Build Your Own Computer: Choosing the Right Components for Optimal Performance

[Krazie]

Alright, so I have finally decided to buy a new computer. I am going to build it myself. But I have a question. I currently have a dell dimesion 4100.
All that I am going to buy new is a mother board with a p4 processor, ram, a dvd burner, and hard drive.
Can I just take the mother board out of my dell 4100 case, and put this new mother board in? I also want to use the video card, fan, and power supply that I currently have. Will this work, or will I have to buy a new case, fan, and power supply?
These are the items that I am purchasing.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1061503&sku=MBM-D915G-530
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1028356&sku=THD-1600HH8
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=84387&sku=K24-5200
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1003370&sku=P34-2018

 

[Anttech]

If the motherboad fits into the case then I don't see why not... Make sure that the RAM is compatble with the motherboad (you can have numbering issues if not, ie random reboots) As long as everything is compatable then you shouldn't have any problems...

Sounds like fun, good luck

 

[russ_watters]

There is a very good chance that that Dell case is not ATX compliant. I'd be a little surprised, in fact, if the new motherboard will fit in it.

 

[Krazie]

what about the power supply and fan? Do I need more powerful ones? Or will the ones that I already have suffice?

 

[Anttech]

Power supply: should be ok
Fan: cooler is always better,

If you test with the one you have and find that your proc is getting to hot, purchase a new one

 

[russ_watters]

what about the power supply and fan? Do I need more powerful ones? Or will the ones that I already have suffice?

That depends on how big the one you have is and what you plan to put into the new computer. Dell PSUs are also proprietary, but I think they'll work on standard ATX boards (just not the other way around).

 

[anti_crank]

If I remember, a Dell 4100 is an AT-based system, so if you want to carry forward any kind of components, you're kind of out of luck. (AT PSU's are usually 250-300w. God help you if you want to use a good video card.) To be honest, you probably need to buy nearly everything new, except the video card. You can actually carry forward your HDD, optical drive, any PCI cards (not ISA) and the floppy drive if you really felt like it.

 

[Krazie]

What do I do about windows? I have windows ME on this harddrive that I am using now, and I do have a Windows XP upgrade disc, but how do I get this onto my new harddrive? I have not used the XP uprade disc yet. Is their some way that I can copy EVERYTHING off of this harddrive onto the new one, and then upgrade to windows xp? I want all the music off this harddrive to be on my new harddrive anyway.

 

[anti_crank]

You can physically copy things from one HDD to the other if on a network, or if you install that old HDD into your new system. As for your OS, you'll have to install a fresh copy, so I hope you have that WinME CD around somewhere.

 

[Anttech]

You could clone your Disk using ghost

 

[Krazie]

I do have the widows ME disk, but it is an upgrade disc too! I do have the original disk with windows 98 on it, but it is a restore disk for this dell computer, and on the disk it says that it won't work on any other computer. I am interested in cloning my disk using ghost. Would you please tell me more Anttech about ghost, I do not know what that is. How does it work? Where do I get it? I wanto to copy EVERYTHING off of this harddrive onto my new one. Thank you.

 

[anti_crank]

http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/.

You mentioned Windows ME? I believe ME is the last Microsoft OS that can be transplanted from a hardware configuration to another. All 9x operating systems can, if required, rebuild the entire hardware tree. At the very least you will get enough of the PCI hardware to boot (newer LAN/sound cards are detected but the system has no stock drivers for them). I have successfully transplanted and booted off old hard drives into new computers and the OS invariably picked up the new hardware. This is not to say, however, that I recommend this. It is much better to install fresh for other reasons, primarily because Windows systems get incredibly cluttered over the years.

The problem with NT-kernel systems is the way the OS keeps track of how to access its own system files. If you change a motherboard, the OS realizes that its old IDE controller is gone at some point BEFORE the detection of the new controller. The result is a boot failure "MISSING_BOOT_DEVICE" (or substitute invalid for missing). It's possible to avoid this if the IDE chipset of the new board is similar to the one on the old board.

My ongoing record is a system that went 95b[Jan 1998]->98(upgrade)->95(uninstall)->98SE(upgrade)->new hardware (old HD into newly built PC)->XP(upgrade)->new HDD(ghost)->98(hacked XP uninstaller)->XP(upgrade)->new hardware+ghost->XPSP2[Oct 2004]. In the second hardware upgrade, the reason I was able to carry the OS through is that both boards were based on VIA chipsets, and it seems the driver for the old chipset was able to function until the OS upgraded it.

It might be that you can install off the Windows ME CD with the installer prompting you to insert the 98 CD to verify that you qualify to install. It may or may not accept the 98 upgrade edition CD. However, since you actually have a legal license to run it, you are well within your rights to get a CD image of the full edition of WinME or a full edition of W98 if your W98 CD is not accepted by the installer, then burn it or get a friend to do it if you don't have the burner, and install that.

Quiz: Of the OS'es I listed, how many was I / am I entitled to run?