Breath life into my old pc

[Dekkerfish]

Please Help,

Unfortunately, I have become a tad addicted to an older game 'GORE', online at work.
Therefore I'm considering upgrading from dialup to broadband at home to continue the addiction.
My home pc (less powerfull and 4 years old) is an emachines 350 with Intel Celeron 1.3 GHz, 384 mb ram, integrated 810 graphics and pci slots.
It will run the game but the picture is a bit 'juddery',so.

1. What upgrades would you recommend to improve the graphics?

2. Can the processor be changed without changing the motherboard?

3. I can only increase the ram to 512mb max.

4. Would a XFX Geforce FX PCI 128MB (or 256MB version) card improve things?

5. What broadband speed can I get away with for online gaming?

The pc at present is fine for what we need it for (internet access, word, excel etc) so I don't want to spend a load of dosh.

Also I don't need the pc to play bang up to date games (my S2 does that).

Any advice greatly received.

Muchos Gracias Amigos

 

[itsme]

What are the full specs of the old hag!
Run [belarc] www.download.com will tell you what it is.

 

[Dekkerfish]

Hope I have supplied all the info required!!!!

Cheers


[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
[/font]
Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Emachines
Enclosure Type: Other

Processor a Main Circuit Board b
1.30 gigahertz Intel Celeron
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Board: Trigem Computer, Inc. Lomita
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix 1.03 03/06/2002

Drives Memory Modules c,d
40.97 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
31.06 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-224B [CD-ROM drive]
SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 4D040H2 [Hard drive] (40.98 GB) -- drive 0, s/n D24NYK3E, rev DAH017K0, SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules
382 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'M1' has 256 MB
Slot 'M2' has 128 MB

Local Drive Volumes c: (NTFS on drive 0)40.97 GB31.06 GB free

Network Drives None detected

Controllers DisplayStandard floppy disk controller
Intel(r) 82801AA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] Intel(R) 82810E Graphics Controller [Display adapter]
Proview 15.7 [Monitor] (15.7"vis, March 2002)Bus Adapters MultimediaIntel(r) 82801AA USB Universal Host Controller MPU-401 Compatible MIDI Device
SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Standard Game PortCommunications Other DevicesConexant SoftK56 Modem(M)

Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Logitech-compatible Mouse PS/2
Generic USB Hub (2x)
USB Root Hub

 

[Skinz]

I personally would buy a semi decent graphics card and up the RAM to 512. It's not really worth spending aymore just for a game. I think you'll find getting the better graphics card will improve things if its a fairly old game

 

[Dekkerfish]

What GFX Card then?

Skinz,


Is the XFX Geforce FX PCI 128MB (or 256MB version) card any good, I can get either version for £50 ish. Or any other ideas for a card.
I really don't know a lot about them, and reviews on pci cards are not too plentyfull?

Thanxs in advance

 

[psd99]

1. What upgrades would you recommend to improve the graphics?
go for a Nvidia or a ATI based card, preferably 128mb card.


2. Can the processor be changed without changing the motherboard?
yes it can be changed, im not familiar with your motherboard but u must investigate how high of a cpu your motherboard and bios can support.

3. I can only increase the ram to 512mb max.
depends on how many slots u have got free and what your current set up is.


4. Would a XFX Geforce FX PCI 128MB (or 256MB version) card improve things?
yes this seems a good choice should help u out for your game


5. What broadband speed can I get away with for online gaming?
i think 512k connection is enough bandwith for your gaming!




hope it helps u a little


The pc at present is fine for what we need it for (internet access, word, excel etc) so I don't want to spend a load of dosh.

Also I don't need the pc to play bang up to date games (my S2 does that).

Any advice greatly received.

Muchos Gracias Amigos[/QUOTE]

 

[psd99]

about your ram i would suggest taking out the 128mb stick
and puttin in a 512mb stick

this wil put u on 768mb which is good enough for your game

 

[Dekkerfish]

Thanks a lot

Thanks, the answers have helped in making a decision.

I will go for the Fx 5200 128mb card, and not bother changing the processor.

I was told by PC World that I could only have 512mb max because I only have 2 slots, but that was approx 2/3 years ago when I first added a 256mb stick, I'm now presuming from your comments that a 512mb stick was not available back then, so I will go for that option.

As for the broadband, a friend is having 512k broadband connected next week (he also plays the same game online at work) so I will let him trial it before I take that next step.


Thanks again all

 

[Skinz]

Skinz,


Is the XFX Geforce FX PCI 128MB (or 256MB version) card any good, I can get either version for £50 ish. Or any other ideas for a card.
I really don't know a lot about them, and reviews on pci cards are not too plentyfull?

Thanxs in advance

I don't keep to up to date with graphics cards but I would have thought most cards with 128mb or over for the type of thing you want to do would be fine.

 

[Dekkerfish]

Xtra RAM won't work

Right, here we go. (A bit long this)

I have ordered my GFX card (128 MB) and having spoke to PC World again, they advised that my emachines could only have 512 MB (2 x 256) using the 2 slots on the MOBO.
Online I ordered the 256 stick for a good price (and advised it was correct for my machine), but now when installed the computer freezes every time I try to open any sort of application.
I have tried every combination of my sticks/slots, but only when both 256 sticks are used together is there a problem.
(Each 256 works fine with the 128 stick that I have)
The memory is PC 133 SDRAM DIMM 168 pin.
I presume that as the memory is actually working correctly individually I can't exactly take it back to PC World.
Any ideas?
I have seen other posts where incompatibility has been mentioned regarding memory.
Specs above.

Thanx

 

[muckshifter]

Yes you can take the ram back ... and advised it was correct for my machine ... hole in one, it dont work with your machine.

They have to prove there is no fault with the ram ...

 

[Dekkerfish]

Back to square one

Muck,

I have indeed had the money refunded for the memory stick, but was told to try (by PC World dude with not 100% confidence) a single 512 stick in slot 1, at least there could not be any conflict/incompatibility problems!
They had none in stock so I will search online for one, but is it reasonable to assume that this might work?
If not I suppose I could just wait for the new GFX card and see if that improves things enough!

Oh by the way, while I was at PC World I asked if the processor could be upgraded and it was suggested that as the processor was old (3 yrs) I would not find one as pin configs etc change every 3 months.


I'm just after a boost.


Thank You

 

[Me__2001]

the one 512MB stick may work, it may just have been a dodgy stick, you may be able to get a faster CPU but you'll have to look on ebay or at computer fairs for a second hand one

 

[muckshifter]

Thanks, the answers have helped in making a decision.

I will go for the Fx 5200 128mb card, and not bother changing the processor.

I was told by PC World that I could only have 512mb max because I only have 2 slots, but that was approx 2/3 years ago when I first added a 256mb stick, I'm now presuming from your comments that a 512mb stick was not available back then, so I will go for that option.

As for the broadband, a friend is having 512k broadband connected next week (he also plays the same game online at work) so I will let him trial it before I take that next step.
Thanks again all

Hello Dekkerfish,

I was a little late to the thread here, my advice would have been to save for a complete new system.

I would 'borrow' (I can) a 512 stick if you have any "good mates", if not I would not throw any more money at your PC. Your New video card will improve things somewhat, but don’t expect any BIG improvements ... your CPU is one to avoid and the main drawback to the whole system ... sorry.

512k Broadband sounds good to a Dial-up user, however, a lot of "other" service providers start at 1mbit, and for less £. Gamers need all the extras they can get ... I'm no gamer so I'll leave any comments to them, we have a few here.

Basically my advise is to ... buy a new system.

 

[Alf]

1.5MB to 2MB download, 256 and higher uploading speed should suffice

 

[Dekkerfish]

I have a cunning plan!

Hi Mucks,

I suppose you have reinforced what I thought about the trade off of spending money on an old system as opposed to a new one.

Problem is trying to justify it to 'Er indoors', as she uses it for Word, Excel mainly (and therefore is fine).

Last year I had to buy a new PSU and ATX tower to suit, so I transfered all the kit over without any problems.

So would prefer to use some of the kit I have.

What would 'have' to be upgraded?

The size of the hard drive is sufficient, the cd-writer and dvd player are adequate, 3.5 " drive does not get used but could remain I suppose.
I have 7 days to change my mind about the GFX card, therefore its not a problem changing it for one with a suitable interface.

Can I simply purchase a decent mobo and processor? (and anything you think may be necessary)

If so what would you suggest? (PCI-E?)

If the case remains the same 'Er indoors' will not notice any difference to changes that I make.

Thank you.


PS, Alf I did not quite understand the different bandwidths that you quoted.
In the UK they tend to market Broadband using either 512 or 1 meg etc, they don't mention upload and download speeds together, which one affects gaming?

Cheers

 

[Me__2001]

if you bought a new mobo, CPU, RAM and graphics card you could use all of your old parts, but you would need to do a fresh install of windows, so do a backup of important stuff and your sorted

PCI-E or AGP, how much do you wanna spend and how good do you want it to be? you could build a half decent gaming system based on either, but the PCI-E board would be more future proof

as for broadband you want atleast a 512Kb connection 1Mb would be better for obvious reasons

 

[muckshifter]

Dekkerfish,

I still say buy a complete new system ... let me explain.

Using 'bits' off an old system sounds ok in theory, but even your OS (XP for an EMachine) will be of no use to you. Your HDs are small and slow ... the biggest bottleneck in any system is the HD. If the 'bits' were 12months young I would consider using them.

Because it is an EMachine a new case, motherboard (with on-board sound is fine), memory, PSU, CPU & HSF, HD, OS, graphics card and monitor would be needed ... heck, that's a new system in my book, sorry.

You can get very reasonable systems from the likes of Dell at a good price ... but check with us first. Give the 'old' system to 'er-in-doors to do with as she pleases ... but please, for your sake, don't upset her. Tell her you love her and get a lovely bunch of flowers even if she does not agree to a new PC.