Upgrading PC

[Padraig]

Can someone help me in regards to upgrading my PC or purchasing a new system?

I'm running Windows Me on a Pentium 233 MMX with 32MB of RAM and a somewhat depleted 3.02GB HD. Our system is 3 1/2 years old and seems to be running slower which could be due to not enough RAM and a slower CPU.

I'm uncertain as to whether it would be
more cost effective to just upgrade the motherboard, or purchase an outright new system which has many of the newer components already installed on the motherboard. We're not currently using our system for Games, but might consider games at a later date. Also, this may seem stupid, but does the sound card, video/graphics card, modem and memory come preinstalled into the motherboard itself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Padraig

[Bob The Great]

Good questions!

To see if you can upgrade your mother board. Check to see what brand your PC is. If it's a Compaq or HP. No. I would have to no more about your PC to more acuritly assess the problem. And to see if it can be upgraded. Send some more info about it!

A cheap upgrade you could make to your PC is adding a 64MB stick of memory in! It would greatly increase your PC's speed!

Yes you can get sound and video cards intigreated into your mother board. It can save you some money. But make sure you can disable them easily in the BIOS.

[Steve R Jones]

To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade........

Adding more ram as Bob suggested would make be nice improvement. (going back to win98 would speed things up a bit too)

A real important questions is: Do you NEED to go faster or do you WANT to go faster. As old as your system is, you'd pretty much have to replace everything except maybe the hard drive...So much depends on what you use the pc for. Good way to start is to determin how much $$$ your willing to spend.

[Rat]

To add to Bob and Steve's replies, if you do come to the conclusion of getting a new system, you would be best off building it yourself to your specifications. If your'e not confident on that, then find someone who will build it for you. You can build a system with better components than say a HP or Compaq for nearly the same $$, and if you are real good at hunting down deals, you could prolly build it for less.

Rat...

[wyvrn]

Depending on who made the system, the audio and even video can be on-board. Running Windows ME on that setup would be slow, I bet you just surpass the minimum requirements. Depending on your budget, you could put together a nice AMD duron system for around 400 or more. I picked up some system pulls (my duron and sound card) so yours might be a tad higher for all new parts.

Get a 650 duron, Enlight 7237, Diamond MX400 and Fic AZ11 (not an overclocker's board) at www.axiontech.com (http://www.axiontech.com) for ~248. Then add some 128 Kingston ValueRAM for 35 after rebate at www.buy.com (http://www.buy.com) . Then purchase a nice 20-30GB hard drive anywhere for 100 bucks. You can pick up a 32MB DDR ATI Radeon vid card here (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp) for $99. Go here (http://www.insight.com/web/apps/products/productpresentation.php?product_id=VIK56KISA) for a $10 modem and here (http://www.insight.com/web/apps/products/productpresentation.php?product_id=TLGPS63) for your surge supressor.

Thats 493 before tax for a nice machine. I am assuming you will keep your monitor, keyboard and mouse from the old machine.

[pickel]

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/reviews/duron/index.html
Read this before you do anything http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[cheapster]

The two main questions that must be addressed prior to answering your question are: 1. What do you want to do with your system? If it is primarily work, like word processing, spreadsheets, and internet surfing, then the recommendations of minimal upgrading are right on. Add 64 MB of ram and maybe a second hard drive. Going back to Windows 98 would also speed up the system. For these purposes a P-233 can be just fine.
2. what exactly do you have now? Which motherboard? What kind of ram? If you have at least an Intel 430 TX chipset, for example, you should have DIMM memory slots, making the ram upgrade a "no brainer" since you can get a 64 MB DIMM for about $30 which would give your machine a real boost in speed. Of course, a 128 MB DIMM can be had for around $50 which would help even more, even if your system has a 64 MB cache limit, like the TX chipset has. Another potential concern is the hard drive limitations of the motherboard. Some limit hard drive sizes to 2.1 gig, or 8.4 gig. Using one of the newer hard drives may require the drive overlay software to get it to be fully utilized. It may be better to just buy a new system. Especially if you think you may want to try some of the newer 3D games that are out there. Chances are your motherboard doesn't even have an AGP slot, which is required to support the latest greatest video cards that provide the 3D acceleration required to make the current games playable. Even a cheap entry level system from Dell, for instance, for $679 includes a 15" monitor, Celeron 700 processor, 64 MB of Ram, 48X CD-Rom, 20 gig hard drive and integrated Video and sound. That system would run rings around your current P-233, but would not hold a candle to their $1299 Dimension 4100 system which boasts a PIII 933, 128 MB ram, 40 gig Hard Drive, 32 MB Geforce 2 MX video card 17" monitor and better sound card and speakers. It sort of boils down to what your priorities and budget are. I recently spent about $450 or so upgrading my old P-233 to a Celeron 600 @ 900 system and I have been thrilled with the result. Good Luck, whichever way you decide.
Chuck

[phecky]

I'll add my 2 cents to the above great posts- A sound card solution that's on the MOBO (integrated) is OK but DO NOT get a MOBO with integrated video. You'll be sorry you ever did and eventually buy a video card anyways.

[BFlurie]

Phecky, I don't agree. It's certainly true that integrated video doesn't perform as well as a dedicated card -- my mobo has integrated video & I use a card, tho the integrated video worked w/o any problems. It simply depends on what the users needs/wants are -- an office environment that doesn't use heavy graphics apps would be a perfect example. Plus the user wouldn't have to pay for a video card, and gets a slightly simpler system (less possible problems).

[wyvrn]

A dedicated video can be more problematic than its worth. For example, say you need to do some 3D work. Sorry charlie, quality is low. If you ever do need to upgrade, then you will have to disable the onboard card and hope the expansion card works correctly. Onboard video is ok, but since you are considering games, I would stay away from it.

But yes you need to tell us what you are going to use it for more specifically, or we can only make generalizations.

[Padraig]

To Bob, Steve, and all the rest, thanks for taking the time to answer my post. An explantation is in hand as why it took me so long to reply. I drive truck for a living and spend most of my time on the road and am home on weekends only. Besides trying to share equal time with the wife and a stubborn teen daughter over one computer can be trying http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif and that spells trouble. So I usually get on the computer on Saturday evenings. Hope everyone will understand! To best answer your questions for me,we use our system mainly for internet sufing, e-mail, and business apps. I realize now that installing Win Me was not a good thing because we didn't have enough memory or a big enough hard drive. Our system was bought through mail order and is built by Quantex. I wouldn't buy from them ever again. I don't know if this will help or not, but our BIOS version is 4.51PG, and Intel 82371AB/EB PCI BUS MASTER IDE CONTROLLER. I wouldn't know where to look to see what chipset I have or how many dimms or sockets I have. I really believe all our system needs is more memory and another hard drive, but buying the correct mobo doesn't hurt except in the pocket book if I'm wrong. Well if anyone could help me anymore I would be grateful. Thanks To All, Padraig

[This message has been edited by Padraig (edited 02-03-2001).]

[cheapster]

Given your situation, (and one which I am painfully familiar with: 5 people for 3 systems) I would suggest looking at buying a new system. Dell has some excellent deals right now and it should be possible for you to pick one up that would seriously outperform your old quantex for around $800 and Dell is offering free shipping until Feb. 21. I still think that Dell offers the best quality and support of the major vendors. Here is the system I looked at for you. Made a few changes over their recommended system: mainly smaller 20 gig hard drive, more ram, and 17" monitor instead of 15". Check out <A HREF="http://www.dell4me.com" TARGET=_blank>www.dell4me.com</A> for more info.


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Date: Sunday, February 04, 2001 5:29:30 PM CDT
Catalog Number: 04 19
Dimension L Series (Required): Dimension® L700cx Intel® Celeron Processor at 700 MHz
L70XVW - [220-2018]
Memory: 128MB SDRAM
128M - [311-2501]
Keyboard: QuietKey® Keyboard
W - [310-7002]
Monitor: 17" (16.0 viewable, .28dp) E770 Monitor
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Video Card: Intel 3D AGP Graphics
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Hard Drive: 20GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
20SL - [340-2812]
Floppy Drive: 1.44MB Floppy Drive
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Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® Millennium (Windows Me)
WME - [412-2900][420-8050][310-8921][412-1050][313-7222]
Mouse: Logitech First Mouse+ Wheel (PS/2v)
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Broadband Ready/Ethernet Network Card: No Network Card Requested
N - [430-0591]
Modem: V.90/56K PCI DataFax Modem for Windows
DFAX - [313-0501]
CD/DVD ROM Drive: 48X Max Variable CD-ROM Drive
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Sound Card: Soundblaster 64V PCI
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The best part of adding a second system is that now you will only fight over who gets to use the new one and who gets stuck with the old one. For the usage you describe, the Dimension L would work just great, even with the integrated video. The Celeron 700 would be plenty fast (especially compared to your old P-233) and 20 gigs of hard drive space should be more than sufficient. Good luck. It still would be a good idea to add ram and a bigger/second hard drive to your old system, just to make it more bearable to whoever gets stuck using it - probably you, if your house is like my house http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif
Chuck






[This message has been edited by cheapster (edited 02-04-2001).]

[bdunn]

Upgrade to 98Lite. For more info see:
http:www.98lite.net

[Rat]

Considering that you don't use your computer for intensive programs, perhaps just upgrading will do the trick. I would suggest reading your owner's manual to see how much RAM (memory) that thing cand hold, I'd put in at least another 64 - 128 MB if it can hold it (memory is cheap now). I'd also replace the hard drive with an IBM 15 - 20 Gig IF your BIOS will see it, you may need to upgrade the BIOS to make a drive bigger than 8.4 gig work. There are websites with the files you need for this. The only thing that would affect WinME as far as running slow would be the memory and a cluttered hard drive. You would probably be better off with Win98SE if you have it. A 233mghz system is plenty fast enough for what you do with it, getting a faster system is just a matter of want more than need. If you plan on running heavy games or programs like Photoshop, then I'd say get or build a new, fast system.

Rat...

[Padraig]

To: Chuck (aka cheapster)-

Thanks for getting back to me in regards to upgrading my system. You've given me some good information to think about and I will check out the Dell site next time I'm online; which might be this upcoming Saturday. To make everyone happy, I just might consider purchasing a notebook from Dell with our own customized options which would give us two systems and possibly less fueding- LOL http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif But you are right, I will definitely need to add more Memory and another HD to the old system to keep it working properly.

Thanks, bdunn for your comments. Appreciate your help, will look into the link you suggested.

Hey rat, didn't want to exclude you and not say thank you(again!) will definitely consider the advice you gave me and see what we can do with this old system to make her run better.

Thanks again fellows.

Regards,
Robert (aka Padraig)

[RayH]

The truth is that you can't build a computer for the price the least expensive offerings of Best Buy or PEOPLE PC (http://www.peoplepc.com) .

Building a PC is fairly simple. I built my first about 2-1/2 years ago having used Windows only half dozen times to log onto the internet. They're even easier now.

The linchpin is whether or not you have a copy of Windows and not just a recovery disc. Also, do you have a copy of your Office Suite, if you need it?

If you need your computer to be always up and running, Dell has an excellent service reputation. They will be there the next business day.

With build your own, you will have manufacturers' warranty, but you may want to just get a new part and stick it in. But then, the overall is still cheaper than a Dell.