Comp Upgrade...

[TheCorporal]

Hey everyone, I had posted here a few months ago about my computer upgrade, and here I am again this time with 700 bucks instead of 500 ;-)Anyways, here is my current rig

- Celeron 400 -> 500
- Abit BX6R2 (Slot 1)
- 192 PC100 Ram
- GeForce SDR
- 9.1 gig UltraSCSI HD
- Soundblaster Live
- 4X4X16 Yamaha CDRW

So I am thinking I wanna upgrade this box to something a little more powerful without changing out too much stuff. So I decided a Slot1 P3 would prolly be my best bet for ease of install and such. Anywhoo, here is what my old upgrade list was (with the 500 dollar spending limit)

- Intel P3 800 Mhz Slot 1 - $217.18
- 30GB ATA/100 IBM 75GXP 7200 - $149.99
- ATA/100 Card from Promise - $31.73

Now that I have that extra 200 bucks, I was wondering, what do you guys think would be a good addition to that list, or even a complete change? I am pretty sure I am gonna get another 128 stick o' ram and change that drive to a 45 gig, but I really am not sure what to do with the rest.

Thanx for any suggestions.

 

[TheCorporal]

Oh by the way... someone just suggested getting a new mobo along with the new CPU. I dont know, I don't feel like doing that, I am just a tad too lazy ;-)

I know a nice KT7 and an Athlon 900 or something would be great, but I dont know, a little too much extra cash + extra hassle. Anyways, I am just looking for something that will make my comp feel all happy again, I am tired of cs_italy and cs_mansion running slowly =)

Thanx again for any suggestions...

 

[TheCorporal]

anyone? I'd really like some input on this..

thanx

 

[BA]

Well, do you really have to spend it all?

My thoughts:

Is the ATA/100 card really necessary? Short of a motherboard swap, a 100mhz FSB p3 probably is your best bet. That'd probably make the most difference.

After that, vid card.

On the HD, is the IBM going to be the primary drive, or are you planning on keeping the SCSI?

 

[edblor]

I think those new add-ons will cetainly help bud,

May I also suggest possibly a newer vid card! I'm sure you could sell that SDR for around $80.00US, so that could assist in the new DDR (insert brand here) vid card!

Not too mention that the celeron would grab ya about $50.00 or so...hehe

Also from the looks of it, you may want to invest in a faster CD ROM. If u r using the CDRW as a player, 16x is not bad, but could be better.

So in summary,

Keep the Mobo,
add a P3 800 or so $220.00,
add a DDR vid card $200.00,
add a 50x CD ROM Or faster $50.00,

Sell the SDR $80.00,
sell the Celeron $50.00,

and keep the rest of your stuff...

You'll recover $130ish from the older stuff, and have to front a lot less

Edblor

 

[confounded]

Why not go for a Kt133A moboard, 128 mg of pc133 cas 2 ram, 1 gig t-bird .... More performance, less $. I just switched from Intel to AMD. Never been faster or more STABLE!

 

[TheCorporal]

Thanx guys.. well here is the situation. I am taking the Celeron and upgrading the CPU on my linux box, so I am gonna keep that. The SDR is staying in my box till I feel its the slow part of my sys. So that means I am gonna keep those parts, but thanx for the selling points.

As for the CDROM, I have a 40X normal CDROM alongside my CDRW, so no need to worry there ;-) And no, I dont intend on spending all the 700, I would actually like to keep some of it, its just with the extra infusion of cash I wanted to know if I was still making a wise upgrade decision. About that ATA 100 card, well the thing is that the BX6R2 only has ata33 onboard and I think that would be a tad limiting for the 75GXP dont you think?

In my final system I hope to have 4 drives in the comp: USCSI 9.1 Gig HD, 45 Gig GXP, CDRW, CDROM. I am partitioning the 9.1 gig into a 3 gig and 6 gig partition, for Slackware and Windows 2001 (whistler) respectively. Then on the main drive (the 45 gig) I am going to put Windows2000 on there, and leave that drive for my main work. Do you think this would work out?

Thanx again guys I appreciate all the help...

 

[TheCorporal]

Oh and also ... are there gonna be any problems with how I am doing my partitioning and OS stuff? Will Lilo work as the bootloader or should I get another one?

 

[BA]

"Sustained data rate (MB/sec) 37 "
How limiting would it be? Guess it's mostly dependent on your PCI situation.

Something often overlooked, have you thought of just getting a phat-ass monitor?

 

[TheCorporal]

Yea thats sustained transfer, a lot of the work I do has to do with bursting stuff... but either way good point.

As for the monitor thing, I have a Sony 200sf 17 inch, its REALLY nice. About 4 years old, and only 17 inches, but it was bought for abut 650 bucks, its amazingly flat and does the most amazing refresh rates (120 at 1280

Hehe anyways, I think my hardware situation is pretty set, I am just interested in how my partition and OS setup seems...

 

[BA]

ok, just shut up now. Me and my 15" on a TNT2Pro are gonna sulk now. At least I've got a 40x Plextor, nyah! Thought about O/Cint a P3 700? Dunno how far the PC100 would get...

Anyway, I don't really know Lilo that well. (Swappable drive racks are much more fun)