Looking to upgrade on the cheap

[Steve]

I am brand new to this newsgroup and am hoping to get a little advice on
upgrading my old computer. Starting over with a whole new system is just
not in the cards right now. My computer has the following specs:

* Windows XP Pro
* PII - 350 Mhz CPU
* ASUS P2B Motherboard 100Mhz FSB (440BX chipset)
* 452MB SDRAM (388MB PC133 & 64 PC100)
* Matrox Productiva G100 8MB 1x AGP video card
* Promise Technologies Ultra 133 IDE controller
* 60GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD
* 6.4GB Western Digital HD
* ASUS 48x/16x/48x CD-RW
* Sound Blaster 16 ISA sound card

As you can see, I have a pretty weak system with the exception of a few
upgrades I have done in the last two years (more RAM, bigger HD, etc.).
Even with the memory upgrades, my system is still too slow when doing photo
editing and playing games. I am not a big gamer, but even programs like
Flight Simulator are agonizingly slow.

I am looking to spend no more than $200 to kick start my system. I figure I
have at least the following options:
* Upgrade w/ Powerleap's PL-iP3/T adapter with a Celeron 1.4 Ghz CPU on my
existing motherboard
* Go with a new AMD CPU and a motherboard that will work with either DDR or
SDRAM memory so I can keep my existing memory
* Add a higher-end video card

There are probably a lot more options that I don't know about. What do you
all think is the best option for my situation?

 

[Tihomir Katulic]

If I were you I'd go with that celeron (tualatin) p3 upgrade as well as a
faster video card. Shouldn't cost that much, and the performance gain will
be noticable.

 

[kony]

I am brand new to this newsgroup and am hoping to get a little advice on
upgrading my old computer. Starting over with a whole new system is just
not in the cards right now. My computer has the following specs:

* Windows XP Pro
* PII - 350 Mhz CPU
* ASUS P2B Motherboard 100Mhz FSB (440BX chipset)
* 452MB SDRAM (388MB PC133 & 64 PC100)
* Matrox Productiva G100 8MB 1x AGP video card
* Promise Technologies Ultra 133 IDE controller
* 60GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD
* 6.4GB Western Digital HD
* ASUS 48x/16x/48x CD-RW
* Sound Blaster 16 ISA sound card

As you can see, I have a pretty weak system with the exception of a few
upgrades I have done in the last two years (more RAM, bigger HD, etc.).
Even with the memory upgrades, my system is still too slow when doing photo
editing and playing games. I am not a big gamer, but even programs like
Flight Simulator are agonizingly slow.

I am looking to spend no more than $200 to kick start my system. I figure I
have at least the following options:
* Upgrade w/ Powerleap's PL-iP3/T adapter with a Celeron 1.4 Ghz CPU on my
existing motherboard

That's not a bad option, except that the Powerleap adapter is just as
expensive as a whole new Tualation motherboard, and then what you'd be
left with is a board that only supports lower-density memory, ATA33
IDE interface, only supports AGP 1 (3.3V) 2X AGP cards, etc. If you
already had the processor or adapter I'd advise you to go ahead and
get the "other half" but starting with nothing this isn't a good
upgrade now, not as good as it would've been a couple years ago to
merely upgrade to a Celeron 1.1GHz with a Coppermine slotket.

* Go with a new AMD CPU and a motherboard that will work with either DDR or
SDRAM memory so I can keep my existing memory

In this past weekend's paper I saw some PC2700 memory for
free-after-rebate. This is an ongoing trend with memory manufacturers
continuing to build up surplus of DDR memory. It's certainly not the
high-end high-performance memory that people pay top-dollar for, but
it decent enough memory for a non-overclocked or mildly-overclocked
system with a stable motherboard in it. Abandon your PC133 memory,
it's going to hurt performance significantly, not only from the
standpoint of the memory being slower, but also because only older,
slower motherboard chipsets support the PC133 memory.

Given your budget an Athlon XP would be the processor of choice. An
XP1700 processor is extremely reasonably priced at ~ $44, and they
overclock very, very well if you had the inclinatio to gain several
hundred more MHz. Even at stock speed it's quite an upgrade and
plenty for Flight Simulator, image editing, etc.

* Add a higher-end video card

Any modern video card is going to be roughly a half-dozen times as
fast as your current card, but your budget of $200 severly limits your
choices. Frankly, to get a balanced system you need to spend at least
a little bit more than $200. You could go with a budget gaming card
like a Geforce 4 MX440, but in my opinion, the best buy for a video
card, something fast enough to last at least a year or two, would be a
Geforce 4 TI 4200, which is priced around $90. There is somewhat of a
"cliff" below that, anything less expensive is significantly slower.

There are probably a lot more options that I don't know about. What do you
all think is the best option for my situation?

Don't forget the power supply... Your current system uses relatively
little power, you could easily need to upgrade to a 300+W power
supply. Also consider that most modern motherboards don't have ISA
slots, so you can't reuse the soundcard. If you're using cheap
computer speakers or don't have discriminating ears you may find
motherboard integrated sound (which is pretty standard these days) to
be sufficient, so a sound card could be purchased later if deemed
necessary.

There's also misc. expenses to consider, like a quality heatsink if
you don't want the noise of the high-RPM retail heatsink/fan. Also
your current case may (or may not) need some customization to improve
airflow, including addition of a case fan or two. Any semi-modern
processor and video card will produce over 2.5 times as much heat as
your current CPU & video card.

If I were forced to upgrade your system for as close to $200 as
possible without making MAJOR sacrifices, I'd go with:

$67 Athlon XP2000 Retail (with Heatsink/fan)
$28 Sparkle 300W Power Supply
$00 PC2100 Memory (free-after-rebate in local newspaper)
$85 nForce2 400 Ultra Motherboard (should be near this price soon).
$50 Geforce 440SE DDR
-----
$230



Dave

 

[John]

I am brand new to this newsgroup and am hoping to get a little advice on
upgrading my old computer. Starting over with a whole new system is just
not in the cards right now. My computer has the following specs:

* Windows XP Pro
* PII - 350 Mhz CPU
* ASUS P2B Motherboard 100Mhz FSB (440BX chipset)
* 452MB SDRAM (388MB PC133 & 64 PC100)
* Matrox Productiva G100 8MB 1x AGP video card
* Promise Technologies Ultra 133 IDE controller
* 60GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD
* 6.4GB Western Digital HD
* ASUS 48x/16x/48x CD-RW
* Sound Blaster 16 ISA sound card

Model# KT2 Combo-L - RETAIL $49 uses bit DDR and SDRAM
XP 1700 $44
Fan $12

LEADTEK WINFAST A280 GEFORCE4 TI 4200 128MB VGA & TV-OUT, DVI-OUT AGP
8X RETAIL BOX $120

$30 case 300 watt PS


Thats around $250+ w/o shipping

Try to sell your Ultra 133 card , case+ MB/video card/6.4 WD HD/SB
card and CPU $50-80 or so.

 

[Spajky]

* PII - 350 Mhz CPU
* ASUS P2B Motherboard 100Mhz FSB (440BX chipset)

I am looking to spend no more than $200 to kick start my system. I figure I
have at least the following options:
* Upgrade w/ Powerleap's PL-iP3/T adapter with a Celeron 1.4 Ghz CPU on my
existing motherboard

If your MoBo has onBoard newer voltage regulator that can go down to
1,5Vcore, than is no need for PowerLeap expensive adapter
(if you don´t wanna do mods) there is a cheap Upgradeware Slot-T
slotket adapter on the market! http://www.geocities.com/_lunchbox/

Check in bios for Vcore after borrowing a Cu-Mine Celeron for test or
so, or search the net about that your mosfet voltage regulator issue..

-- Regards, SPAJKY
- http://freeweb.siol.net/jerman55/HP/Spajky.htm
Celly-III OC-ed "Tualatin on BX-Slot1-MoBo!"
E-mail AntiSpam: remove ##

 

[flapperhead]

I am brand new to this newsgroup and am hoping to get a little advice on
upgrading my old computer. Starting over with a whole new system is just
not in the cards right now. My computer has the following specs:

* Windows XP Pro
* PII - 350 Mhz CPU
* ASUS P2B Motherboard 100Mhz FSB (440BX chipset)
* 452MB SDRAM (388MB PC133 & 64 PC100)
* Matrox Productiva G100 8MB 1x AGP video card
* Promise Technologies Ultra 133 IDE controller
* 60GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD
* 6.4GB Western Digital HD
* ASUS 48x/16x/48x CD-RW
* Sound Blaster 16 ISA sound card

As you can see, I have a pretty weak system with the exception of a few
upgrades I have done in the last two years (more RAM, bigger HD, etc.).
Even with the memory upgrades, my system is still too slow when doing photo
editing and playing games. I am not a big gamer, but even programs like
Flight Simulator are agonizingly slow.

I am looking to spend no more than $200 to kick start my system. I figure I
have at least the following options:
* Upgrade w/ Powerleap's PL-iP3/T adapter with a Celeron 1.4 Ghz CPU on my
existing motherboard
* Go with a new AMD CPU and a motherboard that will work with either DDR or
SDRAM memory so I can keep my existing memory
* Add a higher-end video card

There are probably a lot more options that I don't know about. What do you
all think is the best option for my situation?

amd xp1700 , will overclock easily to xp27-2.8 speeds $40 dual
channel nforce board 80. thermalright sk7 hs $20 2x128 ddr
$40.(although 512 is worththe extra cash)

For a little over $200 bucks u get hell of an upgrade..........

 

[Cyde Weys]

amd xp1700 , will overclock easily to xp27-2.8 speeds $40 dual
channel nforce board 80. thermalright sk7 hs $20 2x128 ddr
$40.(although 512 is worththe extra cash)

For a little over $200 bucks u get hell of an upgrade..........

Yeah, I pretty much agree with this guy. Getting a new mobo, CPU, and
RAM is the way to go. I'm not so sure I would do quite so much
overclocking though :-D

 

[kony]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

Yeah, I pretty much agree with this guy. Getting a new mobo, CPU, and
RAM is the way to go. I'm not so sure I would do quite so much
overclocking though :-D

.... and odds are fair that he'll need to budget for a power
supply upgrade as well, maybe increased case cooling too, else a
different case.