New Computer

Old Pentium IV motherboard and processor. The large
lump at the back with a fan on top is the processor
and heat sink

After many years using a second hand (£50) Pentium IV computer I decided it was about time to upgrade to a new computer.

The options were to buy another second hand computer or recycled computer or even a new one. I found some refurbished dual core computers for about £150, which would have been a lot cheaper than buying a new low end computer for £260.

I didn't need any new display or keyboard etc.

Even these costs were high, so I decided to look at replacing the motherboard. Initially I looked at buying separate motherboard, processor, ram, graphics card etc.

Fine, but it takes hours and hours and hours to match all the components and to keep an eye on the total cost. Plus you have a worry about it all be 'compatible'.

So then I started looking at 'bundles', this makes things easier, because someone has taken the time to match components. At first I spotted a bundle at Maplins for a motherboard with a 3 core 2.5Ghz AMD processor, all for £89. Wow, that looked good, but they rapidly sold out and there were no more by the time I decided to take the plunge.

So I had to start looking again. Finally found a small company selling a bundle for £104. The Motherboard has a single IDE socket as well as SATA connections, which meant I could use the old hard drive and DVD drive. It also has reasonably good Nvidia graphics chips. The processor is a 3Ghz 2 core AMD Athlon and the board has 2 gb of ram. After checking compatibility of a number of other connections I took the plunge and ordered the bundle.

The result is excellent. Installed it at the weekend and I am really pleased with the performance. So I have a new computer, whilst keeping all the old drives, case, keyboard, display, mouse and power supply.