Upgrading my machine - advice please

[Jon Lawrance]

I'm currently running a K6-II 350 with 128mb ram and I'm finding it frustratingly slow.

I usually have several programs open at the same time, such as Outlook 2000, Internet Explorer and various utils in the system tray. Also, I plan on using Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition in the near future.

I'm not looking for the bleeding edge, just something that represents good value for money.

Questions:

1. Should I go for an Athlon or Intel? What speed is currently good value for money?

2. What should I look for in a motherboard?

3. Can I reuse my existing memory or do I have to buy some Athlon compatible stuff?

4. How much faster would typical Windows tasks run using an Athlon 700 verses K6-2 350?

5. Am I correct in thinking that Dragon's voice recognition package needs an Intel chip because they have some special instructions that tackle this (MMX?)?

Thanks,

Jon

[scotter]

the biggest thing you need to ask is how much $ do you want to spend a really fast easy and cheap upgrade would be to just swap out that K6-2-350 for a 500 or 550MHZ chip but that is also going to depend on if your mobo will run a 500+ chip ?

other wise yes most of, if not all your parts should swap out to the new system.

but some of if not all your parts would end up slowing down a althon or P3 700MHZ or faster system not that they wont work but the chip will be waiting on stuff to happen.

really need a little more info to be able to make good sugjestions as to where to go

what all do you have in the current system and how much $ are you looking to drop ?

[Paul Hubrich]

The reviews I've seen on that voice recognition software indicate you really need a fast system for it to work well.

I just built a system & was tempted by those low prices on the Athlon processors, but when I added the higher cost of an Athlon mobo vs. a PIII mobo, and the cost of a larger power supply to feed the power hog Athlon, all of a sudden it wasn't such a great deal.

As far as value goes, you can't beat the Celeron II (coppermine core) chips, if they're fast enough for you. (They also overclock like crazy if you're into that). In the PIII's, the 667 & 733 seem to be the best values (but they don't overclock well)

I really like the mobo's with the VIA Apollo pro 133A chipset. They're cheaper than the Intel chipset boards, easy to set up, and perform well (except for memory bandwidth which is marginal)

[KillerBug]

You may be forgeting something, when was the last time you reformated? I once doubled a persons q2 screenrate by reformating and re-installing all the software he had only new! That and the latest drivers may just make you feel like you traded in your 350 for a 500 at no cost.

[wyvrn]

Hard drives can seem slower over time. I mean upgrade to a new model and programs load faster, at least the first time you use them, and if the swapfile is in use. And if you have the funds but do not know how to overclock, go with a PIII or Athlon. I have a 533 PIII for sale in User to User (shameless plug) for $125 that would increase your performance quite nicely.

If you are short on cash and want to overclock, I see Celeron 566@850 for about 110 bucks in the sales forums of several sites. You could pair that with an Abit or Soyo board that go for about 80 bucks or so now, and have a nice little upgrade.




[This message has been edited by wyvrn (edited 07-24-2000).]

[Dputiger]

Running those programs in the task bar below will REALLY slow you down. Try turning as many of them off as possible. Also, make sure you've updated your drivers, defragged your hard drive, etc. I've used a K6-2 250 for years for office work and it isn't slow at all--in fact, for basic applications, its absolutely all I need.

I really recommend against going with Pentium III or Athlon 'classic'as they are both 'dead' technologies. Thunderbirds and Pentium IV's will both require different motherboards and chipsets.

If you're looking for a cheap upgrade, I recommend you pick up a Duron 700 and Asus KA7. That combo will allow you to move to a 1.5 gigahertz T-bird later on and will still be fast today as long as you aren't an ultra-high end gamer (and you don't sound like one).