Question to computer/hardware geeks

[karohemd]

The fan of the PSU in my PC is now finally on its last legs. Previously I had to hand start it and it was a bit noisy but now it's just rattling slowly at times and not doing its job anymore.

1) If I simply buy a new PSU, what do I have to know about my computer so I get the right one?
Everything else is working fine.

2) Having looked at prices for cases/motherboards, I could spend a bit more, get a new case and a new motherboard. Can I just plug in my existing hard and CD drives and cards or will I have to reinstall Windows etc? The system (W98 SE) is stable enough, a bit faster would be nice, though.

3) Expanding with option 1), what can I do to my PC to make it faster apart from adding RAM? It's currently a PIII 450 on a motherboard that was new at the time, what sort of processor will it take? I have to dig out the specs but maybe someone can give me a rough idea.

Update: Thanks for all your comments.
I think I'll just replace the PSU for now as the comp is fine for what I need it for and I still have my laptop, anyway. I'll have a proper system upgrade when I have a long, free weekend in a couple of months or so. :o)

Comments

[duncanneko.livejournal.com]

Throwing my oar in too.. ;-)

1) Case size/type (ATX is by far the most common), and power consumption (check your current one, add a bit more if you feel like it to be on the safe side) are the main ones. Any decent quality PSU will have enough leads to cover your assorted drives anyway. You may also want to consider getting a super-quiet fan if that's an issue for you.

2) You *might* get away with just swapping the Motherboard etc out, but it's unlikely. I've never managed to pull it off, Windows has always required a full reinstall when I change motherboard. Judicious use of CD-Rs can make a full reinstall less painful than it would otherwise be.. it usually takes me an afternoon at most, using network backups etc. Burning important software to CD can also help a lot (I have an "install source" folder on one of my machines that contains pretty much every app I've downloaded, very handy for reinstalls)

3) You'd have to check the motherboard specs, but basically you won't get anything but a P3 on there.. clock speed will depend on the motherboard mostly. Athlon/P4 motherboards aren't too expensive anyway, though, so if you go for a new processor then upgrading there won't be too hard.

[duncanneko.livejournal.com]

I just noticed you mentioned two HDs too - reinstalling should be pretty close to trivial if you can just dump everything important to drive #2 and reformat drive #1 for a clean reinstall (incidentally, holler if you want Win2k instead of 98)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind when I actually get round to it.