Recent, I wrote about a hardware failure where my overclocked motherboard died. Unfortunately, the motherboard I installed to replace my old unit wasn’t a very good model and ended up having a bad chipset. Given that my computer is my paycheck, I couldn’t take the chance on another catastrophic hardware failure. I bit the bullet and bought a new motherboard, processor and memory.
The result of this upgrade is a rebirth of the computer I affectionately call eMonster. eMonster actually started out as Compi, a Compaq Presario, back in 2002. 2 years later, I was given a eMachine, which I promptly merged with my Compaq, overclocked, tweaked and renamed eMonster. The latest rebirth brings the integration of a new Biostar motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU, and 2GB of Kingston DDR2 RAM.
The basic run-down on the hardware
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
- BIOSTAR K8M800 Micro AM2 AM2 VIA K8M800 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
- Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
- HIS Radeon 7000 64MB DDR AGP 4x Dual VGA TV Out Low Profile Video Card
- Western Digital WDC WD2000JB 200GB IDE ATA
- Maxtor 4D040H2 40GB IDE ATA HDD
- LITE-ON DVDRW LDW-411S (Dual Format)
- 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
- Belkin 5-port USB 2.0 Card
- Antec Case with 300W Power Supply
- 80mm Antec Case Fan
- 17" Compaq Flat CRT
- 15" MPC LCD
- Microsoft Natural Keyboard
- Logitec Optical Mouse
- Logitec X230 2.1 Speaker System
Some Pics (click the thumbnail for a larger picture)







What’s significant about this computer is not so much the specs of the components. It’s that nearly 50% of this computer is built from components from other computers. The rest I just added over the last 5+ years. Since the only remains from the original computer is the CRT monitor, I don’t factor in the cost of that system ($650 retail). The total I paid for all the components in this system is just $440, over 5+ years. Counting the parts I did not have to pay for, the total value would be $740.
I haven’t benchmarked this system, yet, but when I do, I’m sure that my speculations on its performance will be confirmed. I’ve yet to use a system at 2x the price of this one that was as fast. The 2 areas that need improvement are I/O read/write speeds (a limitation of Ultra ATA drives) and the graphics performance (not an area I’m concerned about as I don’t game.
Sure, my eMonster is a bit of a Frankenstein, but it is a perfect match to my needs and it is built with all high-quality equipment that will last for years. When it’s time to further upgrade, I’ll shelve the parts I remove and use them to build another PC, like I just did for my nephew. Not many 5yr olds can say they have a custom built PC with a AMD 64-bit 2GHz CPU and 1.5GB of RAM, but he can. Probably a bit overkill for Noggin.com and SesameWorkshop.org, but I’m sure he won’t complain.
The moral of the story, don’t throw away those old computer parts! With a little time and some careful shopping, you can build a very powerful system for a fraction of the cost of a new system.
You’ve read my two cents. Now have your say!
Do you buy new and get rid of your old hardware?
Do you have your own “eMonster” that you would like to show off? Pics are welcome!