upgrade questions

[LMC]

Hi- new arrival here. I found this site while surfing for sources/info on upgrading my pc. I presently have a 1.0 Ghz Duron and wish to upgrade the motherboard/cpu retaining the hardware: 30Gb HD(its running now and I can't see the info on it but its IDE and the same vintage as the Duron), ATI Radeon 9200 SE 128 MB DDR video(info from ATI site is that it is AGP 4X/8X capable), CD player and CD-RW(2 separate units) and 3.5" floppy drive and the usual beige mid-tower box. I run a LAN which is onboard- I have a modem card but its not installed. The PSU is 300W which I hoped would be sufficient but reading some threads here tells me its not. Obviously I'm not looking for leading edge tech- best bang for the buck is the idea(read: I'm pretty durn tight). I've seen a Machspeed MoB/Celeron D 2.93 Ghz package for $80 but it has the VIA chipset and Prescott core which are disliked in some threads here- the cpu cuz of tempurature. So the question: would anyone care to make suggestions or recommendations? I don't have a preference vis-a-vis AMD or Intel. The machine is for home use- online gaming being its most demanding arena, no CAD or soundbite manipulation or that. Oh, sound- its onboard now, need to replace that as well. I realize I'll need new RAM- I been thinking 1 Gb of 400mhz (PC3200?). I'll consider replacing the HD if a new one would be significantly faster but the OS(Win XP) is on this one and I didn't get the CD with it, it was a display model and I didn't think of it.

[Cricket]

What kind of budget are you working with?

Cricket

[LMC]

I COULD afford a new system- just don't want to Besides doing the upgrade should be an interesting project.

[Cricket]

We need a number to work with. $100...$200...$300?

Cricket

[LMC]

In view of the MoB/CPU mentioned above, prices I have seen for 1 Gb RAM, plus a PS and cpu cooling fan I'd say $250 max, with LAN and sound support. My attitude here is that this upgrade will provide increased performance into the future- the further into that future the more it would be worth spending. Obviously the newest hardware would provide the longest time, but at that point the cost is in the near verticle area of the price/ performance curve. I've been there when I bought a Gateway P100 and got almost instant obsolescence- no thanks. I think the 2.5- 3.0 Ghz range would be good for 2-3 years, spending another $100 would only stretch that a couple months. A few buck one way or the other- it depends on what I get for it.

[LMC]

Well, thanks for the help. However it appears that my video card has failed. I'm on our other PC posting this(the 2 of them are on a LAN in a spare bedroom). I'll make a post on this problem in the appropriate area.

[786ARS]

i would seriously consider getting a new computor, instead, because your upgrade options are severly hampered by your current setup

[LMC]

Thanks ARS, I see what you mean. However, since I'm looking at a new MoB and CPU, and any increase requires a new PSU, the only remaining items(beside CD player and floppy drive) are the HD and video card. I have seen motherboards with both AGP and PCIe, ATA100 and SATA tho I need to gather more information before settling on one of them. So then I can use my present pieces and have a path for later upgrades. Of course I'd appreciate comments on this plan.

[doubledragon5]

Doing a quick search this is what i came up with total $246


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...13131512<br />

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104259

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141424

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814145082

[LMC]

I appreciate the input dd5. I can't see the MoB, problem with NewEggs' server it says. I see I forgot to mention that my video card has been resurrected. Another member gave me a tip which hadn't occurred, to pull the card, clean contacts area and replace. This fixed the physical problem, and when boot process completed there was a screen resulting from the restore process saying there was a problem with the driver. A visit to ATI's site and a d/l and its been fine since. This card is the reason for my wish to have AGP(8X) compatability. I haven't looked at the exterior of the HD yet but Device Manager says WDC WD200EB-32CSFO. As this drive has all of my files and the OS on it(as I mentioned I did not obtain a Win XP CD with my purchase) I want to retain it as well, thus needing ATA 100. I assume thats what it is, either that or ATA133. SATA and PCIe x16 are future upgrade paths. The thought occurs tho, since a <80Gb SATA drive isn't too expensive, to buy one and take both to a local pc shop and have the contents of the old transferred to the new. I don't have the capability. Making the assumption that a new 7200 rpm drive is appreciably faster than my old one. Then I wouldn't need ATA, making the field of selections wider and probably such a board more stable having one less feature to support. I have been looking at socket 939 boards. Although more expensive now they give me a greater performance boost and future upgrade possibilities- even dual core as I understand it at this point. But enough, I've written a chapter.

[doubledragon5]

Depending on how big your current case is you might want to consider purchasing a new to fit the board...You can get them cheap as well. Some come with out a psu... That current 300watt should be sufficient for the parts mentioned...

[Louds3]

I would recommend looking at 939, as you mentioned above you are willing to spend a bit more for a lot more upgradeability, and that's what you will get. Nothin wrong with socket 754 but a socket 939 with pci-express x16 will get you a system that will be pretty well futureproofed. I recently built my machine, amd 3200+ because I didn't have a big budget, but in a year or so I will save up some money and be able to get a 4000+ or something like an amd x2 4400+. I would also think about getting a Sata drive like you had mentioned, 80gb is fine if you don't have huge storage needs. However, you can find some rediculous deals on IDE hard drives, and honestly it's not that much of a downgrade from SATA at this point so don't rule it out. here's an 80gb WD Sata for 55 bucks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822135106, and I just saw a 200gb Seagate IDE drive for $70 after rebate at circuit city http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ...26oid%3D135114

steve

[LMC]

So SATA isn't all that much faster? In that case I'll stay with my present IDE drive. And if the 300W PSU is sufficient for a 939 board with a Sempron and my 128 Mb AGP card then I later when I upgrade the CPU and video I can go to a bigger/better PSU. Sounds like the only problem is to find a mobo with all these features: AGP 8X AND PCIEx16 video; IDE AND SATA support. My case is a run of the mill beige mid-tower 16.5x16.25x7.9375 with 3x5.25 bays(all external if necessary) and 3x3.5 bays(1 external). It'll do the job and its free BTW I figure on using 1 stick of 1 Gb DDR400 RAM. No overclocking- I just want a reliable, capable machine. Any mobo recommendations?

[nicolaus corelius]

almost any new mobos support SATA and IDE, so u dont have to change ur HDD
as for the vid card, there is a board that supports both AGP and PCI-E but its not of a good quality.

[LMC]

I've been looking thru NewEgg's listings and found this: ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 5939 ULi M1695 for $70.99. I read 20 pages of the reviews and the concensus seems to be that its a good board. Many reported issues with it tho. One of which was the need for a clean install(or reinstall) of the OS. Is this common? Anyone here have an opinion they'd care to express? Several of the posts said that this was the only board available that gave full performance in both AGP and PCIE. If that's the case then its the only option unless I bite the bullet and upgrade my video card too.

[blue60007]

Originally Posted by LMC I've been looking thru NewEgg's listings and found this: ASRock 939 Dual-SATA2 5939 ULi M1695 for $70.99. I read 20 pages of the reviews and the concensus seems to be that its a good board. Many reported issues with it tho. One of which was the need for a clean install(or reinstall) of the OS. Is this common? Anyone here have an opinion they'd care to express? Several of the posts said that this was the only board available that gave full performance in both AGP and PCIE. If that's the case then its the only option unless I bite the bullet and upgrade my video card too.

I wouldn't trust a ULi chipset...I haven't heard to much in the way good things regarding stability.

You'll have to reactivate (plus maybe a repair install) Windows if you make a major hardware change...that particular issue doesn't pertain to this board specifically, it's the same with any board.

[LMC]

OK lets see..... If I accept your advice about ULi chipsets that pretty much means the AGP/PCIE combo is out. That means a new video card. So now I'm looking at(general figures): good mobo w/PCIE,SATA,IDE=$140; lower lvl CPU= $90; economy PCIE card=$120; quality PSU=$60; Win XP Home Ed.=$90; 1 stick 1Gb PC3200 RAM=$90. Total= $590 Plus the possibility of adding a sound and/or LAN card. Whoa- I mean thats not too bad for the increase in performance, its practically a new system, but I started this with the idea of a modest investment for a mobo/CPU.

[Louds3]

as blue said, that Uli chipset is of questionable quality. If you are gonna go Socket939 here's a motherboard that has everything you need for $110. Also, if this is not a gaming computer you only need to spend 50-60 on a video card, I do light gaming and have a Aopen 6600 that was $99 and does light gaming very well. A nice powersupply can be had for under 50, Sparkle and Xclio make some very nice inexpensive power supplies, FSP has one as well for around that price.
MB: asus a8n-e $109.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131530
Almost all motherboards today come with onboard sound and LAN.

steve

[LMC]

10/100/1000 LAN, 8 channel sound, 4 DIMM slots- looks good. But it doesn't list the Sempron, only Athlon 64. Isn't there a CPU between them? A 32 bit Athlon? I don't need or want to go all the way up to 64 bit. They'll be much more reasonable in a year or two. And yes, I do gaming, and online gaming. I extend the idea of more RAM to GPUs, so 4 or 8 pipelines or whatever, and a lot of RAM. So an economy 256 Meg PCIE card. Also, as an alternative there is the P4. The low lvl socket 754 P4- 2.4 looks good to me. Its not too expensive and it has more L2 cache and faster FSB. As I understand it, the slowest area, and therefore the bottleneck, in a PC is communication between the CPU/cache, the RAM, and the video section. Therefore the bus speed is of prime importance and the cache serves as an aid- to buffer this. The HD is slower yet so the importance of RAM- to have more of the bits and bytes in the faster access area. Yet the AMD is considered comparable and has less in these areas? For AMD the socket 939 boards are the future- what about socket 754 for Intel? I appreciates all responses, I'm getting educated here.

[Louds3]

I believe you mean Socket 478 for the P4 2.4 you mentioned, as socket 754 is an AMD socket. There is no processor between the Sempron and the AMD 64 (actually, when you are running regular windows xp you are using an AMD 64 in 32bit mode, only Windows XP64 runs it as true 64). I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Sempron's and Celeron's and the older sockets, as I have only started getting into this stuff in the last 6 months or so. Maybe someone else has some more ideas.

[AMDnewbie2005]

Get the Biostar Geforce 6100 It has onboard video that's better than your Radeon 9200, plus it has PCI-E which will allow you to get an independent VC when you have the money, Get an Athlon 64 3200+ like i will be getting soon, 939 is more upgradable. You can pick up a Fortron PSU for about $50. That's probably out of your budget, but better for upgrading, if not Get the Same board, just the 754 version and a Sempron to Overclock it, because that board OC's quite well i hear

[LMC]

That board is micro-ATX, won't fit my box. I need regular ATX for my mid-tower. Looking at that CPU I see 2 of them, whats the difference? One part ID is BPBOX, the other CPBox. I hadn't considered using on-board video, what I've seen(very limited) is not too good.

[Cricket]

Micro-ATX motherboards do fit in standard ATX cases, you just won't use a few of the expansion slots.

Cricket

[nicolaus corelius]

im looking at onboard video mobos and there arent that many for AMDs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131570
the one above is the the best onoard video mobo i could find. however the onboard video isnt good for gaming anyway, so u could get a 100 VC that will give u decent performance

[glc]

There are a lot of ways to go here. I'd personally suggest a low budget 754-based upgrade with a Sempron and AGP to get your feet wet. By the time you need/want to upgrade again, build a complete new computer because nothing you have will really be a viable transfer. If your 300w PSU is decent quality, it can handle a 754 and your current video card as long as it has a P4 connector if the motherboard uses one. It may even be able to handle a modest upgrade to a better AGP card - possibly a Radeon 9800 Pro or maybe a Nvidia 6600GT. Power supplies are no big deal to replace anyway - you can get a 400+ watt quality ATX 1.x unit for 40 bucks.

[LMC]

Thanks for your advice guys. I have reconsidered my situation and I think I'll just save up and do it right. I have a 2nd PC(better than this one) on a LAN so I can get along awhile 'till I have the cash. These are half measures and a Sempron is only a bit better than the Duron I'm using now.

[glc]

Well, the difference between a 1.0 Duron and a 754 Sempron is like night and day - it's a 800 FSB 64 bit processor and runs at about triple the effective speed - and it's less than 100 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819104241

[LMC]

I looked at that link, I see the Sempron is better than I thought. Even so, the CPU and mobo w/shipping would be near $150. A good chunk of change for a stopgap. Over 25% of the cost of what I really want. I think I'll save it. Besides, with the information from this forum and other sources I've come to the realization that my AGP card is a limiting factor- no matter how fast a CPU its working with. I'm going to wait and get an Athlon/ ASUS mobo/PCIEx16 graphics and good PSU. Thanks for all your help. I'll just lurk and learn for awhile.