I know there are some smart people out there who may be able to help walk me through this. I have decided to upgrade my computer situation, and after browsing Ebay the last couple days, discovered "barebone systems." I think this is exactly what I want- I already have new-ish mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, CD/DVD burners, webcam, and two external hard drives- just want to upgrade processor, RAM, motherboard (I don't even really know what that is, lol), get some USB 2.0 ports, one of those memory card reader thingys, and a new case/fan (mine sounds like the Calgary Airport and seems to heat up rather quickly).
Here's the barebone system I found on Ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/AMD-Athlon-64-X2-...QQcmdZViewItem
Here are some questions I have:
-If I order that or something like it, will I be able to piece apart my old system and put together this new one?
-Is that a good deal? Is there a better place online to get a barebone system like that?
-How do I know if the CD/DVD drives/burners I have currently will work with a new system? Are they easy to install, or am I going to run into a mess with drivers, updates, etc.? I don't need dual-layer or fancy new drives, do I?
-I don't need a top of the line graphics card. Zero game playing for me. Just surfing, streaming videos, and the occasional divx/avi/DVD. Is the graphics card that comes with that system OK? What would you recommend?
-Is that processor decent enough? Again, not a game player, it's just gonna be web surfing, everyday CPuck user kinda stuff. Making CDs, editing some photos now and then, Microsoft Word, etc.
-Where is the best place to get RAM? I want to put at least 4 GB in this new system (I have a serious open aplication problem).
-Any other accessories/add-ons/upgrades you would recommend?
Any advice at all is greatly appreciated fellas. In the meantime I am going hammering that search function looking for old threads on building your own computer.