Need help upgrading PII 333 w/abit lx6 mb.

[amlobint]

I'm thinking about upgrading my lx6 mb to a BH6 or whatever someone might suggest. I would also upgrade the processor and add ram at this time. I have a few concerns though about compatibility of components.

If I upgrade the mb, what is the fastest processor I can use?

Will the mb and the processor be compatible with my 66 speed dimms? And also with my hard drives, cd, cdr, nic, video card, modem, etc.

My box is a PII 333 with 256 mb Dimms on an Abit lx6 mb. Hard drives are 17 g and 9 g. W98. For my purposes it is more than adequate at this time. I'm just wondering if I should upgrade or just build a new box?

[Timbob505]

I am not familiar with Intel board or chipsets as I am an AMD fan all the way! As that doesn't matter that much regarding your questions, here I go. If you upgrade the mobo, you can get whatever speed proc that board is designed for. I would get anything that supports a PIII up to whatever 1.?? GHz they are at now. Your current RAM will not work with anything you upgrade with unless you get an older celeron. (> 800MHz)

However, as an Avid AMD fan, I would suggest going with an ASUS or ABIT or something with DDR and even RAID capabilities. Two reasons for this: 1.) AMD chips are cheaper and just as good and better than intel procs and same speeds. 2.) The new Athlons will be compatible with current socket-A mobos (Athlon and Duron boards) And for about $200-$250 you can get a board, proc and 256MB of PC133 or DDR - a system that will definately smoke anything you've got now.

IF what you have is suitable, then consider a Duron for price/performance. Everything else will work fine for you, but you will need to reformat your win98 partition as its not a good idea to swap boards on the same installation on windows. Upgrad pieces at a time and you will save money and can end up with a great back up PC, a linux router (etc) and even a system you can sell to someone who needs something simple. Someone else may be able to give you better ideas, so hopefully, more will post here.

Good luck and let us know what you do!


Timbob

[Sterling_Aug]

The ABIT BH-6 and BX-6 boards will support up to a P3-1000 processor (if you get a socket converter card and then flash the latest BIOS).

I have one of each of the above boards available as used. They have worked flawlessly for me for the last several years, but I have upgraded to dual processor systems now.

As for what Timbob505 said about prices, he is a little misleading about how much cheaper AMD is now. A used ABIT board will be about $50, I just bought a P3-705 for $115 (including shipping), and 4 sticks of PC-133 128 MB RAM cost $10 each if you look around. That is about $220 for an upgrade and then you can sell your board/processor/RAM for $50-$75 on Ebay.

[amlobint]

Thanks for the advice Timbob and Sterling. I didn't realize I could upgrade so cheaply.

I have another question though. The power supply in this computer isn't stable and I was planning on buying a good 300W. But if I upgrade as you have suggested do I need a different type of power supply. Is there one that will be compatible with what I have now and still work with the upgrades?

Thanks again

Hey Timbob: Arlington! Dang, I graduated from Arlington High School in 1969.