Upgrading System - Advice please

[sym]

Based on advice from this forum, I built the following system back in early '03:

ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS1080AMG-
with Antec Original TRUE 430W P4 Power Supply ATX12V Retail
Specifications:
Case type: SOHO File Server
Case Color: Antec Metalic Gray
Case Dimensions: 20.6" x 8.1" x 18.6" (H/W/D)
Drive bays: 10
Front accesible 4x 5.25, 2x 3.5" Internal 4x 3.5"
Expansion Slots: 3 Short 4 Full Length
2 Rear Standard Fans 1 Side fan
Washable Air Filter in front

WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 120 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty

CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, Low Latency (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) PC-3200LL With Black Heat Spreader.Retail
[size]Specifications:
Speed 400 MHz
Organization 2 x 64M x 64
CAS Latency 2-2-2-6-T1
Memory type DDR
Part number: TWINX1024-3200LL [/size]

Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon/XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail
Supported: Socket A AMD Athlon/XP/Duron (support AMD XP3000 "Barton")
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP, nForce2 MCP-T
FSB: 400/333/266MHz
IDE: 2 x ATA133
RAM: 3x 184-pin DIMM Sockets (PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR)
Slots: 1x AGP (Pro/8X), 5x PCI
Ports: 6x USB2.0
Onboard Serial ATA: Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller w/ 2 ports
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-ch w/built in amplifier
MCP integrated 3Com MAC + Broadcom AC101L PHY LAN
Firewire 1394: 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a + Realtek PHY 8801B


AMD ATHLON XP 3000 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL
Specifications:
CPU: 2.16 GHz
Type: XP 3000 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
RETAIL (Included Heatsink and fan)


Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum (Model SB0240P) - RETAIL
Audigy 2 Internal Drive: All the analog & digital ports you'll need for simple desktop connectivity including a super-fast SB1394 FireWire port
DVD-Audio: The only PC solution to enable the Advanced Resolution era of 24-bit music fidelity w/192kHz in stereo & 96kHz in 5.1
106dB SNR:
Sound support: 6.1 surround sound/Gaming
Multiple 24-bit/192kHz DACs for ultra-quiet 106dB SNR
Audigy™ 2 chip & EAX® ADVANCED HD
Comes with Remote,5.25" Front Interface panel, Software and Games Bundle
and built in Dolby Digital EX decoder

ATI All-In-Wonder RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB DDR 8X AGP RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset:RADEON 9700Pro Visual processing unit (VPU)
Memory:128MB DDR, 256-bit memory
Eight parallel rendering pipelines
Four parallel geometry engines
Bus: AGP 8X support
THEATER™ 200 Video decoder and stereo audio processor
Stereo audio, S-video, and composite video inputs and outputs
Stereo TV tuner with 125 channels
Capture Video 720 X 480 at 30 frames per second
Ports: VGA + DVI + S-Video Out
OS Support: Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP

It appears that the MB is now fried (after 3+ years on non-stop use ), and I am looking to do an upgrade.

I definitely need a MB, but I was also considering upgrading the parts around it also.

I primarily use my system for gaming.

Could you recommend a good:

• Motherboard
• Processor (is it worth upgrading?)
• Video card (is it worth upgrading?)
• Memory (is it worth upgrading?)

I have added a 300 gig HD and a DVD burner since I built it.

Any other comments are also appreciated.

Thanks!

[freakitchen]

As you can probably appreciate, sym - things have moved on a bit in three years. To 'upgrade' to new technology at this point, you're looking at a new computer. The only things you could realistically re-use from that system are the Hard drives, optical drives, and the sound card.

For a gaming system today, Intel's Core 2 Duo processors have the market cornered, and are better than what AMD has to offer. With that in mind, you'd need a new motherboard, processor, RAM (C2D requires DDR2) and Video card (PCI-Express is the new standard). You *might* be able to re-use your power supply, as long as the video card you choose isn't too power hungry, and it conforms to ATX2 specs (24-pin main connector).

You may or may not want to go that far. Unfortunately, AMD socket A is old tech and difficult to upgrade. If you decide to replace the motherboard, i'd go with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813123233

Keep your existing processor and memory (any upgrade here would be expensive and give few noticable gains), and upgrade the video card to the best you can afford for AGP. That kinda upgrade would maybe tide you over until Vista and DX10.

FK

[sym]

If I were willing to upgrade all four components, and if necessary, the powersupply, what would a good combination be? I want something that is decent, but price does matter.

Thanks for the advice.

[freakitchen]

What is your budget?

FK

[sym]

$600 would probably be the limit.

Obviously if I can make a major improvement for $20 more, then I would do it.

[freakitchen]

That's not really a do-able budget for a new Core 2 Duo system. An ASUS P5B motherboard, E6300 procesor (the base one) and 2GB of RAM comes to $530 at newegg, and we haven't even thought about a video card, new power supply, or Windows XP. $800 is a bare minimum for one of these systems.

My suggestion would be to get together some more cash if you want to build a gaming computer. $600 would really only get you a mid-range system, with a single core processor and a low(ish) end video card that would struggle to play the latest games on higher graphical settings. It very much depends on what kind of performance you want from this new system.

FK

[sym]

If I were willing to go to $900, what would be the recommended system?

[freakitchen]

Sym, have just been discussing your issue with our forum Admin. One suggestion is to get hold of that Epox motherboard I linked to earlier, and add a 1GB stick of RAM, and the highest powered AGP card you can get (the Nvidia 7800GS is a great one). This would actually turn your existing system into a good gamer, for less than $600.

That said, your new budget of $900 will get you a good C2D system.

One of the best motherboards for C2D is the ASUS P5B, built on the Intel P965 chipset. The only potential problem is if you are planning on re-using your existing hard drives and optical drives, 965 chipset boards have only 1 IDE channel. SATA hard drives come highly recommended for this board, leaving the IDE channel for the optical drive(s) - If your old drives are IDE, please let me know - as the following list will change a little

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131030 - $131

Add the E6300 processor - $182

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005

2GB of RAM - $240 (after MIR)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145590

ATI X1950 PRO video card - $199

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102061

Fortron 500w power supply - $89

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104934

Total $842

FK

[sym]

Unfortunately, my HDs are both IDE.

What is the difference between SATA and IDE?

What would a SATA drive cost?

Thanks for all your help.

[freakitchen]

S-ATA is a new interface technology that offers (theoretically rather than practically) higher speeds, and smaller cables. One device per channel also eliminates the master/slave configuration.

This is one of the best value SATA drives around:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144417

Having said that, if you want to keep both your IDE drives, you'll need a different motherboard. The ASUS P5LD2 R2 motherboard supports C2D with an older, revised chipset. It has 4 SATA ports, and crucially, 3 IDE ports - which is more than enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131048

FK

[sym]

So if I was willing to give up one of my IDE HDs, and only have one IDE optical drive, I could go with the originally recommended MB (HD master, DVD-RW slave)?

[freakitchen]

In theory you could. I wouldn't be entirely comfortable with having my optical and master hard drive on the same channel - it will slow down any instance where you write from one to the other - for example, burning DVDs and installing programs.

My suggestion would be to go for the P5LD2 if you want to keep your IDE drive, or consider the 250GB SATA drive, it's great value for that amount of capacity. That way, you could leave your old system in tact!

FK

[glc]

You can always pull your IDE drives and put them in USB housings and use them for backups and near line storage.

[sym]

Originally Posted by glc You can always pull your IDE drives and put them in USB housings and use them for backups and near line storage.

Interesting.

Do you know what a good (affordable & reliable) housing unit is?

[sym]

Well, it looks like I may be able to build a new system, so some of the more expensive possibilities become options now.

Do you think that the power supply in the existing case will work with the modern MBs?

If I was going to build a new system for $1300 (MB, Processor, Memory, Video Card, HD), would the recommendations above change?

Do you think that a new case is in order, or can I use the old one?

I would plan to use the existing sound card, DVD burner, monitor, etc..., so those should be the only major expenses.

I greatly appreciate your comments and help.

[flanzig1]

If you still like the case, go ahead and reuse it.
I would get a new PSU, I wouldn't rely on a 3 year PSU that has had hard use.

[sym]

With the processor listed above, can I use the 64 bit Windows XP version, or should I get the 32 bit XP version?

Thanks.

[flanzig1]

I believe the 64bit version will work but you only need it if you applications that need 64 bit.

[freakitchen]

Note that support for Windows x64 is still poor, and the hassles associated with using it outweigh the benefit it brings in performance.

Regarding the updated budget you provided, this should allow you to upgrade to the C2D E6600 processor, which is the best 'bang for the buck' in the line-up, as well as allowing you to get your SATA hard drive(s) and new power supply. Regardless of whether your current unit is compatible with your new board, the ATI X19xx series of cards recommend 450w and up.

FK

[glc]

The only reason you need to replace the power supply is to get ATX 2.0 compliance.