How do I upgrade from here?

[coryburgess]

So I am in the process of building a new PC - well deciding on everything.
But I also want to improve my existing PC for some things I use it for - I play drums and guitar and we use it with some recording software ProTools. Right now I play WOW (no biggie) and just day to day internet.

The computer is a SONY VAIO PCV-RX951, the sony site doesn't really help, but here it is:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=PCVRX951

The computer has an INTEL P4 2.66Ghz.
I used Sandra and found that the MOBO is an ASUS P4S533VL
info i got (sorry i don't understand all this) AGP PCI 1MB USB firewire/1394
Supports APIC, total ram 1GB DDR-SDRAM, FSB 4x133MHz (532MHz data rate)
Has a Maxtor HD 200G - (whcih by the way has never failed...)
Video is an NVIDIA Geforce4 MX 440


So all this said - I would like to upgrade my MOBO so that I can use DDR2 ram and have at least 2G, more ram helps alot for the Pro Tools software - I believe that to do this I might as well upgarde to a PCI video card, b/c most mobo's now use that instead.

HOW Do I know what socket type? I'm sure if you were building systems using P4's you would know?
I'm guessing its the 478 type - and so Can i just get a board with this socket and not have any problems swapping it out and keeping my Intel P4??

And if I wanted to add another HDD - how hard is it to copy the existing HDD onto the new one, OS, programs everything! the existing HDD is still ATA and I don't know any other details about it .

So what do you thinK?

 

[night_wolf_in]

First, u have to check ur processor which socket that is. i tried to find out. but i couldnt know. anywho, there are 423-pin, 478-pin, and 775-Land. (download cpu-z. it will tell u what socket u have)

this is important, because if u change the mobo. ull have to change a mobo that can handle ur current processor.

AFAIK, other than the 755 sockets, the other two are part of history. and i dont think if u do any upgrade, ull be able to fit DDR2.

n no, most mobo's use PCI-Express. that is PCI x16.

i dont know about ur budget. but if i was u, ill just get me a new system. a new budget core 2 duo will cost u 100USD. n core duo will cost lesser than 100USD.

regarding adding another hard disk. just add it as slave. n u can transfar all the important data to it, (in the old system).

or get new system, with new hard disk. install OS, then add ur old hard disk as slave. get all the data.

when changing mobo,ram,etc. it is really good to have fresh install of OS. many users who didnt, eventually start complaining about their system hanging/banging/notworking/BSOD/etc

 

[lunyone]

What is your budget? I'd go for a new budget build, so you can have the latest/greatest and still have a rock solid build. You could build a budget system these days for about $400 or so, depending on the options you get. Here's an example:

CPU - $83 shipped! Can OC later if you feel you need to. Should easily go up to 3 ghz.
Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116052

Mobo - $97 - $30 MIR = $67 shipped! One of the better p35 mobo's right now for budget builds.
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127031

HD - $56 shipped! Plenty to start with. If you need more space, buy now or just add another HD later.
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

Case - $50 shipped. Plenty of room and expansion. Has 2 120mm fans included!!
COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-SKN2-GP Black / Silver Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119104

DVD Burner - $34 shipped! Retail packaging, which includes all DVD burning software!
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106072

PSU - $55 shipped! Can handle any single GPU out there right now. It has 30A on the 12V rails, so for your build this would be perfect.
Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006

Memory - $65 - $25 MIR = $40!! Can't be beat at this price for CAS 4 DDR2 at 800mhz!!
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146565

GPU
For basic needs this would work:
$80 shipped. Good for basic needs, maybe some light gaming, but that would be about it.
SAPPHIRE 100236L Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102726

Or this for some budget gaming for $170 shipped.
DIAMOND 3850PE3256SB Radeon HD 3850 RV650 55nm 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103049

Total w/3850 GPU = ~$605 shipped - $55 MIR's = $555
Total w/3650 GPU = ~$515 shipped - $55 MIR's = $460

Now if you had a case already and was still in good shape you could subtract $50 from the above totals.

 

[coryburgess]

Yeah I get it - For around $250 I could get new Mobo, CPU & Grphx - that would still do better than what I have now - plus i'd have to upgrade ram anyways - I was just trying to save money and utilize my existing CPU - buts probably not worth the hassel.
I could keep my case, dvd drives, HDD and PSU - thats bout it eh.

 

[coryburgess]

HOW do i load the OS for the first time - I thought that the DVD drives wldn't work until drivers are installed ?

Also, since this pc came with OS installed - they provided me with recovery disc's - but its XP, w/o sp2 -

Should I just pick up a new copy of XP w/ sp2 already - what is the cheapest way to do that?

Having never built a system - this is the one thing i don't really get - I know how to assemble and add software - but its installed the OS that has me a bit lost?

 

[coryburgess]

Also - since I probably won't be upgrading this system - isn there anything I could do to peak out the performance a little -

I know it told me to use registered ram - but I cldn't find any. So i have 2 512mg sticks, different brands.

My HDD is partioned, with the one pretty much only running the OS

 

[lunyone]

* What PSU do you have?
* Yes, you should probably get a new OS, since you probably only have a recovery disk for your current system and it won't work on any other system.
* When installing the OS for the first time, you should only need to install all hardware and put the DVD/CD into the drive and you should be prompted by the disk. Normally no issues here to worry about, so insert disk and then follow instructions. This is where you could create a new partition, which you probably already know about that.
* One thing to be concerned about is whether or not you will need more than 1 IDE connection onto the mobo. If you have 2 IDE drives and 1 SATA, you should be fine with the recent mobo's. The one I listed has only 1 IDE port (up to 2 IDE drives) and 4 SATA ports, so keep that in mind. If you need to have more than 2 IDE drives than this will change the mobo selection.
* Registered RAM is usually for server grade applications, so you shouldn't need that. If you bump up your RAM to 1 gb that would help performance, but than you'd be putting $ into a dead system. It would be better if you just started with a new CPU/RAM/Mobo first, if you can afford it.
* What was your budget?

 

[Guest]

I promise you that if you get a new mobo/cpu/gpu you will need a new PSU.

 

[coryburgess]

Yes, I'm sure the connections on my current CPU won't work.

The thing is if I upgrade the Mobo/cpu/gpu/ram - i might as well pick up a HD, case & power for another $150 and have a new cpu.
I could still use this for internent and iTunes for the family.
Or give it to my parents.

I mean n general i'm still happy with this computer - it really just doesn't let me move forward with new software, large displays, better games.

I guess there really isn't any point in trying to improve this one
My thoughts were to firest - back up everything onto exterenal HDD.

then format it and recover the OS, try setting up bertter partitions -
at least, 1 - for OS, 2 - swap - 3 programs & files ......sound good?

again this is a P4 2.66 on an Asus 1Gram max board.

I thnik i will put a cooler in this one - the cpu runs pretty hot, above 100F - its a stock case with stock everything - the only fan is the one on the PSU.

 

[lunyone]

Add case fans 1 in and 1 out at a minimum. Make sure you have more exhaust than intake, so you won't overpressurize the case.

 

[coryburgess]

Umm, there isn't any places on this case to add fans???

How do I go about doing so?

 

[lunyone]

Well not sure, can you take a picture of the inside of your case? Most cases have spots for additional fans, but not sure if this is the case with Sony cases or not.

 

[rich121]

I would also like to upgrade my computer, but, I would like to replace the motherboard, CPU, memory, sound card and graphics card.
I would like to use a sound card so I don't want a motherboard that won't allow that..
my budget for the motherboard/CPU/Memory is around $500 to $600.
What are your suggestions for the Motherboard/CPU/Memory?
How about Soundcard and Graphics card with a budget of around $400 to $500 (for both together)?
Thank you,

Rick

 

[lunyone]

I would also like to upgrade my computer, but, I would like to replace the motherboard, CPU, memory, sound card and graphics card.
I would like to use a sound card so I don't want a motherboard that won't allow that..
my budget for the motherboard/CPU/Memory is around $500 to $600.
What are your suggestions for the Motherboard/CPU/Memory?
How about Soundcard and Graphics card with a budget of around $400 to $500 (for both together)?
Thank you,

Rick

Normally I don't respond to hijacked threads, but not sure what your going to use your computer for and what your current system is. You'll need complete specifications, including the PSU information.

 

[rich121]

Sorry about the "hijacked thread", but, the site does not allow me to post a new thread, only allows me to post to existing threads...
Currently, I have:

Power Supply: "400 ATX, Silencer" from PC Power & Cooling

Case: Aluminium, 6 bay multi-fan

CPU: Pentium 4 180hz

Motherboard: Asus P4T-E

 

[basketcase]

I know you had said you want to keep your CPU. But, let me make a quick recommendation. I just got an ECS AMD690GM-M2 mobo. They have it at Newegg for about $50. It is a good board that is really stable. You could pair that with an x2 CPU and get some new ram for fairly cheap. The reason I recommend this, is the board comes with a built in GPU (ATI x1250). It isn't a spectacular GPU, but from what I have read in reviews, it plays WoW pretty good. That way you won't need to shell out for a new dedicated GPU right away, but still upgrade to a dual core CPU and more ram. You could probably get the mobo ram and CPU for about $125-$200, depending on which CPU you get. Not too bad. The dual core will really help with Pro Tools too.

 

[MrDidit]

One of the BEST things you can do is to get two hard drives and set them up as RAID 0. The speed differnce is amazing going from about 35 MB/sec to 110 MB/sec - espcially on disk tasks such as VMem & large file transfers.

You can go out & get two 160 GB drives fairly cheap - at least 7200 RPM with an 8 or a 16 MB cache is fine. Put them togthr and you have a large 320 GB drive that is fast. My experience is default block size of 4K, and stripe size between drives at 8 or 16K is fine. The RAID setup will give you very consistent read times across the entire surface of the disk.

ATA 133 is fine or SATA 150 is fine because even the fastest hard drives rarely get past 80MB/s at the beginning of th plattr before ramping down on a step curve own to 35 MB/s at the far end of the platter. RAID 0 has no drive redundancy for backup, but then again neither did the original single drive.

Take out your old hard drive and set up the new disks in RAID O with whatever utility you have. I recommend using a 3rd party program to transfer the OS over from the old disk that you set as the boot device temporarily. The better, cleaner way is a fresh install of your operating system.

Here are the two software tools I use all the time - check into the Acronis products - they have some very good partitioning tools and disk management and a hidden software feature that lets you copy from the old drive partition to the new drive even if the newer partition is bigger.

Acronis

Diskeeper