Possible refresh of a "dead" platform

[rewindlabs]

Hi there...i got my hands on an IBM 8141-Y6Y with a serial number of LK72541

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/quickPath.do?quickPathEntry=8141Y6Y

I got this pc "free" and iv got a 1024x768 monitor lying around along with kb mouse etc

And iv decided after and if im able to get past the security on the bios and boot into an os il go ahead and pick up a cheap psu and graphics card with some ram as well...ram only needs to be 2gbs btw...

I would like to stay in the cheap range of no more and if possible much less than a 100$...i believe a 400w psu will do fine as this thing will only run a sole hdd and dvd drive nothing else...

Now the link i gave above will give the specs on the mobo and im quite sure its not super up to date so can you guys recommend me the best ram and gpu i can get for the pc?...really i will mostly be running the pc at 1024x768 so i don't need a ton of power...but i will need it to run some of the latest fps
s...so if you can guys help me layout some options here on power vs performance as i would like to get the max i can before the cpu becomes its expected bottleneck

anyways im off to try to find more specs and see if i can't find what i need...

Edit: i found something neat!

OK i wanted this card awhile back for my secondary rig instead i ended up getting a 9800gtx+...now i know this card has a lower bit rate than most of the other 9600 gso's and it pretty much sucks compared to them...but is it really a diminishing factor? now does the bitrate matter res wise? i would think so and since most of the reviews i saw where using 1280x1024 with me going to a lower res of 1024x768 will this "fix" the problem? does this allow me to use the full potential of the card thus putting it on the level of the other cards or does this card still have the limit caused by the 128bit ? and it using ddr2 vs ddr3 on other cards?

Sorry to be so rambly but i would love to be able to get two new games for my pc as i don't have many atm and im a huge fan of cod...so i might off set that slight increase in performance considering the gso will most likely be more than enough at my res and my intended games..

And my slot does say pci express...i sound like a noob but im having a horrible time finding the specs on the system...wish i could boot it

 

[Outlander_04]

your link is a dead end

 

[rewindlabs]

mmmmm must be some cookie crap...

Original description: Based on 8141-CTO: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 531 with HT Technology, 512MB, 40GB 7200RPM S-ATA HDD, PCI Desktop (4x4), Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, 16x DVD-ROM, Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet, POV, Windows XP Professional

And i just found out the exact ram i need so i got that covered...

* Slot 1: full length, 16 lane PCI Express (graphics)
* Slot 2: half length, 1 lane PCI Express
* Slot 3: half length PCI
* Slot 4: half length PCI

Thats about the extent of specs the page lists...im trying to find an exact motherboard

Here are some of the specs on the motherboard...

* Desktop (4x4) with Intel 915G chipset
* Supports Intel Prescott Pentium 4 processors with 533MHZ or 800MHz FSB and 1MB or 2MB L2 cache, and built on a 90 nanometer core
* Supports Intel Prescott Celeron D processors with 533MHz FSB and 256KB L2 cache
* LGA 775 socket

 

[Outlander_04]

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1790&page=5

 

[rewindlabs]

Thanks i could hug you

Looks like il pick up some ddr2 ram and

Emm so does this mean the board is pcie 1.0? is that correct...sorry this old hardware gets a bit confusing...is it just pci express x16?

Would the 9600gso above work with this board?

 

[Outlander_04]

The chipset supports either ddr or ddr2 but your motherboard will be one or the other . You will need to know which before you order because they are not interchangeable .
DDR has 184 pins and DDR2 has 240 pins [ contacts]

There may be a limit to how much RAM it can take , but XP runs well on 1 gig , and faster than vista if you have 2 gig

pci-e x 16 isnt a problem . Most boards today are pci-e [2.0] x 16 but the hardware is compatible


Prescott pentiums run hot . The 2.8 gig is fine but after that they get toasty

 

[captaincharisma]

Emm so does this mean the board is pcie 1.0? is that correct...sorry this old hardware gets a bit confusing...is it just pci express x16?

from looking at the manual on the lenovo website the PCI express controller is only x16

 

[rewindlabs]

Mhmmm so does that mean the board is 1.0 instead of 2.0?

And i figured as much after i checked it and found the ddr 400mhz/3200 ram in it...alrighty il just go ahead and get another gb...

And this system has a huge heatsink and a fan that sits at the front of the unit with less than an inch between it and the heatsink this thing is meant to stay very very cool

My also free lenovo(ibm is lenovo and vice versa) has one of the most amazing stock heatsinks...my cpu idles all day at 20 degrees and dips down to 17 degrees

And never exceeds 35 degrees closed up with the 9800gtx+ @ 830mhz and the cpu @ 2600mhz....

 

[Kill@dor]

Very cool man ^_^

 

[Phillbobby]

Hi, rewindlabs,

I recently was given the exact same computer and, like yours, the bios is locked, can't even get a command prompt or to boot from cd/floppy or anything. I was wondering if you had ever solved your bios issues and how you did it. This is not imperitive that it happens or anything it just bugs me a lot. I have never seen a system so secure you can't even get a prompt.

Thanks,

Phillbobby