Newbie Question

[LANDMAN]

I'm pretty much a newbie with computers at least building them or anything internal. I have an older Gateway GT5040 Media Center PC that I'm wanting to upgrade. I'd like to add a 2tb internal hard drive, new power supply, up the memory, and add a good video card with hdmi and some decent audio.

Does anyone know if I have to start with a new motherboard or will the current one support these new additions. If I do need a new motherboard, what will fit this pc.

Please remember I know next to nothing about putting one together but I know I want a nice machine (no gaming) and the guys putting this stuff together on youtube made it look easy

Here are the specs:

Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 820 processor

2.8 GHz processor speed, 800 FSB, 2 MB L2 cache

Memory
Installed: 1024 MB 533 MHz (PC3200) DDR2 memory (two 512 MB modules)
Expandable to: 4 GB
Video Integrated
Audio Integrated
Hard Drive 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive
Optical Drives
Double layer 16X DVD+/-RW drive
16X DVD-ROM drive
Media Reader 9-in-1 Digital Media Manager supporting the following:

CompactFlash Card
IBM MicroDrive
Memory Stick
Memory Stick Pro
SmartMedia Card
Secure Digital(SD)/MMC
Compact Flash
Multimedia Card
xD-Picture Card
USB 1.1 or later

Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem
Network Integrated 10/100 LAN
Interfaces
PS/2 keyboard port
PS/2 mouse port
Seven USB 2.0 ports (four on rear panel, two on front panel, one in media reader)
Three IEEE 1394a connectors (one on rear panel, two on front-panel)
One parallel port
One serial port
One VGA monitor port
One RJ-45 LAN port
Seven audio jacks (five on rear panel, two on front panel)
One S/PDIF digital audio out
Add-In Card Slots
One PCI Express ×16
One PCI Express ×1
Two PCI Conventional
Drive Bays
Two external 3.5-inch
Two external 5.25-inch
Two internal 3.5-inch
Input Devices
Multimedia keyboard
USB optical mouse
Media Center remote control
Speakers Stereo speakers
Power Supply 300 watt
Dimensions (H × W × D) 15.4 × 7.3 × 17.9 inches
Weight 23.5 lbs (computer only, no packaging)

 

[pstang]

well it really depends on what you do with your computer.... but in all honesty, it would be a better investment to build/buy a newer system than to try to upgrade your current system

 

[bigted]

you should build a new pc, with all the components you are talking about buying, you will save yourself a HUGE headache by going with a new one.

not only that, but your board looks like a nasty BTX board, abort your mission to upgrade and start a new build asap.

BUT if you really do want to just drop money into this thing, it does have 4 sata ports on it, so unless it came with 4 sata devices, you could drop a 2tb in it and you probably could find a power supply that would fit that case. there is also a PCI-E x16 slot for you to upgrade the graphics card, just don't go overboard on that as you will be limited to the space in your case. board also has 4 memory slots, so you could probably go up to 8gb ddr2 memory, make sure you have a 64-bit OS. you've also got 2 pci and one pci-e x1 slot that you could throw a sound card into.

So you *could* do all of those upgrades if you wanted to. and then build a new pc later and use the parts that you just bought to upgrade this pc with.

picture of your board for reference and gross BTX-edness:

Good luck with your upgrades

 

[pstang]

board also has 4 memory slots, so you could probably go up to 8gb ddr2 memory, make sure you have a 64-bit OS.

i think the board is limited to only 4gb of memory and with it being ddr2 i think it would best to not even consider going over that because if he were to build a new system it wouldnt be of any use.... but i do agree on all your other points, he could go the incremental route and in doing so build up the confidence of building a new system by upgrading the current one instead of buying a prebuilt one (nothing wrong with that if thats the way you want to go )

 

[LANDMAN]

he could go the incremental route and in doing so build up the confidence of building a new system by upgrading the current one instead of buying a prebuilt one (nothing wrong with that if thats the way you want to go )

That is more or less what I was looking to do was just rebuild this one and let it be a learning experience of sorts. This desktop is still running and is about nine years old so I doubt I throw much money into it, just try to keep it running for as long as possible for a backup.

I'm hoping to purchase a new desktop here in the next few weeks if I can find a decent deal on a machine, been looking at the Lenevo scratch and dent lineup. Maybe do any upgrades to that one as well before I get it fully setup.

Appreciate all the advice and help.

 

[sawk]

Your current system should accept a 2TB drive no problem.

If that is indeed your motherboard pictured, you could put pretty well any current Video card in there. Just keep in mind you would be severely limiting it by having PCIe 1.0.

If you keep the video card upgrade to a lower end current one you shouldn't need a new power supply either. Something like a Nvidia 620/630. Those shouldn't require a new power supply.

The Memory upgrade could also get you a little more life out of it too, however DDR2-3200 is getting harder to find.

All in all you could probably add in these upgrade for $200-$400.

In all honesty, it is time to rebuild IMHO

However, these minor upgrades could help build your confidence in working on the internals of a PC.

Also the Video Card and Hard Drive could also be transplanted to the new PC once you are ready for the complete rebuild.

 

[xorbe]

Dig up some used items on the cheap if you want to upgrade for the heck of it. (Hey it's a hobby.)

Problem is, it's so slow by today's standards. (I retired my parents' just-wouldn't-die 2.8GHz P4 system last year.) You can get el cheapo laptops with quad threads and decent integrated graphics that slaughter the P4 system in every way, so don't spend too much on that dinosaur.

And I see you mentioned HDMI. One of the factors of retiring our P4 was that it was too slow for the new video codecs and higher resolution video files, and heavy web content was starting to chug in the browser.

Dead set on upgrading, I say find a 1TB drive, 2 x 1GB ram, and a GT640 card (TPU measured it at 48W max 34W average gaming.) $70 + $28 + $65 on newegg ... Normally I'd suggest a small ssd for a boot drive, but I dunno about on this old system, lol. Mushkin 40GB for $55 on newegg.

From your description: "533 MHz (PC3200) DDR2". That doesn't add up, it's either 533(4200) or 400(3200), so look at what's in there first.

 

[Geforcepat]

Pentium 4? man it's time to blow that whole thing and start over. Prescott? bahahah
Lord have mercy on his soul.

 

[HvyMtl]

Ok,

Here is my 2 cents. Use this old system to learn how to build the new. Take pictures of its guts, and then disassemble. Then reassemble. Does it work? Does it look like the pics?

Congrats, you now know a lot more about building a new system.

Then use your hard earned $ to buy new parts. If $ is short, or you have to save up, I suggest buying parts one group at a time. Start with your case, then power supply (as these things do not change as fast as other components.) Then the DVD burner, then monitor, then hard drive. Then motherboard, ram, and cpu and video card.

I suggest getting Win 7 over 8. (Personal preference, and see no need for a desktop to act like a tablet.) Look for special deals on OEM versions, as they can be purchased, for less $, when bought with core component parts of a computer (like the cpu, or motherboard.)

What to look for in a motherboard: Newest input and output links: PCI Express 3.0 X16 slots, USB 3.0, SATA 6gb, highest memory speeds supported. Core brands, do not go cheap brands here.

What to look for in a CPU: Best bang for Budget: (It all boils down to $, doesn't it?) i7 are grand, but may not be in budget. i5 is great. Yes, you can save a little $ by going AMD, but do think about power consumption as an additional cost, and look at the loss of performance compared to Intel. Then look at price. Most here will bash me for this last statement. (Not a fanboi of either CPU makes.) Get the best bang for your buck possible. Yes, look at both main CPU manufacturers. Deals on AMD are more likely.

Video Cards: Do your homework. The newest flashiest are great, but last year's model may be more than enough and a far better deal.

Memory: Make sure it is compatible with your motherboard. Buy the fastest your motherboard supports. 8gb minimum. Buy core brands (Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial, Kingston, Geil, PNY and the like)

Hard Drive: SATA 6gb compatible, 7200rpm, and at least 1TB in size. Look for higher cache sizes.
SSD of 128gb or so for a Operating System drive. IF you can afford it. Again, homework here is required. Know what is fast and best bang for buck.

DVD burners have not changed much. You may want Bluray.

Make absolutely sure you learn about power supplies. Cheap is usually not good. Core brands are important here, though they too can make a poor model every now and again. So, study. 650 watt or more (depending on Video card and how many you want has the most impact.)

Use this forum. Use it and others like it. Read up. Learn. Figure out what parts and run it by here. Learn from the feed back, adjust your list. Then go for it.

It is FUN to build your own, and know that others would have to pay much, much more to get the system you have from a builder.