n00b upgrade question

[columbus]

I have an old gateway with 128megs of ram and a Pent. III processor at 750 mhz.

Now I know that the right thing to do would be to throw the damn thing out, but it's all I have to work with.

So would it be better to upgrade the ram, or buy a new motherboard/cpu bundle?

if upgrading ram would be best, it can hold a max of 384mb. Would that be 3x 128 or 1x 256 and 1x 128?

Another question- Will a 200watt power supply ruin the system if I have XP? (which runs fine on it as is)

Thanks for the help in advance

 

[Mondoman]

The problem is that your system is so old that none of the components could be re-used for a new system (except maybe keyboard/mouse/floppy drive). So, any money you spend on expanding it will be thrown away when you move on to a new system.
For example, if you get a new MB/CPU, you will also need new RAM, a new video card, and a new power supply, at the minimum.
The cheapest general performance improvement is almost always increasing the amount of RAM. See what you can get on eBay.

 

[valis]

The problem is that your system is so old that none of the components could be re-used for a new system (except maybe keyboard/mouse/floppy drive). So, any money you spend on expanding it will be thrown away when you move on to a new system.
For example, if you get a new MB/CPU, you will also need new RAM, a new video card, and a new power supply, at the minimum.
The cheapest general performance improvement is almost always increasing the amount of RAM. See what you can get on eBay.

ditto, you might be able to re-use your hard drive, but i wouldn't rely on it for very long. best bet might be just to set it aside or give it to mom and dad...

Valis

 

[1Tanker]

I have an old gateway with 128megs of ram and a Pent. III processor at 750 mhz.

Now I know that the right thing to do would be to throw the damn thing out, but it's all I have to work with.

So would it be better to upgrade the ram, or buy a new motherboard/cpu bundle?

if upgrading ram would be best, it can hold a max of 384mb. Would that be 3x 128 or 1x 256 and 1x 128?

Another question- Will a 200watt power supply ruin the system if I have XP? (which runs fine on it as is)

Thanks for the help in advance

As far as RAM configuration, doesn't matter how you get the 384....3x128 or 1x256 + 1x128 or 1x256 + 2x64. The 200w PSU may power it(XP is a non-issue), but judging by the system specs, i would put that machine around 2000, so the PSU is ~6 years old now, and may not be running as efficiently as it once did. Adding the RAM will add a little more load on the PSU. GL

 

[columbus]

So if I get 2 more 128 sticks it would run just as fast (or slow haha) as it would if I bought one 256 stick and kept the one in there now?

 

[1Tanker]

So if I get 2 more 128 sticks it would run just as fast (or slow haha) as it would if I bought one 256 stick and kept the one in there now?

Yes, that will work fine. Some of the older motherbaords were picky about their RAM, and require the use of double-sided RAM...vs single-sided. GL

 

[purdueguy]

My memory is a bit rusty but if the motherboard has 3 slots and can hold a max of 384MB that means that each slot can only hold 128MB max. You can't put a 256MB stick in one of the slots and expect it to work. If it did, that would mean you could have a maximum of 768MB, which you didn't say.

 

[columbus]

My memory is a bit rusty but if the motherboard has 3 slots and can hold a max of 384MB that means that each slot can only hold 128MB max. You can't put a 256MB stick in one of the slots and expect it to work. If it did, that would mean you could have a maximum of 768MB, which you didn't say.

Good point.

How much of a difference will maxing it out make? Im not doing anything that really needs a lot of RAM. other than......


-I have Finale (music notation program) on a 2.3 mhz dell with 256mb, and it runs fine for my needs. Will it run considerably slower if I max out my aformentioned old pc with 384mb?

 

[1Tanker]

My memory is a bit rusty but if the motherboard has 3 slots and can hold a max of 384MB that means that each slot can only hold 128MB max. You can't put a 256MB stick in one of the slots and expect it to work. If it did, that would mean you could have a maximum of 768MB, which you didn't say.

Good point.

How much of a difference will maxing it out make? Im not doing anything that really needs a lot of RAM. other than......


-I have Finale (music notation program) on a 2.3 mhz dell with 256mb, and it runs fine for my needs. Will it run considerably slower if I max out my aformentioned old pc with 384mb?Maxing it out to 384MB won't slow it down, it will speed things up. XP uses over 100MB of RAM just sitting idle at the desktop, and start opening other apps, and the RAM will go down. Generelly, 512MB is recommended as the minimum for XP(it will run with less, but not as smoothly) unless you just play Solitaire and check e-mail....so 384 will help. You want to try and limit swap-file usage as much as possible, as the hard-drive is much slower than system RAM.