Need some info on HotRodding a P3-500

[TCL71]

Hi Guys

I was thinking about trying to get my(dead slow)Pentium III 500 up to speed,and was hoping maybe somebody could point me in the right direction.
I'm kind of real dummy,when it comes to the technical side of a computer...so don't get too upset,if ask some pretty stupid questions

First off,heres her spec's right now.

DELL
Pentium III Processor (500MHz)
128MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
20gb Hard drive
Creative SB live


I was planning on just getting a new system in a year or two,but after stumbling across this site,I got the idea...maybe I could just tweak this thing for the time being,with some new hardware.

There's a couple things I'm not sure about though.
Is a motherboard all I would need,to get the Mhz's up to todays standards?
Or should I just get a P4 processor?

I'm kinda on a budget,but I'm not trying to go the absolute cheapest way possible.

Any thoughts,or advice on what to do would be appreciated.

Thanks TC

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

Hmm.....

well ur on a budget.....and want something decent/good

question is r u gonna overclock or not??

If ur not....heres whats best 4 u...even if u r this setup will be a decent overclocker if u get a good stepping CPU..

AMD Athlon XP 1600+
MSI KT3 Ultra or ASUS A7V333
256MB PC-2700 DDR

Some reports say that stepping such as AGOIA Y and AROIA Y can reach up to 1.8GHz.....thats real good for a 1.4GHz AMD Chip....and it'll perform on par with a P4 2.1GHz chip

Otherwise go for this...also a decent overclocker... =)

Intel Pentium 4 1.6a CPU
ASUS P4S533 Motherboard
256MB PC-2700 DDR

This chip can go up to 2.1GHz i believe.......

Overall the AMD System would be cheaper.....therefore its ur personal preference.........
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=13597" target="_new">-MeTaL RoCkEr</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by MeTaLrOcKeR on 09/09/02 01:52 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TCL71]

Thanks for the advice MeTaLrOcKeR.

I checked out the article,Speed Projectentium 4 Over 3 GHz!....and found the following hardware that I think I can fit into my budget.

<b>GIGABYTE GA-8IR533 INTEL 845D CHIPSET P4 SOCKET 478 533/400FSB 3DIMM/1AGP/5PCI ATX MOTHERBOARD

$88 Bucks</b>


<b>Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4BGHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus RTL
Specifications:
CPU: 2.4BGHz
Type: Pentium 4
Cache: 512K
BUS: 533 MHz
Socket: 478 Retail (Box with Heatsink and fan) (CPU ONLY NO RAMBUS RAM) Model#: BX80532PE2400D

$202 Bucks</b>

Would it be worth the difference in price to step up to this set up?

Or,would over clocking the <b>Pentium 4 1.6a,and
ASUS P4S533 Motherboard</b>...and saving some cash for something else...be a wiser idea?

I was also looking at a <b>IBM Hard drive Ultra 120GB</b> for $139 Bucks,these any good?

Also one last question...would the 128mb memory stick out of my P3,work in the P4....plus the 256mb stick?

Thanks TC

 

[slickstaa]

no, your 128meg stick is probably either pc-100 or 133. The new board you are looking at only supports DDR Ram.
If you want to get an new hard drive, I suggest you get a Western Digital Special Edition (8 Meg cache) 120 Gig drive. IBM's have a tendency to fail, and the WD will outperform it anyway.

<font color=blue> If it ain't broke, don't fix it...tweak it.</font color=blue>

 

[slickstaa]

one more thing...on a system like that im guessing ur prolly looking at a pretty meager power supply. You may need to upgrade that too in order to support all your new stuff.

<font color=blue> If it ain't broke, don't fix it...tweak it.</font color=blue>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

current the easiest cpu's (and probably the best value) in intel's line to overclock are the 1.6A and 1.8A.
do not get sdram. at the very least get PC2700 DDR.
also remember a decent quality PSU and a well ventilated case.

<b><font color=orange>My <font color=green>life <font color=red>has <font color=blue>been <font color=black>so <font color=purple>much <font color=yellow>more <font color=orange>colourful <font color=green>since <font color=blue>the <font color=red>advent <font color=black>of <font color=purple>Super <font color=red>VGA! :lol:

 

[TCL71]

*Scratch the IBM Hard drive....and checkout the Western Digital*

power supply....hmmm,hadn't given that any thought,thanks slickstaa

current the easiest cpu's (and probably the best value) in intel's line to overclock are the 1.6A and 1.8A.
do not get sdram. at the very least get PC2700 DDR.

I was kinda thinking the 2.4,cause I don't have any experience at overclocking.
How tuff would it be for a Big Dummy to overclock 1.6A or 1.8A...with out burning the house down?

Also,whats the "A" for,and are the Processors that have "B or G",or nothing following the GB#....not as good?
I see the 1.6a,is actually $20 bucks more,than the 1.8a...at newegg,plus they don't stock it.

PSU and a well ventilated case....that might be a good idea too,my Dell case doesn't really look like it's ventilated all that well

I was looking at the memory options,and got a little lost....so I might be way off.
But,I came to the conclusion that I could afford <b>256MB's RAMBUS</b>,or <b>512MB's DDR333 PC-2700</b>....although the DDR is quite a bit more cash,would it be the better choice,even though it's not as good as RAMBUS?

Thanks TC

 

[Crashman]

Well, the best thing you could do for performance is add more RAM!!! You're biggest problems are not the motherboard or processor, but the RAM and crappy video card. That video card is dog slow, slower than a two year old GeForce 2 GTS.

If you really want top performance, 256MB of PC1066 RDRAM will give you more performance for most things than 512MB PC2700. I would recommend the Gigabyte GA-8IHXP for that.

Of course, you could get a 1400MHz Powerleap upgrade and call it good. You see, what you failed to calculate was the expense of replacing your case and power supply. While the case is probably a standard Palo Alto high quality unit, the power supply is wired to Dell's standard.

If you look at your motherboard, you'll see 6 or 8 blank solder points adjacent to the power connector. That's because the Dell power supply pins are offset in that direction. The motherboard was available in both Dell and Intel configurations with either Dell or ATX power. Yours is Dell. Plugging in your power supply to a new board can result in you letting the magic smoke out that companies work so hard to compress into those little pieces of silicon (LOL).

Reworking you case also requires (in addition to adding an ATX power supply) rewiring the front panel connector. This is easily done, you simply remove the front panel, front switch card, the clip from the ribbon cable, and the ribbon cable. Then you insert two pin leads in the appropriate places, which are plainly visable by looking at the traces on the PCB, and replace the clip. You can get the two pin leads from a junk case, even an old AT case.

Most people would rather just get a new case. But you won't find a case as quiet as the one you have.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

 

[icy_oblivion]

If you want to be really cheap for the case, keep the case you have and either use a dremel tool to cut out a fan hole or two, I think there is a guide for that on THG. Or else you can just drill holes in the shape of the fan and install the fan behind the holes. Voila, a well ventilated case that you can say you modded.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

 

[Crashman]

Dude, I was speaking of the mods you need to make to use a standard board in a Dell, not visible mods for looks.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

 

[TCL71]

Ok.......I think this is the plan




<b>Gigabyte GA-8IHXP Tehama-E 850E/ICH4 chipset Socket 478 ATX motherboard</b>
Specifications:
Supported CPU: Pentium 4 socket 478
Chipset: 850E / ICH4
FSB: 533/400 MHz
RAM: 4x RAMBUS 800/1066 (must be used in pairs)
IDE:Ultra ATA RAID 133/100/66 4 Channels
Slots: 1 AGP 4x, 6 PCI and 1 CNR
Ports: 1xLPT,2xCOM,2xPS2,2x USB onboard 4x USB 2.0 via backplane
Onboard Audio: Creative CT5880
Onboard LAN Realtek 10/100 Model#: GA-8IHXP
Model#: GA-8IHXP (OEM, BAREBONE)

<b>$162.00</b>
<b>$85.00</b> REFURBISHED....any thoughts on this one?


<b>Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4BGHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus RTL</b>
Specifications:
CPU: 2.4BGHz
Type: Pentium 4
Cache: 512K
BUS: 533 MHz
Socket: 478 Retail (Box with Heatsink and fan) (CPU ONLY NO RAMBUS RAM)
Model#: BX80532PE2400D

<b>$202.00</b>

<b>Samsung Original RIMM 4200 32-Bit 256MB RAMBUS RAM</b>
Samsung Original 232-Pin
32-Bit RIMM4200 PC1066 1066MHz RAMBUS Memory
**Only one is needed to boot up the System** This RAM would only work for ASUS P4T533 Motherboard and it WILL NOT work for other boards
Model#: MD16R1628AF0-CN9

<b>$119.00</b>

<b>WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 100GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1000JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY</b>
Specifications:
Size: 100 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty --* Works With PC & Mac *-- Model#: WD1000JB

<b>$132.00</b>

<b>CHIEFTEC Server Chasis (Aluminum Workstation Tower with Plastic Front Cover) Blue w/acrylic window Color</b>
Specifications:
420 Watts AMD Approved Power Supply Front Accessible: 4 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5", Internal: 4 x 3.5". Power Supply: Turbo Link (P4) 420 watts ATX 12V- w/ 2 Case Fans Compare to Antec SX1040
Model#: CS-153-105

<b>$99.00</b>


That puts me at <b>$714.00</b>(or-$77.00,if I went with the REFURBISHED MoBo)
Less shiping
Unless I have over looked,or forgot something else that I would need....look like a good plan?

Then there's still the issue of a new Video card....though

I was thinking a <b>GEFORCE4 TI4600 128MB</b> was what I need,but there were several different versions to chose from at newegg......and I don't really know what to look for,to get the most bang for my buck....any thoughts on that?

To stay in my bugget,that leaves me with about <b>$300</b> bucks or less to spend on one.....unless I got the REFURBISHED Mobo,then it would be a little over <b>$350.00</b>

 

[Crashman]

It looks good with ONE exception-the memory. You didn't notice that the board uses PC800/PC1066? RIMM4200 wouldn't physically fit, as it's a new wider module, it's a double wide version of PC1066 (32-bit instead of 16-bit, so it can be used singley). So you can add $20 to the price and get 2 128MB Kingston PC1066. Kingston PC1066 is the only brand I'm recommending right now as it uses 32ns "PC1200" speed chips (better for overclocking, even if you want to wait for that).

The Ti4600 is a poor value, almost as expensive as the 9700 but with only 3/4 the performance. Most guys who prefer to stay with nVidia would get the Ti4200 and overclock it if needed to achieve Ti4600 performance.

<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

It looks good with ONE exception-the memory. You didn't notice that the board uses PC800/PC1066? RIMM4200 wouldn't physically fit, as it's a new wider module, it's a double wide version of PC1066 (32-bit instead of 16-bit, so it can be used singley).

Yep. Even in the descriptions posted above is the disclaimer:"<font color=red>This RAM would only work for ASUS P4T533 Motherboard and it WILL NOT work for other boards</font color=red>"

Kingston PC1066 is the only brand I'm recommending right now as it uses 32ns "PC1200" speed chips

Sweet! Just a week ago I was wondering if anyone was offering PC1066 at 32ns yet, but then I forgot to find out. Heh heh. Thanks for the info. Suddenly an Intel solution to OC is looking better and better.

I wonder if people are able to OC any P4s with synchronous RDRAM to a 166MHz FSB...

<pre><A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/comic/186.htm" target="_new"><font color=red>It's all relative...</font color=red></A></pre><p>

 

[TCL71]

Yep. Even in the descriptions posted above is the disclaimer:"This RAM would only work for ASUS P4T533 Motherboard and it WILL NOT work for other boards"

<b>Ooops</b>.......thats why it's a good idea to ask some one.....that does have a clue as to what there doing....ehehe


Still looking at Video cards.

this one look like it might be the one to get?

<b>XFX (PINE TECHNOLOGY) GF4 Ti4200 128MB 128</b>

I thought I read some where,that the 64MB was actually faster....any one know if thats true,or if the 128MB offers any thing that would be worth the speed trade off?



thanks for all the help Guy's

TC

 

[slvr_phoenix]

From what little I know of the GeForce4 4200, the 128MB is exactly the same speed as the 64MB, but with more room for texture maps and stuff.

I do vaguely remember something about ATI Radeons and a 64MB/128MB debate though. I think that had more to do with the actual graphics chips (LE?) being used than the memory itself though. But then, I could be wrong. Heh heh. My in-depth research of video card intricacies like these have been lacking...

<pre><A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/comic/186.htm" target="_new"><font color=red>It's all relative...</font color=red></A></pre><p>