First post, by OverTallman
- Rank
- Newbie
Hello guys, I'm OverTallman. There's no intro thread in VOGONS (at least I didn't see one) and this is my very first post so I'll briefly introduce myself here.
My name is OverTallman or OTM in short (in case you don't wanna type 11 letters each time). I'm from Hong Kong if you wonder... yeah I know Asians are rare species here but let's not bring race talk to this forum, cause just like you I'm passionate about tech stuff, PC hardware in particular. I'm more of a modern PC guy, only started tinkering computers a few years ago, but old/vintage hardware still has a place in me, hell the first PC in my home is a Socket 370 system! Over the years I've been refurbishing computers as a hobby and I managed to save a few oldies (mostly Socket 370 and 478, and 1-2 386/486 systems) from their demise, so I think I'm not 100% clueless about old PCs... maybe.
And there's one obligatory thing to say: English isn't my first language so please pardon my English, I'll try my best on this part 😅
Alright enough shameless intro, back to topic. The whole project started from here, a Socket 754 system bundle that I bought for very little $$$.
This includes an ECS motherboard, a Sempron CPU, a stock AMD cooler, 1.5GB RAM, a rusty backplate, a manual and a driver CD, all for HK$30 (~US$4) and they all work. What a bargain!
By the way, what's with the title? Well what I'm gonna do is build an relatively old system mixed with some modern parts making it totally awkward, ridiculous, out of place, period incorrect, blah blah blah. I know this is gonna trigger some people here but hey it's summer in HK, a "My Summer PC" build doesn't hurt, right? 😜
Parts used
(Click on the image for a larger one)
Motherboard: ECS 761GX-M754 (V3.0A)
An ordinary Socket 754 mATX motherboard from ECS, with SiS 761GX chipset (no Turion support unfortunately), 2 SATA ports and a PCIe x16 slot (wow). The purple PCB screams ECS and looks dope, I like it.
Processor: AMD Sempron 2500+ (SDA2500AIO3BX)
Meh, a Sempron, and not only that it's the slowest of them. True it's the slowest Socket 754 desktop chip (runs @ measly 1.4GHz), but at least it doesn't have chipped corner and works well. For $30 what can you ask for?
CPU cooler: PCcooler E121 Corona
Now that's where new parts start to come. It's a cheap Chinese top down cooler, full aluminum heatsink like the stock one but even lighter. However it has a 120mm fan and it emits a blue dank ring, that's what matters 😁
Memory: 2 * 1GB Speed DDR-400 RAM
I decided not to use the 512MB Kingston and get an (almost) identical 1GB module instead. They're the same obscure brand, one of them has Hynix chips and the other one has Samsung chips, but it should be fine.
Graphics card: HIS Radeon HD 4350 Silence 512MB
Taken from my "fatten up" HP t5745 thin client. It's silent, can play 1080p videos and okay for light gaming, a great card for web browsers and HTPC.
Storage: Western Digital WD3200AAJS
A rather common 3.5" 320GB SATA II hard drive by WD, it's bought used but has no bad sectors, very quiet too. It also has the 8-pin jumper which can be handy in some cases. (More on to that later)
Case: Maxxon Casper
A budget mATX case from a local brand, flimsy metal panels and a potential danger to my delicate skin 🤣, surprisingly though I didn't get a cut from handling it. Clear plexiglass side panel may look cringy to some, but overall it doesn't look too gamer-y. Like most new cases there's a USB 3.0 port and HD Audio connectors on the front panel, which I'll need to improvise to make use of.
Power supply: Antec Neo ECO 450C
A decent Antec PSU with 80+ Bronze certification, 450W is more than enough for this build considering I'm not gonna drop a power hungry GPU into it. Again it's an used part but there's no funky smell (may indicate leaking caps) so it should be good.
Fans: 2 * Aigo Aurora 120mm blue LED fan + 1 * AVC 92mm fan
Eyesore alert! Two front panel fans with blue dank ring 😈 Decided against RGB stuff as that adds complexity to the build (e.g. RGB controller and software). The exhaust fan is much more discreet, having another ring besides the ring on the cooler looks kinda messy to me anyway so I'm cool with that. Don't like the rings? It's 2018 boi 🤣
So here's the parts I'm gonna use, my "initial adventure" on this build will be posted soon, it's 4 am here so I'm gonna get a rest.