Buy This Used Comp or New Comp??

[musak99]

Hello. I'm planning to buy a computer pretty soon. I set my money limit to about...500-600 dollars (Canadian). I think I found a good deal on a used computer. Here the specs boys..

AMD Thunderbird 1.33 Ghz 266mhz bus CPU with Volcano 5 HS+fan
ECS K7S5A Motherboard with onboard sound and Lan
1 x 256 meg PC2100 DDR ram generic
Sony 50x CD-Rom Drive
MSI Geforce3Ti200 Video card 64 Megs ram.
Maxtor D740X-6L 20 GB 7200 rpm harddrive
300W ATX Power supply
Microsoft Optical wheel mouse
Creative 2.1 PC Works Speaker
5 outlets Power bar
Generic keyboard
16"H 8 1/4" W 17"D ATX Case

He's asking for $370 (CANADIAN!!!!!!)
How does the computer's setup look? Good value?

If I purchase this, I plan to spend the extra cash upgrading it; adding a bigger HD, maybe a new chip, and more RAM. Either do that or just buy a brand new one. What do you guys think I should do..?

THANKS

 

[Teq]

$370cdn is about half the price of a new system.

Upgrading it will likely fill in most of the price of the new system. In which case it makes more sense to build/buy a new one and get the warrantees.

If you wanted to use it "as is" it's a pretty good buy... otherwise, go new.



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

 

[AMD_me]

If you buy it and want to game on it you will have to buy a new video card also.

 

[Rubberbband]

It sounds like a good enough deal if you decide to run it the way it is for a year or so then build a completly different system.
Let's face it ECS mobos are picky when it comes to PSUs and that system only has a 300W (probably generic) which limits the upgrade path.

The HD is fairly small but anything bigger will draw more power.

The video card is OK nothing to brag about but it will play all older and some newer games (low settings to medium). Upgrading the video card means more power.

The CPU is adequate for most applications but... You'll probably want more in a few weeks.

The case sounds rather small.

Again it's a good deal only if you decide to run it the way it is and build a new system later. You could always sell this one in a year as it would make a great workhorse for someone who just wants to e-mail, surf the net and do word processing and maybee a little gaming.

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it. <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=327&s" target="_new"><b>MY SYSTEM</b></A>

 

[rcj187]

i think that system is a good deal for the money. i dont think the graphics card will be a problem the whole system is fairly well balanced.. if you get a faster graphics card you wont use the full potential of it. also i use a geforce3 (not ti) and i havent found a game yet that i cant play at 1600x1200x32 with the settings at full with decent frame rates.. ok it may not be 300fps but who can honestly say they see a difference between 80fps and 300fps?
the only thing he may want to upgrade is the ram.. just throw in another 256mb for a cheap upgrade

 

[Rubberbband]

Have tried playing UT2K3 or Unreal 2 because I highly doubt a GF3 will run either will full settings on.

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it. <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=327&s" target="_new"><b>MY SYSTEM</b></A>

 

[Grub]

Gotta agree with rubber on this one. I have a GF3 and even with Ansio and AA turned off my frames are not smooth on some RTS games and forget good detail on UT3 or LOTR. THats at mid resolutions. Its probably a matter of taste. What I think sucks, may be alright for some.
My video card philosophy: If it slows down it is no longer adequately fulfilling its function...to give me a good gaming experience.

Any man can withstand adversity...The true test of character is to give a man power <i>Abraham Lincoln</i>

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

actually that video card will last you at least another year or so. My bro has a geforce 2ti and he can run his games just fine. As long as you don't set it at insane resolutions it'll be fine.

but then again there is a reason why it's cheap! a lot of generic parts and it could be that he had lots of problem wit hit. so maybe take it as parts and replace the motherboard and power supply. Then you have future expansion. My bro has the asus a7n8x ithink it is and he loves it. has yet to crash or have any problems. I didn't have any problems putting it together either.

good luck!

Life is irrelivent and irrational.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=9933" target="_new"> My Rig </A>

 

[Rubberbband]

I also used to have a GF3 Ti200. It ran all my games OK but...my GF4 is way better (yes I did notice a big improvement). I sold it to my bro in law who still runs it. It's got a Blue Orb fan on it and I overclocked it slightly (mem and core as the mem has heatsinks on it). He's been running it for almost a year now.
You're right Grub it's all a matter of opinion and I definetly would not go back to a GF3 now. I'm actually looking at the 9500 Pro but I can't justify the expense. (I will though LOL).

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it. <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=327&s" target="_new"><b>MY SYSTEM</b></A>

 

[musak99]

What will I do with this computer? Play some games... CounterStrike...NHL 2003...Jedi Knight 2. Also...
watch dvd's, browsing, email. Will this computer be powerful enough for those things?
BTW, I was told the computer is still under warranty.
One of the reasons this computer caught my eye is because of the graphics card. A Ti4200 over here is over 200 dollars...I don't have the cash for that right now. The next level down, I've read, is the Ti200. My plan down the road would be to upgrade maybe in a year (long for some of you, but I'm still using my pent133 as we speak)

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by musak99 on 04/16/03 07:24 AM.</EM></FONT></P>