My computer was bought 4 years ago and it has a Pentium III 933MHz Processor. It only gets a motherboard that DO NOT have a AGP slot. I wanna upgrade it into one that has a better processor and a better board. I considered about Pentium IV 2.4G but it's too expensive for me. Do you guys have any suggestions?

Hi,

AMD is always an great option but its only going to save you a few $$$. Along with your processor and mobo upgrade you will need new memory, power supply, and of course the graphics card you want. So it may end up costing you more than you thought.

A very large benefit comes from utilizing a good graphics card and to do that you would have to change at least your motherboard. You may be able to canabalize much of your present equipment but to do that people here should know what you presently have.

Could you expand on your present system?
a) Make/Brand if it something like a Dell GX1
or clone if you built it yourself
b) PC133 (how much)
c) Processor - PIII-933 (You already did)
d) add on cards
e) disk drives

Also please indicate a budget ($$) and what you want to
use the system for.

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The Socket 370 boards have virtually disappeared from my local vendors (maybe not urs) but they are still available on special order or from online retailers. Further, PIII high end processors like PIII-1.4GHz are still considerably more expensive than a much more powerful AMD Athlon/Barton so in my opinion upgrading to a higher PIII is out. You could try a high end Celeron but it would not buy you that much over your very nice PIII-933Mhz.

If your system is a clone PC, ie. one built for you or built by you, then it would probably be very easy to buy a a) nice motherboard
b) extra memory if you need it
c) a nice fast 7200RPM disk drive
d) a really kick buttt graphics card

and have a very sweet little system. Only the memory and motherboard would be a less than optimal long term investment.

Anyway, till you get back with more information it will be difficult to judge what to recommend.

The loving are the daring!

you mean a 2.4C GHz?

Hi i just built my own computer quite easily. I use it for games mainly. Your system doesnt seem to bad so you may be able to use some parts, i'm not sure though as i'm not to familiar with intel. Anyhow this is what i did. To keep costs down i stayed with ddr 2100 266 ram and 4x agp mobo. My prices are in Australian dollars so halve for US.
A7V266-e Mobo $50 on ebay
256mb ram $60
40 gig 7200 $106
2.4 gig xp $150
DVD $62
Case and power $42
MSI 128 Ti4200 $250

Thats the basics ill probably get more ram later, and i have a moniter from an old system and a modem. So for around $700, US$350 i have a system that will run games for another 18 months or so. But if ya have the cash go the whole hog with the expensive 8X cards, ram and mobos.

I think I need more information about the power supply. What difference will it have? Do I have to change anything?

250W is generally the minimum these days, but u can get away with a 230W power supply (may have problems with some motherboards) Your case size may be a problem because newer motherboards are larger. Im guessing if u have no Agp it is a smaller case.

Modern components need more powerful Power supplies, simply because they draw more power. Added to this is the fact that companies like Dell tend to use weird bespoke power supplies and cases, so if it's a Dell or a Compaq or something, then you might not be able to use them anyway.

What exactly is your present system?

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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.

Your cheapest option is to keep your CPU (its not to slow yet), RAM, harddrive, cd rom, sound card etc, and buy a new motherboard with AGP (might have to be second hand), case and power, Video card and maybe a bit more RAM. Dont think your CPU is to slow, i have a friend who has a duron 900 and plays Raven Shield and most new games.

My current system:

Motherboard:
Asus CUW-AM/MEW-AM
CPU:
Intel Pentium III 933MHz
Memory:
320MB SDRAM
HDD:
ST330621A 30GB
VGA:
Geforce2 MX400 PCI
OS:
Windows XP SP1

Cheapest Option Maybe, but he'll be buying a SDR PIII mobo, when he already has one, and he'd not be able to upgrade it any further in the future.

He'd really be better off buying a new mobo, CPU, & some DDR Ram. could keep HDDs and CDROMS though.

May need a new case, and will probably need a new PSU as well.

cmhark:Tell us your budget, and we'll give some recommendations.


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$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.

Like ChipDeath says:

1) We need to know what you have now to help you.
2) We need to know your approximate budget.
3) We should know what you want to use the system for.

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If you want to know how much power you have you will probably have to open your case. (ground yourself to the case b4 touching anything; static can ruin parts). It is almost always written on a sticker on the powersupply itself. Don't open the powersupply though, that can be very dangerous.

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Ooops looks like some correspondence got done between posts.

The loving are the daring!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Flinx on 08/05/03 11:57 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

If he doesn't need it for gaming (which I doubt) immediately and is willing to wait for the next generation of graphics cards later this year or early next year then even the PCI graphics can be used.

He could save up for a graphics card till prices drop.

The loving are the daring!

sorry~ I'm a newbie here~

My current system:

Motherboard:
Asus CUW-AM/MEW-AM
CPU:
Intel Pentium III 933MHz
Memory:
320MB SDRAM
HDD:
ST330621A 30GB
VGA:
Geforce2 MX400 PCI
OS:
Windows XP SP1

Budget: About $200
Use: Internet, General Use, Games (Rise of Nations, Flight Sim, etc., no need to be DOOM III or something like that), just want normal fluency, no need to be best performance

ok... $200 for mobo, CPU, & RAM...
It's do-able, but I'll have to assume your current PSU/Case does not need changing..

prices from Newegg.com:
mobo:Epox 8RDA+ $83
CPU: Athlon XP1700+ $49
RAM: Crucial 256Mb PC2700 - $51 (only $3 more than PC2100)
HSF:Thermaltake Volcano 7+ $13.99
Total: ~$197

That'll give you a reasonably performing system, and later you could get another stick of RAM for Dual Channel...

the HSF can be substituted with any other $10 Socket A one basically - it doesn't really matter if you're not overclocking - that's a cool CPU at stock speeds.

if you need a new PSU, you'll have to maybe get a VIA KT400A board instead of the nforce2 one, but the nforce comes with excellent built-in sound, and lots of excellent overclocking features, should you need them - would give a bit of future upgradability too.

another $50-$100 would go a long way though.

---
$hit Happens. I just wish it would happen to someone else for a change.

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=547857#547857" target="_new">look at what smitbret recommends</A>
<b>Notice he leaves out the case/powersupply and the video card.</b>

IMO (In My Opinion) I don't think you build a "new" system on a $200 budget. Let's wait and see what other people say though.

My recommendation:

1) AGP Motherboard, something like $50.
a)Maybe from <A HREF="http://www.ebay.com" target="_new">http://www.ebay.com</A>
b)Maybe <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com</A>
c)similar online retailer in your area.
d) You can ask around in your local computer specialty store if they can order you something.
e) You can try to scrounge around in some PC recycle store
<b>N.B. read up on the specs of the motherboard before you buy make sure its the right PCB revision etc.</b>

2) Memory 256MB (be careful of the motherboard if it has to be double sided or not. )probably not if it takes the 933Mhz) about...$40
<b>N.B. you probably want to defer the extra memory in favor of a better graphics card since it is much easier to add memory after</b>

3) Graphics Card
On <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com</A>
page <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1561&description=&page=2" target="_new"> Sapphire </A>
$120 - ATI OEM RADEON 9500 64MB DDR 8X AGP BULK
$132 - SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV RETAIL

<b> Shop around!!! Ask more questions in the video card forum like: I have $120-$150 for a video card what do you recommend? You'll get better answers than I can give you.
</b>

4) You may have to change your PSU.
Fortron - 350W - $32
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&manufactory=1919&catalog=58&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1" target="_new">http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&manufactory=1919&catalog=58&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1</A>
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The loving are the daring!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Flinx on 08/05/03 12:55 PM.</EM></FONT></P>