, many modern decent motherboards out there.

 

EDIT : CPU Fan/Heatsink cleaning, thermal paste replacement, general cleaning of the computer as well, new bios battery, bios update ... pretty lot of maintenance considering it's 10 years old

[mr moose]

Now that it's running, try not to spend any money on it, And instead save up for a new PC. I know you probably don't want to hear it but for now with win 7 you'll at least be able to surf the net, run basic office programs and do anything that is not resource hungry like video editing or gaming.

 

 

And when you are ready to upgrade the only part that you could keep would be the case and maybe the optical drive.  Because once you go new CPU you then need new mobo, which means new ram and HDD (no new mobos have ide anymore) and with the new gear you won't want to risk burning it out with an old oem PSU so you may as well get a new one of those too.

[squirrl]

SInce it's an old computer I'm not sure it has an onboard Sata3 port to plug an SSD. Although you could put an SSD in a Sata2 port, it would be a waste of speed since you won't be able to get all the performance. Try considering a CPU/MB upgrade, many modern decent motherboards out there.

 

EDIT : CPU Fan/Heatsink cleaning, thermal paste replacement, general cleaning of the computer as well, new bios battery, bios update ... pretty lot of maintenance considering it's 10 years old

There are such things as SATA 2 SSD's which run perfectly well. The noticable speed difference between sata 2 and sata 3 ssd's is much less than that between a hdd and an SSD.

[Guest Generallee]

Samsung 830 128Gb on SATA2 :

 

 

Samsung 830 128Gb on SATA3

 

 

So yes, there is a considerable speed gap between the two interfaces.

 

However an SSD on any Sata port is still better than an HDD in terms of speed

[martinrox1568]

It's running windows 7 perfectly fine aha, I've found some ddr2 ram online 4gb total for about 25$ . 

Really? I wasn't too sure. Power to you then

[Lethhy]

Now that it's running, try not to spend any money on it, And instead save up for a new PC. I know you probably don't want to hear it but for now with win 7 you'll at least be able to surf the net, run basic office programs and do anything that is not resource hungry like video editing or gaming.

 

 

And when you are ready to upgrade the only part that you could keep would be the case and maybe the optical drive.  Because once you go new CPU you then need new mobo, which means new ram and HDD (no new mobos have ide anymore) and with the new gear you won't want to risk burning it out with an old oem PSU so you may as well get a new one of those too.

Yeah i've spent 25$ on 4gb of ram. Just to make it bareable to use, it's only for my siblings to surf the net on, just a little side project. but yeah you are right, one upgrade would cause a need for many many more haha.

 

 

Really? I wasn't too sure. Power to you then

Yeah neither was I. The pentium 4 still has some kick to it hahahaha

[squirrl]

Samsung 830 128Gb on SATA2 :

 

 

 

Samsung 830 128Gb on SATA3

 

 

 

So yes, there is a considerable speed gap between the two interfaces.

 

However an SSD on any Sata port is still better than an HDD in terms of speed

*noticeable speed gap

When copying files and things it will look much faster, but in every day use, the speed difference between sata2 and sata 3 ssd's will be less noticeable than the difference between a HDD and a sata 2 ssd.