Is it possible to have a good motherboard with AGP slots?

[zmazza]

Right now I've got a Pentium 2 733mhz computer with 512mb of pc133 ram. It's not the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm thinking of doing some slight upgrades to get some higher processing speed, better memory, etc.

I have at most about 200 dollars to spend on a motherboard, processor and any memory upgrades.

The CD drive that I have is IDE, though, and the AGP card that I have I want to continue to use. I plan on doing some major upgrades in the future, but would like to upgrade this one a bit, perhaps to use as an extra computer in the future or storage backup.

Could anyone recommend a good brand of intel motherboards with AGP slots and a good processor to go with it?

Thanks in advance.

PS I know this is outdated hardware, but sadly it's what I have to work with. I'd like to at least get the best bang for my buck and move out of the p2 range, lol.

Also, I'm using a western digital 40g hard drive with windows 2k professional. If I do a new motherboard / pcu build... it should power right up since I have the os and all, right?

Thanks,

Zac

[XenaWP]

Last year I upgraded a 2 GHz P4 with 768 MB PC2100 RAM, 2x DVDRW, a USB1.1, and 80 GB hard drive. The mobo/psu were proprietary and not replaceable. I kept the upgrade budget to $150 or so.

The upgrades? Adding a 250 GB IDE drive, a 16x ATAPI DVDRW, a Radeon 9600PRO replacing onboard graphics, a USB2 PCI card, and another 256 MB of RAM. These improvements made the machine much more useable for the next year, up til when I built my new machine a couple of months ago.

Why the long story? Don't throw good money after bad. Of my upgrades from a year ago, I was able to salvage the HDD and DVDRW for the new build, which were 2 of the larger cost items.

Make a logical plan for your upgrade. It just isn't logical to put any money into an AGP motherboard. A processor upgrade often yields little tangible benefit unless you do really processor-intensive work.

Think it through.

[zmazza]

I'm following you. So you think some better memory upgrades would work better than wasting money on a temporary board? The 533mhz processor on my video card boosts my 733 mhz pentium 2. Kind of funny, but it works.

I'm not sure what kind of ram to use , though. It's an old hewlitt packard computer. How can I tell what memory to use and how much I can use?

I just purchased a new case, which will work for my next computer, and a 52x cd burner that will work as well.

[XenaWP]

If you have the model number, then the HP web site may still have specs. Sometimes you can find old review sites that list specs too. There should be a sticker on the rear/bottom of the case if you dont' have the old paperwork.

I'd definitely bump the RAM up to 1GB, Windows any version likes that very much. An IDE HDD isn't a bad investment, 'cause even if you upgrade, you can use it in a USB enclosure in the future.

What's you current Video processor? Onboard, or did you add an AGP card? Even with my "old" system being newer than yours, replacing onboard graphics with a Radeon 9600PRO ($50) kicked the crud out of the onboard video.

RAM is cheap now, and DVDRWs are pretty cheap too. Do you have one, or have a need for a faster one? Do you have USB2 or is it the slower 1.1 spec?

[zmazza]

Not sure on the USB. I upgraded the card to a 5700LE GeForce and it definitely runs a lot better. I don't have the old case, which is the bad thing. I have a family member that does, though, so maybe I can get the model number from him.

I'll see what I can find out about the memory. That sounds like it will improve the performance quite a bit until I can ugprade to a newer computer.