checking used pc

[anton muzic]

Hi all,
i went to the computer fair last week (2nd hand stuff) and was hit by numerous errors by sellers which prompted me to ask....how can i check there and then the pc to make sure it is up to scratch?

for example...i did a simple
R click on "my computers" and properties to see that the speed of the cpu was actually slower than the display.
another vendor had a 17 inch monitor which had no price but he quickly rumbled in a box and pulled out a sticker- $50 (aus)..is there a way to test the monitor?
Can others who have this experience please give me some hints?

cheers
anton (ps..reason i went was to get the parents a decent pc for internet..saw one pc with monitor winxp, pent III, 1.1Ghz for 250 bucks(aus))

[saphalline]

For second-hand stuff with the classic 0-day warranty :p if I can't test it, I don't buy it! That's all there is to it. Not even a fool would buy a 17" non-returnable monitor without testing it! Unless I can buy it for less than the cost of a burger! ;)

For a whole computer, I need to know what it runs (as you all know, I'm obsessive about that! :p). I carry around a USB flash drive full of diag apps (like WCPUID, CPU-Z, Everest Home, Intel Proc ID/Freq Util, 3D Mark, SiSoft Sandra, etc). If I can't load any software, I wanna look inside! If I can't do either of those things, I keep walking... It's not worth the headache...

[anton muzic]

saphalline, i've used cpu-z to analyze this pc (i am only to use it for video editing), unfortunately, i cannot find a site that can help interpret measures.
I wondered if i may be so bold to ask u (or any other person) your opinions as to what the main measures suggest and how they help me in understanding what i need to better the overall system.

[anton muzic]

saphalline,
i've used cpu-z to analyze this pc (i am only to use it for video editing), unfortunately, i cannot find a site that can help interpret measures.
I wondered if i may be so bold to ask u (or any other person) your opinions as to what the main measures suggest and how they help me in understanding what i need to better the overall system.
memory

[saphalline]

That system has 512MB of PC800 RDRAM. It either has 2 x 256MB sticks, or 4 x 128MB sticks. Can't tell from just that, but a quick peek inside will let you know. Just keep in mind that you will see a stick in each RIMM slot regardless if it has a stick of RAM in it - RDRAM requires the use of something called a "continuity module" (which are dummy sticks) in the extra RIMM slots in order to work properly. These dummy sticks have no RAM on them, they are just used for placeholders.

Also, how fast is the CPU speed? And which CPU does it use? For good video editing performance I would suggest a 2GHz CPU, but you can get by with less (it just won't be as zippy). 512MB of RAM isn't bad, either, but if you can upgrade that at all, it would be nice. But RDRAM is expensive, so I don't know how much more money you want to sink into this thing.