Hi All,
I'm planning to move from the UK to the USA soon. I want to take my computer with me. It's a big, heavy desktop computer which was a great gaming machine when I bought it 4 years ago. It's not so awesome now, but it still plays all the current games just fine. Although I am good with the software side of computers, I know very little about the hardware.
What I want to know is:
1) Will I need to replace the case with a new US case with a US-compatible power supply? Or can I use some sort of adaptor?
2) Is the computer so out of date that it would cost more to ship than it is worth? It really is very big and heavy. I could sell it here in the UK, and buy a new one over there. If so, how much might it be worth secondhand?
Here are the basic stats:
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4400 (Dual Core)
GFX: ATI Radeon X1900
Hard Disk: 2x250GB
Memory: 2GB
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Fatal1ty
thanks!
Posts
I know the answer in Europe, I'm just not sure how GB is wired.
If the latter, you will need to either replace your power supply with one that runs on 110v or find some way to double the voltage (as far as I know, the voltage adapters work the opposite way (changing 220v to 110v).
Other than that, it's a matter of preference. If you think you can transfer your HDDs undamaged to the US, it might be worthwhile to get a new rig and just put your old drives into it (or transfer them onto the new drives).
The rig you describe sounds just fine, though, apart from the power issue and as long as you can ship it safely.
These days most PSUs don't have those switches. Cheap ones do, but decent ones have PFC and as a result automatically adjust for the input voltage (they usually accept 100V to 240V).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=17-139-006-03.jpg&Image=17-139-006-12.jpg%2c17-139-006-05.jpg%2c17-139-006-11.jpg%2c17-139-006-06.jpg%2c17-139-006-03.jpg%2c17-139-006-07.jpg%2c17-139-006-08.jpg%2c17-139-006-09.jpg%2c17-139-006-10.jpg%2c17-139-006-04.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16817139006&Depa=1&Description=CORSAIR%20CMPSU-750TX%20750W%20Power%20Supply
If you look at this label on the side of your psu you can see what voltages you can use where it says "AC input"
You will need a plug that works in grounded US outlets obviously. Do UK power supplies have the same plug on the actual unit as US ones? if so you could just get a cord: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812201007
I couldn't tell you if your monitor will be compatable with our power systems.
Hmm, I didn't even see the OP's second question.
Considering how old it is, it might not be worth it to ship. Go to the UPS or FedEx website and put in dimensions and weight (estimate) to see how much it might be, but I would think it will cost over $100 just to ship it here.
Then the question becomes: do you have the funds to buy a new computer? You can save your hard drives, and the memory (if it's DDR2) and your sound card and buy new parts. Or you could sell it at home (probably a better idea) and take that and the $$ you saved not shipping it and build a new computer.
Since the case is so large and heavy, it really might not even cost that much extra. Definitely get a quote on the shipping cost to aid in making the decision.
Or keep one hard drive, the sound card, and then either sell the whole thing as a functioning system or pull the video card and try to pawn that off on somebody separately if the mobo has integrated video. Probably the former.
If you look at the power supply, it should say, for instance, 110-220V. That's good, because the US is at 120V, while the UK is at 220V. Because both of those numbers are covered in the range, all you'll need is a cheap little adaptor to make the prongs into the right shape to fit into the wall, from the slanted "/ \" UK version into the "| |" US version.
If the range of voltages on the power supply doesn't cover 120V, then you're in a little more trouble as you'll either have to get a new power supply or a bulky voltage converter to make it work over here.