upgrading an old PC (help with processor)

[perkster]

my fiance has an old PC her dad made her, so doesnt want to scrap it.

I am looking into upgrading it.

its Pentium 4 1.7ghz with 512mb DDR 184pin PC2100 (266/200) DRAM.
It has a FSb of 400, multiplier of 17.
the mobo is currently VIA P4x266-8233 with a VIA P4x266 (VT8753) chipset.
It is a 478 Socket mobo. The memory is non reg non ECC.

i have found on novatechs site new RAM for good price:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?RAM-21/51S

which I will buy 2 of and replace the 2 256mb ones she has in there at moment..

my main question and area i need help with is the upgrading of the processor as want to make computer faster. the hard drive is a IDE (ATA 33/66/100 according to chipset). the case is big but doubt its an ATX case, was assembled in 2000/2001 i think. it has 2 IDE optical drives and a floppy.

I was thinking of keeping the same mobo and just getting a new 478 socket P4 chip like this one:
http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...147,4294959244

but it has a FSB of 800 and a 1mb cache. will that be a problem as current one or mobo has 256kb cache only and AGP version 2 (4x).

What other options do I have, I dont mind upgrading mobo and processor together providing it fits case and can keep all the HDs and optical drives and wont cost the earth in new memory etc.

Any advice welcome.

[perkster]

additionally, the PSU may need replacing, I am not sure of the current wattage but when booting the computer with USB devices plugged in it doesnt boot past recognising the RAM, which i suppose means the USB is taking too much power when it needs it for startup and for the graphics card etc..

is it only written on the unit the power of the PSU or can i look that up somewhere, i ran CPUz which gave me most details about her system, was runnign at 1.9Volts most the time.

do you think the PSu is at fault for the above or is it the RAM or just old processor/computer not able to hack many USB devices?

If i did change the PSU what would be ideal and would that cause problems for compatibility to mobo and other devices as its an old system?

Thanks

[glc]

Hate to blow your bubble, but there's not much you can do with that rig. To do anything meaningful, you need a new motherboard, processor, ram, video card (or a motherboard with onboard video), and power supply.

The P4X266 chipset cannot use that 800 fsb 1mb cache processor. Doing anything in Socket 478 is getting more and more difficult.

It's most likely an ATX case - does it have 4 or 7 expansion card slots?

[perkster]

no prob i know its old, so new motherboard, processor and ram. it has a videocard that isnt too bad i think so that shoudl be ok, but new motherboard should also have one on board. and PSU isnt too expensive. its big with a lot of slots so yeah maybe it is an ATX case.

think you are probably right to ditch the socket 478 and turn it into somethign meaningful.

however one key issue is the 2 hard rives are old IDE drives, if i get a new motherboard will i be able to attach the IDE drives to it? i think you can get IDE-> SATA converters? is that right? or do i need to get a motherboard specifically designed for IDE?

[glc]

You are better off getting a board that has usable IDE controllers. There are plenty still around.

[perkster]

Originally Posted by glc You are better off getting a board that has usable IDE controllers. There are plenty still around.

Is anyone able to suggest a good value mobo for this purpose? i have had difficulty finding one.

what i need for this system is:

1 x PSU (probably about 520W - will go for the corsair one).
1x MOBO suitible for attaching 2 IDE hard drives and 2 IDE optical drives and some reasonably modern RAM and a reasonably decent processor.

1x reasonable processor (doesnt need to be super fast and expensive, just mainly for simple games, web browsing etc but reliable, i would think something like a AMD athalon 2.8ghz should be enough, but needs to be compatible with above MOBO.

1GB of ram (2x512mb) reasonable speed and compatible with above MOBO and chipset.

any suggestions on these would be greatly appreciated makes/models.

not looking to spend ever so much afterall its currently 478 socket so anything should be faster than that but want to have an average system for low cost really.

[Panama Red]

I'm going to take an Intel approach to this because AMD seems to not have settled on a socket that may provide future upgrades. And whenever we recommend Intel, we choose a mobo with an Intel chipset for stability. New socket 775 mobo's that will support current processors tend to use 1 IDE (2 drives) and SATA for the drives. One of your future upgrades should be a SATA hdd. For now, it's easy enuf to use a controller card for your hdd's. Others may have other suggestions but here's how I would approach the hardware upgrade.

Mobo: $81 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131041

Economy cpu: $45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819112205

Performance cpu: $183 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005

Memory: $70 (1Gb) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145526

or 2Gb $130 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527

IDE controller: $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816132004

That mobo has onboard video that will fine for your present needs. It also has a PCI-E slot if you decide to add a more powerful video card. The Corsair psu you've mentioned is overkill for an economy system but a good choice if you want some headroom for future upgrades.

[perkster]

Thank you very much for those suggestions Panama Red, i will check those in detail tonight and see if i can find the parts on UK supplier sites and see what it equates to in cost and performance.

thanks again

[LeftyAce]

overclockers.co.uk is recommended by a number of members in the UK.

[glc]

If you get an Asus P5PE-VM you have 2 native IDE controllers, onboard video and an AGP slot, and a 20 pin main connector (reuse your power supply if it's any good). It will use DDR instead of DDR2 ram. Same processor compatibility.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?ASU-P5PEVM

[perkster]

ebuyer.com's uk site ha dall panama reds suggested items for total cost inc shipping of £170, happy with that, think I would still need new PSU? how can i find wattage of existing one open case and look or is there easier way?

[perkster]

1 x 2 Channel Ultra Ata/133 Pci Ide - Card Uk 124081 £28.75 £28.75
1 x Corsair 1GB DDR2 533 MHz 128mx64 Non-ecc 240 Dimm Unbuffered Cl4 63631 £35.73 £35.73
1 x Intel Celeron D 336 (2.8Ghz) Socket 775 FSB533 256KB Cache Emt 64 Retail Boxed Processor 93117 £23.82 £23.82
1 x P5l-mx/lga775 Intel945g Ich7 Pciex 16 121144 £47.59 £47.59

[Panama Red]

Open the case and look is the easiest on the psu. But you're going to need a new one with a new 24 pin mobo.

[glc]

That's a 24 pin motherboard and I highly doubt your power supply has a 24 pin main connector. Throw one of these into the order:

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/120375

[perkster]

excellent, so total about £200 still cheap upgrade compared to buying a new PC and has room for upgrade later.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by perkster excellent, so total about £200 still cheap upgrade compared to buying a new PC and has room for upgrade later.

Yup, and all quality components too.

[The_YongGrand]

The Celeron D 347 is 65nm and works cooler and better than the 336. And then the 512K cache is just great for simple home use!