Upgrade...of sorts

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pickxx

pickxx

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I have come to realize in the past couple days in my g/f's apt, that her computer not only sucks but it is taking years off of my life.
I would love to upgrade for her but i dont want to spend a fortune for it. She uses it ONLY for AIM, surfing and wrtiting papers.

I have an old AXP 1700+ system. I could steal from my old computer and i wont miss it, but i dont want to drop anything in and then have it die on her. She would kill me.

So i can either steal those or build a new one.
I am thinking the Cheapest AXP i can find, on a cheap Socket A board with 512 PC3200 RAM, 80GB(she is using 4.2GB so even a small 10GB one would be too big..lol), case/psu combo(Antex Solution series is good i think, but maybe not)
Optical drives...i will just steal those from my old computer or her old computer. Not a big deal there.

So what AXP should i get?
What socket A board?
is Antec Solution series good?
what is a cheap HD? small is alright but if its 10bucks for 60GB more or something like that i will obviously get the larger one for a small cost.

All i know is that this 1Ghz P3, with 128MB of PC133 RAM is killing me.
I am ACHING for my computer right now.
(the difference in 128MB of PC133 to 512 PC3200 is huge, and my A64 is like 2-3 times the PCU this is.)

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
T

TheRod

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CPU : Athlon XP 2500+
MB : Abit NF7
RAM : 2 x 256Megs of generic DDR400 ram (no need for expensive low latency modules)
CASE/PSU : Anything with a 350 Watt PSU

If your actual HDD is too small (less than 4Gig), get anything bigger. If your HDD is 4Gig or bigger and you don't play games you don't need a new HDD. Usually, the 120Gig/160Gig/200Gig are the best value for money, do quick math : Size/Cost, the lower ratio is the best buy!

Do you need a new video card? If you need one, you might be interested to get a motherboard with integrated graphic (Asus A7N8X-MX is a good choice).

By the way, Athlon XP higher than 2800+ are not worth it, they cost too much compared to Athlon 64.

--
A7N8X / <font color=green><b>AMD Sempron 2800+</b></font color=green>
Kingston DDR333 2x256Megs
<font color=red>Radeon 8500 128Megs</font color=red> @ C:275/M:290
 
dhlucke

dhlucke

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Feb 2, 2001
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Gut your old machine. When she kills you will your stuff to me.

Seriously, gut your stuff and use the money you save to buy her something really nice. Then if anything dies she won't get mad.

</font color=red><i><font color=red>GOD</font color=red> <font color=blue>BLESS </font color=blue><font color=red>AMERICA
 
pickxx

pickxx

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I dont have anything great. An A64 2800+ computer, PS2, an a 1995 Escort (200,000miles), and thats about it.

I think i am going to steal the CPU (Axp1700+), heatsink(retail one), HD(80GB), and the optical drives.

Throw it in a Antec Case...but what Socket A board is the best for me? I just need something cheap. RAID, Gigabit ethernet, and all that is just a waste for her.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
pickxx

pickxx

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Again, this is not for me...its for my girlfriends lackluster computer.
Is Abit NF7 a feature packed board? because i literally need the fewest features.

I know to go with two dimms of 256 of DDR400 ram, also my old HD is 80....i doubt she will use 10% of it so i think its big enough.

No need for a vid card. like i said...internet, winamp, AIM, and Word. even a 2dollar vid card would be wasted on her.

Also i am going for the cheapest AXP i can find if i go that route, nothing even close to 3000+ or higher.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
S

sreeni

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Does your old computer work and do you use it? Why dont you just give that to her and take her out to dinner and a movie !!!!
 
C

Cybercraig

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I agree! What a night he would have! Didn't somebody write a song about giving your P.C. to your girl? Wasn't it called, "Oh what a night"?

Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot
 
pickxx

pickxx

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As nice as that would be, i would rather upgrade it slightly. i have an old compaq presario and it has a AXP1700+ with PC133 RAM in it. I want to upgrade to faster ram and more ram. For internet surfing and for general perkiness the faster ram will be nice.

Also if i do this small upgrade she will think its new and not some second hand piece of chit. Also a 230W PSU is a bit anemic and it was the reason i got my new one. I think it was going bad because of the random reboots.

All i need to know is a cheap but good socket A board, the rest i can figure out.
I can then total the cost of everything and the ease of everything and figure out what i want to do.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
E

endyen

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The abit NF7 is your best choice. If you want onboard graphics, get the NF7-M. It has an agp slot, if you want it later, and the best onboard graphics available.
 
Crashman

Crashman

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Dec 31, 2007
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PIII 1000EB with PC133? That's a GREAT combination for surfing the net, doing documents, playing some older games, editing medium sized photos, etc. And 128MB is fine for 98SE.

Now, if you were to run XP on such a small amount of memory, you'd need a new brain, not a new computer.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
C

ChipDeath

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I agree with crash. There just isn't much point in spending that much cash.

Defrag (or a new, faster HDD), remove unecessary Startup crap, and maybe even another 128Mb or RAM will work wonders.

As stated, XP will suck, but if you stick to 98 It'll be fine.

I wouldn't buy anything apart from a new HDD (for speed, rather than size), and some more RAM. Anything else is just too much hassle.

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro (VGA Silencer Rev3) @418/742
 
pickxx

pickxx

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Here is the thing, she is running windows ME. Which is the devil. I have a copy of windows XP home that i can slap on here....but like you guys said...128MB with XP wont exactly break speed records.

I want to put 256MB more into the computer, but if that costs 80bucks then why not upgrade the whole system for 200?

I have to reintall windows because everything is all messed up on here and its crashing all the time. The HD is a 7200....i think....so upgrading that wouldn't do much.

The end result is this, i HAVE to start fresh. too much damage already done with settings and stuff. Its a maze and its easier to just start over. She wants XP, i want her to have XP because ME blows donkey kock.
So for 80bucks i can put 256MB in...or for 200 i can get a slightly faster CPU, and 512MB of WAY faster ram.

Its hillarious. With a ethernet connection its actually bringing in more information then the computer can handle. My friend had the same problem with his computer (only 128MB of ram and a slow ass cpu on a ethernet connection) and we dropped in dual 256mb dimms of DDR400 and everything was so much faster.

I dont have win98, so unless your going to give me your free copy, i am afrad that isn't an option.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
T

TheRod

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Is Abit NF7 a feature packed board?
Click to expand...
The NF7 have all you need : integrated audio, ethernet, USB, etc... The NF7-S have the High-Quality SouthBridge (you don't need it). Just make sure you have a FireWire port if you need one! Because buying an add-in firewire card cost more than getting a MB with firewire support.

I recommend you these 2 MB :
- <A HREF="http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=7" target="_new">Abit NF7-M</A>
- <A HREF="http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-vm/overview.htm" target="_new">Asus A7N8X-VM</A>

--
A7N8X / <font color=green><b>AMD Sempron 2800+</b></font color=green>
Kingston DDR333 2x256Megs
<font color=red>Radeon 8500 128Megs</font color=red> @ C:275/M:290
 
C

ChipDeath

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Urgh. Windows ME is pure evil. I simply wouldn't run it on anything, ever, regardless of RAM etc.

256Mb of PC133 is only $40 at newegg.

A modern 7200RPM HDD will be faster for general usage than the 4.3Gb one you have, just due to refinements in the technology and more cache. I just recently (a couple of days ago) finally removed a 30Gb/2Mb 7200RPM Seagate drive from my rig and I can certainly notice the difference (compared to an 80Gb Maxtor with 8Mb Cache). Plus the seagate made a $hitload more noise. No idea how much cache drives of that era had, but I doubt it's as much as 2Mb even... Plus we're assuming it <i>is</i> 7200RPM, which it may not be of course.

---
Epox 8RDA+ V1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @200x10 (~2Ghz), 1.4 Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL/1x512Mb Corsair XMS PC4000 2.5-3-3-7
Sapphire 9800Pro (VGA Silencer Rev3) @418/742
 
Spitfire_x86

Spitfire_x86

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My recommendations:

AXP 2400+ (retail)
ABIT NF7 v2.0 (ABIT NF7-M, if you need onboard video)
2 x 256 MB Kingston ValueRAM PC2700

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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>
 
pickxx

pickxx

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Thats harsh...thats like giving a drowning man a glass of water.
I have a Win2000 CD around somewhere, but i might have lost it.
Is 2000 as Ram demanding as XP or is it more like Win98?

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>
 
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