Upgrade assistance

[BenJr]

Nick, I'd like to stay under $500.

[Nick CPU]

I would recommend this as far as what you need.

A MUST
1. a new ATX case
2. a new Motherboard
3. A new processor
4. new RAM
5. new Video card

Extras
1. I strongly recomend a newer faster hard drive if you expect to see better performance. Use a program like Norton Ghost to transfer your old hard drive contents.
2. If you want sound you will need a sound card.

RECOMENDATION- BUY OR BUILD A NEW COMPUTER http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Nick CPU (edited 08-10-2001).]

[ragtop]

Benjr:
You won't be able to reuse much beyond the external peripherals, and maybe your modem & floppy drive.

To build a budget system, look for one of the many good inexpensive socket A motherboards (approx. $100)- most of them have on board sound that's not great but will get you by, a basic case & 300w power supply ($50), A Duron 750 processor and good cooling fan($50), a stick of SDRAM ($20), a new HDD ($100), a GEForce 2 MX video card ($50), basic CD Burner (75) and CDROM (30). Add shipping and you've got a quality system for somewhere around your $500 budget.

Or you could spend the same $500 on an e-Machine piece-O-**** and have nothing but problems.

[rlpos]

Cheap starter system. I just bought one of these to play with. add 128meg of pc100 ram from there site for another $25 shipping is fair($13.00) http://www.softwareandstuff.com/h_dsk_733barebone.html
http://www.softwareandstuff.com/h_dsk_scbarebone.html




[This message has been edited by rlpos (edited 08-10-2001).]

[BenJr]

I have a 5 - 6 year old Pentium 100 PC with 128MB and 1.2MB HDD and Windows ME. The Sound card and the CD are shot....it's time for a new machine. The question is, "What route do I take"?.

I don't need the fasted CPU in the world, so I would be looking for something in the 500-700 MHZ range.

I am inclined to buy a basic (maybe refurbished) machine and transfer as much from the old machine as possible.

Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Modem, speakers, etc. - no problem.

But how about the RAM? How do I know whether what I have will work in a new configuration? Since most machines now come with 64MB installed, how do ensure that I can add my existing 128MB?

Also, to make the intitial transition easier, I am thinking of moving my existing HDD to the new machine and using it as the boot drive. Is that a good idea? How do I do that?

In the new configuration I want to have all the obvious amenities plus a CD-RW....as well as a regular CD.

Any thoughts and/or advice appreciated,

Ben

[Nick CPU]

If you could give us a price range that would help.