cheap budget mobo+ram+cpu+ fan wanted

[Unique]

having recently got a second hand system (elsewhere) that now seems to be playing up, i'm looking at the option of just getting a new motherboard, cpu/fan and ram as i'm not sure exactly what the problem is out of those components, but putting the ram in another pc the windows ram checker thing says there is a problem with the hardware, and putting ram from that same other pc (that does checkout fine when doing the windows ram checker thing) comes up with a similar error, so it sounds like the ram is faulty, and likewise the mobo and/or cpu if an error still appears with ram that checks fine from another system. i've went through the bios settings to try and get it to work but at least the ram is wonky it seems, and right now the pc won't boot. it did let me clone the drive with a self booting adonis cdrom though, so i'm going to try and reinstall windows on a spare drive just in case it's a very bad driver issue, but i was having problems over the past few weeks with the system crashing and rebooting etc

i can at least salvage the case, PSU, optical and HDD's

anyways, i'm not into gaming, i don't need any high powered stuff. anything dual core over 2ghz should be fine. so it doesn't matter if it's AMD or intel or whatever. i just want cheap bang for the buck, sub £100 if possible. what i would like are as many SATA ports as possible, at least 4, six would be great but i can use a pci-e card, and onboard graphics would be a bonus so i can use a pci-e16x graphics card to give me dual monitor so i can browse the web whilst watching tvcatchup or iplayer on the plasma. also an IDE/PATA socket would let me use an old dvdrw and IDE drive, but if that's going to add a lot to cost then i'd be best spending the money on a new drive or add on card. at least one PCI and at least 2 PCI-e x1 slots as well as the PCI-e x16 would also be great. i'm probably looking for 4gb RAM. a mobo with 4 ram slots rather than 2 is preferred, for future upgrading, but at the price point i'm probably pushing things unless there are older mobos going cheap

any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks

[Pob255]

Well most of the latest motherboards have now dropped IDE

Here we go
http://www.ebuyer.com/260870-amd-ath...-64-x2-bundle3 it's the older AM2 athlon but it's still fine for basic internet/office use

Spend a little more and go with the athlonII + ddr3 http://www.ebuyer.com/283340-amd-ath...lmlx2gb250bund although you lose the IDE

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What computer do you have ATM and what PSU?? What OS are you running too?? Is it 32 bit or 64 bit??

In addition to what Pob has suggested I would also consider the Intel Celeron G530 and the AMD Llano A4 3300 too. The A4 has the advantage of a better IGP and should be better for media playback although the CPU is weaker. However,you are looking at between £110 to £125 in total with 4GB of RAM. Also,with the budget socket 1155,FM1 and AM3+ sockets you are looking at a motherboard with two RAM slots. With the older socket 775 and AM3 sockets you might get 4 RAM slots though. If you want budget motherboards with loads of SATA ports,the FM1 motherboards usually have 6 SATA2.0 or 6 SATA3.0 ports.

[scaryjim]

Is the Case ATX or matx? I'm having a really hard time finding boards to meet all of your specs! There's plenty of cheap mATX boards with IDE but they only have 1 (at most!) PCIe x1, and a few with a couple of PCIe x1 but no IDE! The cheapest I've found that fits all the specs is a full ATX 760G motherboard by ASUS - this also has the 4 RAM slots, and is kitted out with an AM3+ socket so it will support bulldozer-based processors: but it's £56. If you're stuck in mATX rather than full ATX, then you can get a better featured 880G based mATX board, which also has 4 RAM slots (but not an AM3+ socket), but that's more expensive still at £62. That said, a Sempron 145 and 4GB of Corsair DDR3-133 will only set you back £49, and (IMNSHO) a single core processor is still fine for a light use computer. Besides, both the the boards mentioned above support core unlocking, so you could end up with a dual-core processor anyway

[Unique]

Well most of the latest motherboards have now dropped IDE

Here we go
http://www.ebuyer.com/260870-amd-ath...-64-x2-bundle3 it's the older AM2 athlon but it's still fine for basic internet/office use

Spend a little more and go with the athlonII + ddr3 http://www.ebuyer.com/283340-amd-ath...lmlx2gb250bund although you lose the IDE

fantasic, thanks. for the low spec i'm talking about, is it better to go for DDR3 than DDR2? i'm partially thinking that price would be one factor, and if i'm not wrong in thinking DDR3 is currently cheaper than DDR2 and likely to be the case in future, as there typically comes a point when older ram becomes more expensive when it's not as mass produced? it might be better to live without the IDE HDD or use a pci card. i already have a sata dvdrw but usually use an IDE one to save SATA sockets for HDD's

[Unique]

What computer do you have ATM and what PSU?? What OS are you running too?? Is it 32 bit or 64 bit??

In addition to what Pob has suggested I would also consider the Intel Celeron G530 and the AMD Llano A4 3300 too. The A4 has the advantage of a better IGP and should be better for media playback although the CPU is weaker. However,you are looking at between £110 to £125 in total with 4GB of RAM. Also,with the budget socket 1155,FM1 and AM3+ sockets you are looking at a motherboard with two RAM slots. With the older socket 775 and AM3 sockets you might get 4 RAM slots though. If you want budget motherboards with loads of SATA ports,the FM1 motherboards usually have 6 SATA2.0 or 6 SATA3.0 ports.

it was a second hand self build. it's basically an AMD 3800+ which is a 2ghz dual core, and it's got 2x2gb RAM. the mobo has onboard graphics via VGA and i have an old pci-e x16 nvidea 6200gt or something graphics card

i'm not sure what case it is, it's an old one but has space for 5 HDD's and 3 5.25" and has a reasonably space at the bottom after the mobo so seems to be reasonably generous in size. i'm not sure the make of the PSU but it's pretty new and it's 400 watts

my budget can stretch a bit. i have a media streamer and don't play games so no need for media playback on the pc itself, apart from tvcatchup and iplayer as the streamer can't play those

i'll checkout your suggestions, thanks

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

it was a second hand self build. it's basically an AMD 3800+ which is a 2ghz dual core, and it's got 2x2gb RAM. the mobo has onboard graphics via VGA and i have an old pci-e x16 nvidea 6200gt or something graphics card

i'm not sure what case it is, it's an old one but has space for 5 HDD's and 3 5.25" and has a reasonably space at the bottom after the mobo so seems to be reasonably generous in size. i'm not sure the make of the PSU but it's pretty new and it's 400 watts

my budget can stretch a bit. i have a media streamer and don't play games so no need for media playback on the pc itself, apart from tvcatchup and iplayer as the streamer can't play those

i'll checkout your suggestions, thanks

The PSU is very important. In many cases el-cheapo PSUs can cause component damage. Examples include the EZ-Cool and CiT ones. This is why you need to find out the manufacturer and mode number of the PSU.

[Unique]

Is the Case ATX or matx? I'm having a really hard time finding boards to meet all of your specs! There's plenty of cheap mATX boards with IDE but they only have 1 (at most!) PCIe x1, and a few with a couple of PCIe x1 but no IDE! The cheapest I've found that fits all the specs is a full ATX 760G motherboard by ASUS - this also has the 4 RAM slots, and is kitted out with an AM3+ socket so it will support bulldozer-based processors: but it's £56. If you're stuck in mATX rather than full ATX, then you can get a better featured 880G based mATX board, which also has 4 RAM slots (but not an AM3+ socket), but that's more expensive still at £62. That said, a Sempron 145 and 4GB of Corsair DDR3-133 will only set you back £49, and (IMNSHO) a single core processor is still fine for a light use computer. Besides, both the the boards mentioned above support core unlocking, so you could end up with a dual-core processor anyway

it looks like the mobo is MATX, but there is a big gap between the bottom of the mobo and the bottom of the case so presumably that means it's a full size case? it takes 5 x 3.5" and 3x5.25" drives

i'm not sure what core unlocking is, but i'm guessing some dual core CPU's are sold as single core and can be unlocked in a similar process to overclocking?

[Unique]

The PSU is very important. In many cases el-cheapo PSUs can cause component damage. Examples include the EZ-Cool and CiT ones. This is why you need to find out the manufacturer and mode number of the PSU.

i wonder if that's the cause of the problem as the guy i bought it from gave me a new PSU with it. i kept his old case instead of the new one as i wanted space to use up the old drives i had in caddies so everything was internal. i'll find out when i get home

[scaryjim]

it looks like the mobo is MATX, but there is a big gap between the bottom of the mobo and the bottom of the case so presumably that means it's a full size case?

How many expansion slots does it have on the back? an mATX case will only have 4, whilst an ATX case will have (usually) 7.

It sounds like you may well have a cheap generic PSU there - if so I'd replace that first and see if my rig stabilised at all (although it may be that something else is on the way out, and in my experience mobo is mostly likely as there's so many things that can go wrong on a mobo!). What socket is the old rig? Might it be worth grabbing a new mobo with the right socket first and just swapping out the mobo to see if that solves the problems?

[Unique]

How many expansion slots does it have on the back? an mATX case will only have 4, whilst an ATX case will have (usually) 7.

It sounds like you may well have a cheap generic PSU there - if so I'd replace that first and see if my rig stabilised at all (although it may be that something else is on the way out, and in my experience mobo is mostly likely as there's so many things that can go wrong on a mobo!). What socket is the old rig? Might it be worth grabbing a new mobo with the right socket first and just swapping out the mobo to see if that solves the problems?

it looks like this is the case

http://www.antec.com/pdf/drawings/NS...echdrawing.pdf

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.as...=ALIVENF6G-DVI

and thats the mobo socket AM2

the case has 7 expansion slots so looks like ATX. sitting next to an old dell the case is the same physical size but the dell only has 4 slots on the back

[Unique]

The PSU is very important. In many cases el-cheapo PSUs can cause component damage. Examples include the EZ-Cool and CiT ones. This is why you need to find out the manufacturer and mode number of the PSU.

it says CIT pentium p4 450U - having a google i can see gold versions and a black one, but this is the standard gunmetal grey/silver colour that the inside of most cases looks like

is this a really bad model? do you think the PSU has knackered the mobo and ram?

from what i understand, the guy selling it put in this new PSU instead of the old one that was originally in it

are there any links online to show CIT psu's can cause damage?

[scaryjim]

Ooooh, NSK4000 series - nice budget Antec cases (I'm a big fan of Antecs). CIT are *not* a reputable PSU manufacturer, although the rig you've been running shouldn't have been excessive even for a cheap PSU. The problem isn't necessarily particular brands of PSU being known to damage motherboards, but the fact that cheap PSUs often don't have as good voltage regulation and voltage / current protection as more expensive PSUs.

So you're definitely going to want to replace that PSU. After that I'd be inclined to drop £30 or so on a new AM2 motherboard - motherboards are much more complex than CPUs or RAM so are (IMNSHO) more likely to cause problems. Only if things are still going wrong would I then consider a new CPU & RAM as well.

[Unique]

Ooooh, NSK4000 series - nice budget Antec cases (I'm a big fan of Antecs). CIT are *not* a reputable PSU manufacturer, although the rig you've been running shouldn't have been excessive even for a cheap PSU. The problem isn't necessarily particular brands of PSU being known to damage motherboards, but the fact that cheap PSUs often don't have as good voltage regulation and voltage / current protection as more expensive PSUs.

So you're definitely going to want to replace that PSU. After that I'd be inclined to drop £30 or so on a new AM2 motherboard - motherboards are much more complex than CPUs or RAM so are (IMNSHO) more likely to cause problems. Only if things are still going wrong would I then consider a new CPU & RAM as well.

but sticking the ram in another pc and running the memory test it said there were hardware problems detected, but running with the pc's usual ram there were no problems detected, and putting the good ram in the bad pc didn't fix the problem, so it sounds like the RAM is knackered. the only thing that seems to be fine it the case. i might be better off getting a second hand whole pc

i do like the antec cases, i have a 300 model for my other setup and it's really great. loads of space, built like a tank, no sharp edges. the faulty pc, i only noticed it was an antec case today

about the psu, one of the things i noticed early on was the USB sockets couldn't power one of my 2.5" discs in a caddy (a caddy with both USB and esata), but would on another USB caddy although it had problems with it, so maybe that was a sign the PSU wasn't up to it. i did have several HDD's installed, but only really 1 or 2 would be working at the same time. it also didn't recognise the dvdrw as a writer at times, i had to muck about uninstalling it to show in windows as a writer. it would read fine and installed windows fine

[scaryjim]

hmmm, sounds like you might have problems with both the RAM and the mobo, which is a shame, but at that point I think you're right about needing to pretty much rebuild. Personally I'd go with this ASUS ATX mobo I recommended earlier - it's a bit more expensive that you were originally planning but it's got everything you wanted and is more expandable. Add that 4GB of Corsair DDR3 for £20, then choose a processor based on the budget you want to spend - pick between the single core Sempron at < £30, a dual core Athlon II at ~ £45, or a triple core Athlon II at ~ £55 - £60. But don't forget to factor in about £40 for a decent PSU too.

Of course, the other option is a complete rebuild, and once you're buying a new mobo, CPU, RAM and PSU, adding an optical drive and a hard drive isn't going to be that muchmore expensive - but in that case you also need to consider whether you'll need a new copy of Windows too, which would push the price upwards considerably...

[Pob255]

Remember the USB power goes through the motherboard so yes that could be the issue.
Quick suggestion, have a look at that motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors

Leaks are easy to spot, yellow/orange/brown crusty or waxy material on the top or below it


Bulging caps are less obsious, the tops should be flat or slightly concave


Capacitor failier is a common cause of motherboard failier, both stopping dead and instability.

The Asus motherboard jim linked is the ATX version of the one in the AM3+ bundle I linked too before http://www.ebuyer.com/283340-amd-ath...lmlx2gb250bund

if you want the added slots and features (it also has UBS3) of the Asus M5A78L/USB3 Then add to it Athlon II x2 250 http://www.ebuyer.com/237554-amd-ath...-adx250ocgmbox and a pair of ram to give you 4gb http://www.ebuyer.com/178943-corsair...v4gx3m2a1333c9
Total is £122.04
You could upgrade the cpu to the x3 450 http://www.ebuyer.com/238326-amd-ath...-adx450wfgmbox which would change the total to £113.19

The ColorsIT (aka CiT) psu's are not good ones so you'd probably want a new PSU
Coolermaster GX 450w http://www.ebuyer.com/268696-coolerm...s450-acaad3-uk Decent PSU, made by Enhance Electronics, Bronze rated and 5 year warranty, all round excellent for the cost.
Review here http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...-Review/1234/1

You could easily then stick a 6750 (£80) to 6850 (£110) or some 2nd hand card, in there and have a nice little basic gaming pc