fantrace

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Sep 3, 2001
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I find myself in a situation where I have to get a new MB (& CPU) but have very limited funds. I'd like to go with Intel if for no better reason than I've always had Intel and I can start with a cheap Celeron and upgrade to a P4 later.

I've been looking at some of the Asrock MBs which are cheap, have SDRAM as well as DDRAM sockets so I can continue to use my present memory, but upgrade later, and which have integral graphics etc, thus saving more money, but again with the possibility of future upgrades.

There are a couple of possibilities - the GE Pro, based around SiS chipsets (650 or 651 with integral audio/video) or the M266A based around the VIA P4M266A chipset and ProSavage8 graphics. Any thoughts on whether one or other of these would be best?

Also any thoughts on the likely general and graphics performance of such a system with a 2.4GHz Celeron compared to a 650MHz P3 in a Gigabyte BX based MB and ATi Rage 128GL 32M AGP Graphics.

TIA
 

pIII_Man

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Mar 19, 2003
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asrock is pretty good....

why dont you buy a tualatin slocket and 1.1ghz tualatin celeron cpu, it will easily hit 1466mhz with pc133 ram. With a gpu upgrade you should have a system that outperforms the celeron 2.4 with intigrated graphics.

thats just my .02


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy
 

fantrace

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Well nothing would be ideal :) but the options I've looked at would be about 85 pounds sterling (say $120) for the MB and CPU plus something for the cooling. I couldn't stretch to much more than that at the moment I'm afraid. My options are very limited.

Looking at much lower spec second user machines on ebay and a few web sites I'd still have to spend some 50+ pounds so that option doesn't really make a lot of sense even if it is a bit cheaper.
 

fantrace

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A slocket upgrade is not an option as it is a MB that needs to be replaced. The full story is that my daughter has an old Celeron 300A machine that I put together in about 1998. I have the 650MHz P3 BX system that I put together in 2000. The MB in the older machine seems to have gone belly up and it's not worth trying to repair it as apart from anything else it is an AT board and case. However she needs a replacement pretty quickly to do her university work on.

Since a comparable second user machine, even just a base unit, is going to cost 50 pounds plus, the idea is, she essentially inherits my BX system and I get to upgrade to something better for not very much more. Only thing we'll need on top of the CPU & MB is a case which I can get for under 20 pounds, so a little over 100 pounds for the lot.

The timing is unfortunate from a funding point of view though, but I have to do something. I just want some confidence that the Asrock MB with its integrated graphics with a 2GHZ or so Celeron will be at least as good, and hopefully significantly better than the BX machine. If not it's not worth the extra expense and I may as well just spend the 50 pounds on an old base unit.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
Bad deal. The P4 based Celeron is a poor performer, the onboard video of those boards is WORSE than your currest card.

If your card is one of the newer AGP4x compatable versions, it will work on a new board. Pull it out and see if it has 2 keyslots in the connector portion, or 1. There's also another slot between the connectors and the locking tab, that would make 3 slots total.

Because the Celeron is SUCH a TERRIBLE performer, I ALWAYS suggest AMD on your budget. Also, VIA has the worst chipsets in the industry, SiS is the better choice.

If you REALLY need a board that supports SDRAM, I suggest the old ECS K7S5A. If your card is keyed for AGP4x, use it. If not, get a cheap 4x card, such as the old GeForce2 MX. And buy an XP processor, they're cheaper than the Celeron and far faster.

Basically, the combination you picked was worse than the combination it was replacing, sorry.

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allanon1965

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Mar 11, 2003
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i have to agree with crashman on this one, his recommendation is the best option, i have an asrock sis based board and it is great! it was cheap 45.00, and the cpu was only 38.00 (xp1800+) the only drawback for you is my board only accepts ddr ram, but there are other asrocks that do the sdram....

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