Building a PC with some old parts and need advice

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stewby

I have a few old parts and some parts from a 2 lightning damaged dell's

Here's what i have:
from a Dell 3000 - 2 x256mb 184pin 333M dual in-line ram sticks
processor 2.8GHz 533 512k socket N(478?) intel
hard drives(i have one ide and a SATA one) can use either
I also have a GeForce 5200 AGP 128mb video card i would like to use

with all this i figure i need mainly a motherboard(dell one is fried), a new case, a power supply and a heatsink(?), oh and a ethernet port.

I would like a board with more than 2 RAM slots so i can use my current and add more later. 1 more slot is fine.

I have looked through newegg.com, tigerdirect, buy.com, etc.. and the more i look the more confused i get.... any suggestions on what to buy

i was looking at this case 'XION Ultimate Engineering XON-002 Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply'
is it any good, and if so what motherboards would fit that could use all my old parts>?

Thanks in Advance,
Stewby
 
For the most part, any ATX motherboard will fit fine in an ATX computer case. If these parts are salvaged from a PC that suffered electrical damage, its likely they'll have suffered damage as well; have you tested any of them?
The only reason I ask is that you'll find you can spend roughly the same amount for a new system board and PSU that accommodates these compents only to find out you could have upgraded. If nothing else, see if you can verify that the CPU is still good.

If all your stuff is funtional, then I'd say do a lookup for any motherboards on newegg.com/zipzoomfly.com that support the prescott chip that are in your budget. The quick look I did on newegg showed that all but the ABIT LG-81 Socket T had more than 2 dimm slots.

And what ever you do, BUY A SURGE PROTECTOR!
 
funny thing is, i had a surge protector.. it came in through the cable modem line.

Anyways, I have verified that the processor, RAM and hard drives work.

whats a prescott chip?
 
prescott is the "code" name for the CPU core, kind of like a model name.

Here you can find a list of available boards at Newegg.com.
 
I have the Xion XON-001 which is the same case but just a different color scheme. IMHO, it's a well made, sturdy case with plenty of room inside to work. The front plastic fascia is removable to facilitate the installation of optional front fans. Just as in the back, you have a choice of two 80mm fans or one 120mm fan, although I realize the back comes with a 120mm fan.

I don't know anything about the included power supply because I automatically replaced it with one I felt was better (Antec 550W).
 
thanks for your help. I do have a couple of questions for you though.

Do i have a prescott chip now and how can you tell? if not, why do i need a prescott?

that link had all 'socket T' in the listing and my pc's description says 'socket N'. I assume they are compatible?

ASUS P4S800 Socket 478 SIS 648FX ATX Intel Motherboard i was looking at this mother board with this case Xion Case Xon-002 ATX Mid-Tower 450W power supply

would they work with my existing equipment?

and would i have to buy a new heatsink or would the one from the dell machine work?
 
You don't have a prescott if you have 512kb cache, all prescotts have 1mb or higher, IIRC.

Socket T is socket 775, which is newer than socket 478, which you probably have.

You can reuse the heatsink if you get some more thermal compound like artic silver 5, does the dell have a fan on the heatsink? If not, I'd get a cheap heatsink like the coolermaster x dream 3, I have one, it's cheap and works well.
http://www.newegg.com/OldVersion/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=35-103-161&DEPA=0

Here are some boards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130443
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128232
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128231
 
vnf4ultra is correct, I missread the specs. You'll need a motherboard with a socket 478. I changed the link in my previous post.
 
Well, the board isn't in stock, if that matters. I wouldn't trust a cheap psu like the ones that come "free" with cases. Get a decent brand like antec, ocz, seasonic, enermax, sparkle/fortron. I think the case is pretty nice.
I'm not sure about the board, as I've never used a "sis" chipset, can't tell you either way on that.

I like this case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144103
But my favorite colors are black, blue, and silver, so that probably has something to do with my liking it.
 
Asus tends to make quality motherboards and that case looks good. However I'm not familiar with Azza power supplies and wouldn't be comfortable with using it. Also, if your Dell has the same heatsink mounts as this motherboard, you can use your old heatsink, but you'll need to clean off the left over thermal pad and apply some thermal grease, such as artic silver.
 
Here is my case... I paid $50 for it... www.geeks.com They also have good parts.
XBlade_Black_SideOn_Reduced.JPG
...
 
wanna be geek, you do realise you just bumped a topic that is over 2 years old? Lol, I do like the case, though.
 
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