On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 9:53 PM, John R Pierce <pierce at hogranch.com> wrote: <snip> > designs. Also, Dell is fairly notorious for using PSUs >that are just > barely adequate for the system as >originally configured. And, I believe, in the Dell Dimensions, we have 4 of them, they use Proprietary cases, motherboards and PSUs. After the quote of about USD$238 for a new motherboard, I think I have lost a lot of enthusiasm for Dell. I'm sure others (HP for example) would charge the same, for Proprietary parts. <snip> > consider getting a g33 based motherboard (intel dg33tl >or equivalent) > with a low end core2 chip such as the >e2200, along with 2x1GB ddr2 533 > or whatever. this would give you a system many >times faster than the When I take this box (hopefully on 5 or 6 January) for the man who repairs motherboards to inspect the motherboard and the PSU, I will ask about the difference in price, for a g33 board and low end Core2 CPU. The Controller of the Currency in our house (my Wife) mentioned to me that we are not in very good shape, after all of the extra Xmas spending..... Your idea sounds excellent, if the $ is there....