Worth salvaging/putting Windows 7 on this?

[Shining_Lizard]

Hey all, I just got a new PC, so my old PC isn't doing much. However as its perhaps only 3 years old I would like to salvage it and use it as a general use spare. It cost me like £350 at the time I bought it. The hard disk has just died in it and I reckon another gig of RAM would give it some longevity. Presently it runs Windows XP Professional 32-bit, but I won a free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit which I would love to put on it (I have at one stage run the Windows 7 Beta on it and it wasn't too bad).

Currently, the build is as follows:

AMD Sempron 3400+ 1.8Ghz
1GB DDR2-PC2 5300 RAM
250GB IDE HDD (dead)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 256MB
DVD-RW Drive (can't remember what speed from here)

I plan on upgrading a bit, as follows:

AMD Sempron 3400+ 1.8Ghz
2GB DDR2-PC2 5300 RAM
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 250GB 3.5 SATA HDD
ATI Radeon HD 2600 256MB
DVD-RW Drive

I've worked out that buying the new hard disk and the extra 1GB RAM (as well as a couple of SATA cables) will cost be £64, including shipping. Is this worth it for this machine?

Bearing in mind the socket is AM2, is there any chance at all I may be able to find any sort of upgrade from the current processor?

Opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I wouldn't spend any more on it. There is no sense in buying parts that can't be transferred into the new build. It's not that you can't find parts for it, it's that you'd be pumping money into a dying build. Besides, if you already have a new one, why spend more on something you're not currently using and might never use? If it's purpose is just a backup in case the new build stops working, you don't need it to do all that much other than run a browser so you can look up how to fix the other machine.

Since you need a replacement HDD, I would get the Seagate 7200.12 500 GB or Samsung Spinpoint F3 500 GB. These are the fastest standard drives out right now. If you buy something smaller/slower, you will regret it later.

 

[Shining_Lizard]

Yeah I do understand what you are saying... I asked "is it worth salvaging" and your opinion is no, since I have a working PC, which is fair enough.

It's really a sort of hobby of mine to revitalize old PCs, to squeeze as much like out of them as possible. I have a younger sister who visits sometimes and uses the machine, too, so I'd at least need a replacement hard disk.

Thanks for your input... anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[Lmeow]

I believe that you can use some AM2+ CPUs in AM2 motherboards, although a BIOS flash may be needed. As for it being worth salvaging, you really might as well just use Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit on it if you don't have another build with <3.5GB to use it on, or you don't have any family members or friends that might need it. You could try and sell it though, if it's retail.

As MadAdmiral said, get a decent 500GB+ HDD if you're going to patch this one up.

IIRC, you can actually put a Phenom II X4 940 in an AM2 motherboard if the board lists support for it - that'd be a pretty big upgrade. Otherwise you could just stick like an AM2 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Windsor if your motherboard supports it, and it'd make a fine computer - Dual-core 3.0GHz Athlon, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB HDD, and an ATI Radeon HD 2600.

 

[Shining_Lizard]

Thanks for that Lmeow, I had no idea I had so many options in terms of upgrading the CPU. I was bought my current new PC as a gift because I didn't think I could upgrade this old one very much, but since doing some more research and speaking with you guys it looks like there's more I can do than I realised. Thank you.

I'm pretty sure that the Windsor will be cheaper than the Phenom, so I think I'll go for one of those if I can grab one. It really would be a decent computer with all that stuff in it!