The old bastardized gateway quit last night.I’m guessing the power supply since it won’t turn on.
Anyway the wife says we aren’t putting any more money into it.Yes Dear.
I’m wanting a medium priced tower.
We aren’t gamers so we can save some money there.
I’m wanting to upgrade so here is what I have:
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 700 Mhz CPU
56K modem-we are on telephone line.That won’t change.
32X CD-rom
250 W power supply
64MB SDRAM
What should I be looking for?
If money is a consideration I suggest sticking to AMD processors. an AMD XP 2600 or 3000 shouldn’t increase the total price by more than a hundred to 2 hundred dollars, and you can ensure you won’t need to upgrade for a while (specially if you don’t game).
LCD (plasma) monitors (as someone pointed out in another thread 
) are becoming more and more popular. They ARE more expensive however, though they have many benefits over CRT’s. If you want to stick with CRT’s however, I suggest a 20 inch monitor. Lots of desktop space, easy on the eyes as well. And not very pricey. Look around for computer fairs where you live. I got my 22 inch flat-screen CRT for $100.
Even if you’re nto a gamer, you want to have a reliable graphics card, if you like to hook up your comp to your tv I suggest somehting with TV out, and with TV in (or a tv tuner carD) if you liek to record tv shows.
RAM is important. Make sure you get windows XP (pro is best but pricey). And with windows XP you’ll need atleast 256 MB of RAM. the more the better.
Minimum power supply now a days is 300 Watts. I use a 600 watt supply but I have 2 hardrives, a dvd burner, and a high end graphics card, so I need it. 300 - 400 watts is good enough.
Hardrive space is dependant on what you’re doing with your PC. Video editing? Mp3 collector? movie buff? All these thigns take up space. If all you do is serf the internet, then go for something smaller, maybe 40 gigs. Otherwise 80 gigs + is suggested.
If you’re not gaming or doing digital video, go with the lowest processor the seller offers (assuming a Dell/Gateway/Compaq). I think these offer low-end around 2.4 GHz. If you are building or buying from a private store, even 2.1/2.2 GHz is fine. AMD is cheaper than Intel.
You’ll need at least 256MB DDR-DRAM, as Kinthalis said. Again, unless you are pushing your system, you can go with a name brand (Kingston, Crucial, Corsair, Samsung) value PC2100 stick.
Stay away from integrated graphics. You can get a GeForce FX 5200 board or an ATI Radeon 9200 at around $100. Integrated audio should be sufficient unless your PC is also your stereo. Logitech and Altec Lansing have good ‘value’ speakers.
Get a DVD/CD-RW, even if you don’t watch DVDs on the PC. Sometimes it is the only way to access some cool DVD extra.
I’ll agree with Kinthalis on hard-drive. Figure what you want to do and determine the size from that. For nominal everyday use, anything with 2MB cache is fine and will save you money.
If whatever you get to replace your PC doesn’t come with a modem, recycle your old one. Technology hasn’t changed. You should also keep your CD-ROM drive, just to make disc-to-disc backup easier.
Power supply should be at least 300 watts. Again, if you are not pushing the system, extra wattage just wastes money.
Do consider upgrading your monitor. A flat 15" LCD is equivalent to a 17" CRT monitor (LCD = Liquid Crystal Display; CRT = Cathode Ray Tube). Monitors wear out over time, although you might not notice it degrading when you use it day-to-day.