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Upgrading


khunsanuk

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Hi,

 

Okay, so it seems my PC is fucked. Decided to just buy some new hardware rather than trying to replace the fan.

 

Considering the following:

- Celeron 2.4 GHz

- 512Mb DDR ram (266 MHz)

and a new motherboard.

 

Any suggestions with regards to the motherboard? I think both Asustek and Gigabyte are decent, right?

 

Also wondering if I should upgrade my VGA card at the same time. I have nVidia GeForce2 MX 100/200 now, which is getting a bit dated.

 

Sanuk!

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Hi,

 

"I would only suggest that you be sure to match the memory speed with the MoBo memory bus speed."

Yeah, that is something I looked at.

 

Looking at this board:

Asustek Mainboard P4VP-MX, P4M266A, FSB533MHz, ATA100, Sound/VGA/Lan, AGP4X, Micro ATX, Socket478 (2 DDR266)

 

Sanuk!

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Several years ago I seemed to read everywhere that the techies thought that ASUS was the best MoBo, and since that time, I've always bought ASUS. I usually buy 1-2 MoBos per year.

 

I've never been disappointed. Never had a problem and they have frequent Software/BIOS updates on their web site.

 

As for MPU, I always buy one step below the fastest tier. I look to see where the price jumps drastically, and I buy the best MPU below that point. I always load up on Memory, though. All 3 of my home machines have 1GB Memory.

 

MPU's are:

AMD Athlon 64 - 3400 (32/64 bit)

P4 2.4

P4 1.8

 

The P4 1.8 is used mainly for Internet.

 

As for the Graphics, I think that unless you do a lot of gaming, it's not crucial to upgrade. If you do gaming, then upgrade for sure. Today's middle of the pack GPUs are on par with the best of a year ago. And a lot better than the best of a couple of years ago. (I use NVidia in all of my machines. Newest one uses the 5200, which is good but not great for gaming. You need the 5700 or better, at about 5000 baht, I think.)

 

I suggest ASUS, and the MPU should depend on what you use the machine for. That said, even on the "Internet Only" machine, it seemed memory constrained w/384 MB RAM. At 1GB, it's fine.

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Don't forget after replacing for a newer model CPU and grafics you better upgrade your power supply as well (not only because it's missing a power connector you most likely will need for the new mainboard...). While you are at it, your harddrive big enough and up to speed with the new mainboard? Want a DVD-burner? Sure need a new CPU-cooler (don't forget about the really important things)! Coolermate IceCube available for socket A and 478.

Soon you are better off buying a new machine instead of replacing parts.

 

Price wise I would go for an ASROCK Mainboard, which is ASUS under a cheap name. Available for most CPUs/sockets. Look at the AsRock P4i65GV (if you wanna stick to intel) which sounds like an improved version of your suggested ASUS board.

I see you go for a model with integrated grafics. Not improvement over your old card then. Depending on your needs there is no need to improve.

DDR-RAM with 266 Mhz (PC2100) is outdated and more expensive than 333MHz (PC2700) and most 400MHz (PC 3200) now. Also remember that for the dual channel technology you should get two memory modules, e.g. two 256MB modules instead of one 512MB module.

Personally I wouldn't go for Celeron or Duron or the new Semperon, and I wouldn't upgrade right now. Socket 478 (pentium 4) and socket A (AMD Athlon and Athlon XP) have been around a long time and it's not sure yet which one of the newer sockets for the 64 bit CPUs will be around as long. So wait and see. Also PCI-express is replacing PCI and AGP soon.

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Guys, you can chase technology all you want, but it is a losing battle -- something new is always just around the corner. Just pick something and go with it. I recommend picking something that has been on the shelf for 6 months anyway. Why? It is proven and is at the bottom of the price curve.

 

My box is a 1200mHz Celeron woith 1Gb of ram and is 3+ years old. I do 3D solid CAD drawings on it, some CAE analysis (moldflow mostly), audio mixing and normal office type stuff (faxing/accounting/MSOffice, intrernet, etc). It works fine, never failing to do what I ask of it. If I were to upgrade, it would be to something that KS proposed and only because I cannot find repair parts for what I have now.

 

Unless you NEED a high powered box why buy it? You only need it if you edit video or professional audio mixing IMHO. Even gaming is fine (even on my 1.2GHz Celeron) as long as you have a decent video card. And I see no reason to buy a 64bit CPU at this moment as there are ZERO programs that can take advantage of it.

 

Just my 2 satang.

 

Cheers,

SD

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"And I see no reason to buy a 64bit CPU at this moment as there are ZERO programs that can take advantage of it."

And it's fucking expensive without the security you'll get the right components within next year. That's why I'd stay away from it right now.

But it's not only the 64 Bit architecture, it's also the power saving modes of the new CPUs when not fully used, dropping IDE for SATA, PCI-Express and a few other things. Nice, but let them get it sorted out first.

 

Btw, 3+ years ago your machine was also top (apart from the celeron), that's why it served you so good all the years. They still sold Pentium III 500Mhz and 128MB RAM back then and I guess this won't make you happy today. If you buy too old you'll cry for a replacement much sooner.

 

I am happy with my AMD 2500+, only need the power every other day. Could do with an 1800+ if forced. Still have the otion to upgrade to 3000+ or 3200+ without changing any other hardware.

KS is determined to stay with Intel, otherwise I'd suggest him a combo of an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ and a matching MB (thousands around to choose from fitting your needs). You'll get the AMD Athlon XP 2500+ for the same price as an Intel Celeron 2,4 Ghz, and guess which one is better?

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