upgrade a legacy system ??

[noshellswill]

Gents:

My first post to this forum:

Currently I run Ubuntu-BBadger without issue on an able legacy system:

AMD 2600+ / Gb7vt600L / 0.75 gig ram

NV5200 graphics / VS19"lcd +two HD + DSL

While I intend building_out a modern 2x-64 system end of this year -- and have budgeted about $2000 for that -- I am uncertain whether I should try upgrading the legacy box.
I even consider this question at all because recently I have done some "stress testing" of the legacy system.
Simultaneously running various "analytic" proggies: QUCS, GRASS, spreadsheet plus GOOGLE-EARTH, browser ... blabla does NOT kill the legacy system. It still has legs. Granted, adding MATHEMATICA runs me out of resources.

So I'm thinking this way: freshen up to a Barton_3200/400, add anothor 0.5G ram and grab a newer APGx8 NVidia card .... ( total cost ~ $400 ) and ... and what exactly have I bought?

0) a.... failed heatsink installation ?
1) another 2 years of cheap able service ?
2) tossed $400 ?

That's my question to this forum.

BTW: It's unclear if I'll ever run M$ again, since Ubuntu has become very polished. And, I NEVER play video games.

nss
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[Grimmy]

Buying a new video card to me would be a waste if you don't game, or perhaps doing some kind of video rendering (3D modeling).

Memory would be something to consider, if you are running out of memory. Seems you have 3 (256mb) dimms populated? Might want to consider replacing 3 of the 256mb modules with 2 1Gig modules. Your GA-7VT600L can support up to 3 Gigs.

 

[noshellswill]

BigG:

Thanks for your comments. RAM upgrade is very important, and I've got a spare slot ( 0.5 + 0.25 + 0 g ) for a 0.5g pc2700 stick I can salvage from a different 'legacy' P4 system.

What I have discovered is that for the cost of a BARTON3200 I can get a new Mobo/cpu .... let's say THIS one:

Asus
Price - $174.00
Ship - free via ups$174.00
Asus A8V-MX
athlon 64 3800 90nm rev e 939 cpu fan & Asus A8V-MX Socket 939/K8M800/RAID/AGP/A&V&L/MATX
Dealer Part # MB939ASUSA8VMX3800
Read More ...

... which I believe is PnP compatible with all my current hardware. And prolly 3x thruput as the BARTON3200.

nss
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