nothing wrong with older, slower computers UNTIL windows decides to move the pagefile or do something equally bad for resources... if you are looking at data that's lagged, or you try to hit a bid was hit 3 seconds ago, you're out of luck. faster processors and more ram will help prevent this. older motherboards might not support multiple video cards, or enough ram. just get a new dell, and get as much ram as you can afford...more important that processor speed.
Don't know if this s still available but if you're in the Chicago area, I found this on craigslist. System for sale - $500 Reply to: sale-136583577@craigslist.org Date: 2006-02-24, 5:33AM CST Amd athlon water cooled rig.Cpu and north bridge is water cooled in integrated koolance case.Temps range from 25 to 36 full load. Procesor is a 3200+ Athlon 64 with 1 meg cash. Mobo is an asus a8n-sli delux.I gig of ram 400 gig hd. Power suply is a 420wat. Got 1 serial,1 paralel,8 usb,1 firewire,1 game,2 lan,1 game ports. The mobo is sli 2 16/8 pci-x slots 2 1x pci-x,3 pci 2.0,4 ddr slots dual chenel 2 avail,8 sata 4 3.0 mbs 2 ide/4 ide devices,1 floppy conector. Cd/dvd dual layer writer.1 floppy drive.Video card is 440 gforce mx just to get you going. * this is in or around nw chicago * no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
I think you have selected a fine machine for what you want to do. If you're still looking you might want to look at this machine: http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Dimension-...775313000QQcategoryZ51145QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem It's a nice high end one for your dollar investment. The seller also has a good track record for your purchasing comfort. You can easily upgrade the video card (through eBay also) as well as add USB ports.