What to put into old computer???

[SaiyaSurge]

My parents computer is dieing on me. I cant get anything to go onto the screen, the computer is turned on. Everynow and then it will boot up normally, but that is few and far between. Again I dont get any image on the screen, so no BIOS, no nothing!

Im thinking I can keep the majority of the components:
CDROMS
HardDrives
NIC
Floppy
GPU

However I think I should get a new mobo, ram, and processor. I have been out of the loop for the past 8 months on the computer scene so Im a little out of touch. I was thinking maybe what I use in my computer and thats the 2500+ Barton and Asus Deluxe motherboard. Would you guys reccomend anything else??? This would be for surfing the net and word processing, my parents dont game.

 

[Benny Blanco]

What if it's just a bad video card?

 

[SaiyaSurge]

I was thinking that, but sometimes it boots up fine after letting it sit for a long period of time.

 

[bobsaget]

yeah, the video card or monitor might have just failed

 

[maw]

if it makes the normal boot-up sounds (single beep) but no video, i'm guessing the problem is with the monitor or cable, maybe vid card.

usually any other failed hardware would result in the PC screaming bloody murder on bootup..

 

[SmokeRngs]

Post the specs of the system, it might help in diagnosing the problem especially if there is a certain piece of hardware in the mix that is known to be troublesome.

Also, explain how it boots up or doesn't boot up. Does the computer actually boot up and give the one beep meaning good POST? Does it give any other beeps, or just no beeps at all?