I need some advice on buying a PC

[Wolfenstein]

My old PC has had it's a 2004 model, single core 2.2 and it had an agp 6200 nvidia card 512mb card and 1gb of RAM. I've seen a base unit on its own but i'm not sure whether its worth the it don't have a graphics card but would this still be alot more powerful and better than mine as it doesn't have a graphics card its 234 quid the stats for it are, please help me someone, thanks AMD Dual Core Base Unit Offer

Affordable yet powerful, this is probably our most popular base unit. Offers Dual core processing power while staying to a budget!
AMD Athlon Dual Core AM3 X2-240 (2.8ghz)
2gb Fast DDR2 RAM 800mhz
320gb SATA 7200 Hard Disk Drive
Leading motherboard with integrated video/sound/lan/USB
DVD/CD Rewriter
ATX Tower case including PSU unit.

 

[floppybootstomp]

It could be argued the new spec is no improvement on your current setup.

It really isn't worth changing for the money. At the very least you want to get a known good make motherboard and power supply and a seperate graphics card.

 

[Wolfenstein]

It could be argued the new spec is no improvement on your current setup.

It really isn't worth changing for the money. At the very least you want to get a known good make motherboard and power supply and a seperate graphics card.

Well actually you might be able to help me, the computer i've got its only the hard drive thats gone i have another one there, but at some point the bios has been set to boot off the hard drive and not the CD/DVD drive, so when i tried connecting another drive i had i get nothing the light on the monitor just stay's in amber, so i can't get anything on the screen, i know its not the graphics card cause changed it recently, so i can't even get into any menus or anything cause simply nothing will come up on screen, i got told its the hard drive cause i mentioned that something in my computer clicked and windows kept freezing up, only other choice i can see is using the other hard drive in a caddy to to install windows then try putting it back in the computer, would this work? Or do you have any other suggestions? Unfortunately i don't have boot up disc, but because bios has been changed it won't attempt to boot off CD drive anyway, thanks for your help and advice

 

[floppybootstomp]

If you're sure your hard drive has gone (and from the sounds of it, it has) take that out and put the replacement in it's place.

Before I go any further, without a Windows CD/DVD you're stuck, to reinstall Windows you will need a legal disc.

Assuming you have a Windows disk:

The computer's BIOS is usually set to boot from the hard drive, that's normal cos that's where the operating system (usually Windows) resides.

If you want it to boot from the hard disk to install Windows then change the BIOS to do so.

And assuming you are now booting into a Windows installation from a disc, you will be able to format the newer hard drive during a Windows installation.

Just because you've changed the graphics card doesn't prove it's working ok.

Do you get any display at all when you switch the machine on? What we call the POST screen? probably followed by a message similar to 'No operating system found, failed to boot'.

If so the graphics card is ok.

If you're not sure how to do any of the above, especially how to change the boot drive priority in the BIOS, it may be a good idea to seek a third party's help and/or services.

 

[Anon_F]

If your UK based try Novatech

Novatech make good, solid, reliable pc's.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've just re-read the opening post and note there's no video at all since fitting a new graphics card.

If the motherboard has onboard graphics and the monitor is plugged into the seperate graphics card has the onboard video been disabled in the BIOS?

If no onboard video and/or it has been disabled, check video card pushed firmly home in it's slot.

Also worth trying substitute VGA lead if it's seperate from the monitor, and/or looking for bent pins in VGA connections.

A long shot but the BIOS may be set to detect CPU fan plugged into motherboard and be using a 4 pin molex connector, that would prevent it starting.
If all that's covered then something else is wrong which pretty much would make the old machine scrap.

And the proposed new machine a possible viable option, providing it isn't going to be used for anything graphic-intensive.

How much is the machine specced in first post?

 

[Wolfenstein]

I've just re-read the opening post and note there's no video at all since fitting a new graphics card.

If the motherboard has onboard graphics and the monitor is plugged into the seperate graphics card has the onboard video been disabled in the BIOS?

If no onboard video and/or it has been disabled, check video card pushed firmly home in it's slot.

Also worth trying substitute VGA lead if it's seperate from the monitor, and/or looking for bent pins in VGA connections.

A long shot but the BIOS may be set to detect CPU fan plugged into motherboard and be using a 4 pin molex connector, that would prevent it starting.
If all that's covered then something else is wrong which pretty much would make the old machine scrap.

And the proposed new machine a possible viable option, providing it isn't going to be used for anything graphic-intensive.

How much is the machine specced in first post?

That machine is priced at 234 quid, i was always thinking i could buy a graphics card at a later date, it won't be used for anything intensive except likes of internet, and the likes of maybe flash games zynga poker through facebook that type of thing, for gaming i've got the 360 for that, what happened was there was a clicking in the hard drive and it kept freezing on me, then it just went completely, i've tried rebooting but can't get anything on screen to access bios cause the monitor just sits in amber, which i was assuming that for some reason the bios might not of recognised where to boot from, but then i thought if that was the case the screen would come up but mention something about no operating system, i was thinking of using another computer to try and put windows on an external drive then put in computer just so can at least try and get it to boot somehow so i can try putting windows on a permanent drive but not sure if this would work?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Before you do anything you need to prove that the machine is working. At the very least this will mean seeing some video information displayed on initial switch on.

 

[Wolfenstein]

Before you do anything you need to prove that the machine is working. At the very least this will mean seeing some video information displayed on initial switch on.

Thats why i think the computers had it cause i can't even get anything on screen, i'm going to do a couple of things been suggested on here like changing the cables, my mates lent me a spare monitor so will swap monitors aswell, failing that then looks like the computer LOL