The 650W PSU seems a little overkill. The 2 GB RAM seems good for XP and pretty mediocre for Vista. The rest sounds good.
I totally agree!Future Proof is a silly term but I would still like my computer to last me as long as possible
I bought my PC online, they built it to my specifications. It has been 6/7 years nows so yes it's before 2005.Is this a homebuild or a retail. Also, was this bought before 2005 or after (I believe MS changed their EULA around that time, and can affect your ability to use the OS on a new mobo/system.
If the case is an ATX or microATX (dell uses btx) then it can be reused if you get the correctly sized board.
You probably won't be able to reuse the CPU, it is a different socket, and is not compatible.
The optical drives and hard drives could definitely be reused, and depending on the age of the PSU it is possible, but not likely that it could be reused as well.
You can also go for lower end components till you get the money...by buying a mobo with integrated graphics, you can go for a dedicated card later on, and you could buy a e2180 for the time being, and upgrade your CPU later on.
One last thing to consider is selling your old PC whole, and putting the proceeds into your new machine, or even sell the components separately.
I'm just saying, he can buy a lower wattage, good brand PSU and it could power it for less money.A 250W PSU will NEVER run that machine - at least not for long. Then, when that PSU says goodnight you will most likely face ruined RAM, video card etc.
The Corsair 650 is a good choice - you won't regret it.