New MB for P3 rig - new HD req'd?

[buckyfan]

I've got an old P3 1GHz with 512 MB ram and an agp 9700 pro running XP. It actually works ok for what I use it for - web and very light kids gaming. It has 2 IDE hard drives, (1) 40 GB with mostly music, and (1) 120 GB with the OS and other things.

I was considering swapping out the MB to a s754 A64 3200+ (since its $49) and reusing my peripherals (except RAM of course). Just to keep the thing viable and decrease boot time. Anyway, I'm assuming I'll need a new OS install - and knucklehead that I am - I formatted the 120 gb drive with a single partition.

Wanting to avoid reinstalling everything - can I use something like partition magic to create additional partitions on the disk - re install the OS, and avoid the re installation of programs, etc? Or should I just pop for a new hard drive. Or forget about the whole thing and build off a new platform with AM2 / PCI-e or the E4300 platform?

Oh yeah - what about the extra 4 pin motherboard connector for the power supply - is there an adaptor cable made to deal with the fact that my present PS doesn't have the 4 pin connector?

Any comments and advice are greatly appreciated.

Bucky (Bummed Bucky - 2 and out!)

 

[alcattle]

Confused on what you do have and why you want to upgrade.
2 drives should be plenty for what you are doing, what is on the 120gb that you want to save? putting the data on a different partition will be hard without someplace to move the data to.
So if I read this right, you want a new mb and CPU, want to recycle the AGP card and use the current case and power supply. How many drives total?

 

[proof]

Yeah, it is kind of odd that you are wasting money on a P3 board. We use P3s at work for paper weights. (No lie)

 

[buckyfan]

Yeah - I guess it sounds like more trouble than its worth. The P3 actually works fine for web surfing and light gaming - which is what I use it for. But it is slow in booting and loading programs.

The plan was to reuse the case, drives, and video - and drop in a new mb and ram. ( Since I can do that for less than $150) There are 2 hard drives (40, 120 IDE), and 2 IDE cd roms. XP Pro is installed on the 120gb drive which has a single partition. I was just wondering if I needed to reinstall XP pro if I add the new mb and ram. And if so, do I need to reformat the whole drive and reinstall every program, or could I create a new partition on the drive before the mb swap, put the os on the new partition, and reinstall the os and leave everything else in tact. Does this make any sense, or am I all wet on this one.

Thanks,
Bucky

 

[proof]

Your system is very, very outdated. Just grab a Gigabyte or ASUS mobo, an E4300, 1GB DDR2 800, an 80GB SATA HDD and a new PSU.