I want a new hard drive.
Hmm – I’ll need a new OS for the hard drive – XP is so 2007 and was preinstalled anyway *curse preinstalled*
I’ll get some new memory to support this new OS. Too much for the OS in retrospect (Vista 32bit can’t use more than 3GB, I have 4GB…)
Whoops – motherboard is too old for the new memory (and indeed, the new drive). I’ll get a new motherboard.
Ah – the old celeron won’t fit the new motherboard – better get a new processor.
Oooo shiny – I need a 19 inch widescreen monitor – my 15inch just isn’t big enough. Better yet, I can have a mini swordfish moment and use both…
Bugger – new motherboard doesn’t fit into case (they come in different sizes?!). Can’t return board as it’s OEM – will have to get a new case.
New case for £23, or new case AND 450W PSU (power supply) £30… better get a new PSU. It’ll have SATA cables at least.
…..
Assuming the saga ends there (case + PSU arriving in a few days) the only orginal components will be the DVD writer (primarily used for installing games – that’s about it), the card reader (hasn’t worked for years – suspect USB not powered since last upgrade) and floppy drive (…does anyone use these? I don’t even know if it works). I found a floppy disc a few days ago – Dogz 1 – I’m only keeping it for sentimental value. Having said that, the Dogz 1 floppy was sitting on top of a 5″ floppy from our old BBC computer, so it’s obviously a trait I repeat.
Oh and my lovely 512MB NVidia card, assuming it’s old PCI-e works in the new motherboard (Google says it will work – seems a bit of a wonky bodge job to me but we’ll see).
PS it’s still cheaper and more fun than buying a readymade!
*Cackles*
Building your own rocks though, we’ve always done so…just a pity you can’t build your own laptop! I need a new one (yes, *need* – this one doesn’t work properly anymore!) but everytime I go window shopping I get depressed by the amount you have to spend to get something half decent and think to myself how much more I could get for my money with a PC. Bah!