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Posts: 4529
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: Question to Escribano (in reply to Tomás Jiménez)
Hi Tomas, i hope it is no problem if i also answer to your questions and Simon can correct me or add more information:
1) Please forget upgrading a 2002 PC. It is not worth the money and the trouble. I think with the same money (or a little bit more) you can have a brand new PC with clean operating system, etc. Your PC is way too old to be worth to upgrade.
2) About the "Tower": there are different cases available for a PC. A small tower, medium tower, big Tower and also desktops. It depends if you have enough space in your room. If you have enough space, then i would buy a big or medium tower with lots of space for future upgrades (more drives, more harddiscs, etc.) and it is also good for air circulation inside your PC. However this is only the chassis of your PC and does not mean anything regarding the performance of your PC.
3) Normally when you buy a new PC, an original Version of an operating system (mostly "Windows VISTA" nowadays) is installed including all features. And you dont need to pay extra money for the operating system. And also in many cases internet security software is installed on your PC (including Antivir-software, firewall-software, etc.) like "Norton Internetsecurity". (Dont forget after buying the PC: you always have to update your Antivir online, let say once a week , to be always updated in case new viruses are around).
However, if you buy a PC without internet-security software, then you can install free software like - AVG (for Viruses) - Zonealarm (as firewall) - Spybot Search and Destroy (for Spyware) It is important to have these 3 software for protection nowadays.
I use these freewares and i never had problems with Viruses and spyware. (remember: dont forget to update online once a week)
4) If you want a PC with which you (or your Son) also play new 3D Games, you have to pay attention to have a good 3D Accelerator graphic card and not things like "onboard graphic with shared memory". So you need a good graphic card with new 3D graphic chip and own big Memory (like 512 or 768 MB or more own Memory). And the very good ones are not inexpensive.
5) If you have important/personal informations and files on your old PC, make a Backup or save them on a Medium. If you want to throw away your PC (i dont think that you can sell it), format (clean) your hard drive.
6) The noise in your old PC could be either a defect cooler of your CPU or your power supply i think.
7) You say that you dont need a Monitor. I assume that you want to use your old Monitor from your 2002 PC? Maybe you should think about buying a complete package with a new PC and a new TFT Monitor. TFT Monitors are not so expensive anymore.
p.s. i can recommand "DELL" PCs, they are fast and good quality. They do not sell through shops but directly to customers. I think with 1000 to 1500 Euro you can buy a good PC with all you need.
Posts: 4529
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: Question to Escribano (in reply to Tomás Jiménez)
Here is an example of a good 1000 Euro PC from Dell (Model XPS 420 -(D01X405) ), which i have from the German page. The price is normally 1250,00 Euro. They sell it for 1000 Euro until 08. January. I dont know if it is available in your area. Check dell.com
All very good recommendations. I would also recommend you take the time to consider the noise coming from the computer - a friend of mine spent a lot of money getting all the best cpu/audio/video cards etc but the noise coming from his computer was ridiculous. We spent a bit of time reducing the noise levels. I have also spent a fair bit of time getting my computer silent to very good effect.
So if you can hear the computer in a quiet environment. If you get one "built-up" from an independent then there are many low noise technologies (fan controllers, passive and active heat sinks/coolers) out there you can have installed. There are sites dedicated to silent pc, for example link attached. Good luck!