Do you think it's time for an upgrade

[frover2000]

I finally come to the conclusion that my old comp
is old and i want a new one
It's composed of the following=

gigabyte mobo with old intel tx chipset
p200mmx cpu
32meg stick of pc66 ram
64meg stick of pc100 ram
3.2 gig quantum hd
16 meg banshee vcard
creative 4224 burner
and sh*t old yamaha 16bit isa card
and a dreaded diamond winmodem

What i plan on doing is carrying
over everyhting but the mobo, cpu, and AT style case. For a new case, asus p3v4x, and for awhile a celeron 466 and later on a p3 when they're cheap

i was just wondering if my old 32meg stick is still good and if i'll see a huge performance increase i play q3 a bit (yes on a p200) and rainbow six

any help/suggestions would be great

 

[Ulysses]

It's maybetime to replace the whole rigamarole. See AnandTech's monthly Value Oriented Buyer's Guides for the most reliable recommendations:

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=1269

You should really consider seriously getting a system using the new AMD Duron CPU on a motherboard based on the VIA Apollo KT133 chipset with 64 to 128 MB of PC133 SDRAM. They're cheaper than 'Intel Inside,' but perform as well. You can use your PC100 RAM in that too and upgrade to PC133 later. You also can replace a Duron later with an Athlon Thunderbird - they're interchangeable, generallly. AnandTech will be recommending systems like that in the near future as they become available. They don't recommend stuff you can't get yet.

The forums are interesting, but the AnandTech articles are more informative and reliable.

 

[HaVoC]

<< gigabyte mobo with old intel tx chipset
p200mmx cpu
32meg stick of pc66 ram
64meg stick of pc100 ram >>

Most likely you will be running a 100Mhz FSB to save you from buying new ram. You may not be able to run PC-66 at 100, but a lot of sticks can do it, especially if they are 10NS specs. (look for a &quot;-10&quot; on the chips in the memory sticks)

<<
3.2 gig quantum hd >>

Hmm...saving this is not really going to save you that much money. A 100 bucks will buy you a relatively huge 20GB Maxtor Diamondmax 5400RPM hard drive. Ain't the fastest thing out there, but it will be MUCH faster than your old drive.

<<
16 meg banshee vcard >>

This you can probably save so you don't have to buy a new video card. Of course, a GeForce2 MX would be the best bang for buck solution if you do want to spend another $120.

<<
creative 4224 burner
and sh*t old yamaha 16bit isa card >>

I really suggest you spend $30 or so and get a Vortex 1, 2 or SB Live Value sound card. Again, this is a cheap upgrade that will really improve your sound quality and help out performance in gaming a bit.

<<
and a dreaded diamond winmodem >>

You are fine with the Winmodem as long as it functions decently. No point in spending money on old modem technology where ADSL/Cable is probably available in your area.

<< ]What i plan on doing is carrying
over everyhting but the mobo, cpu, and AT style case. For a new case, asus p3v4x, and for awhile a celeron 466 and later on a p3 when they're cheap >>

My suggestion is to get a 533 FCPGA Celeron 2 (DO NOT get a PPGA celeron.) You should be able to overclock it to 800Mhz. The Duron chip from AMD looks pretty solid as well in price/performance.

<< i was just wondering if my old 32meg stick is still good and if i'll see a huge performance increase i play q3 a bit (yes on a p200) and rainbow six. >>

Definitely that extra 32 WILL make quite some difference. 64MB of ram is not going to cut it for gaming these days.

EDIT: While Ulysses has a point, I still think you can save enough components to make a dirt cheap upgrade now and incrementally add better components as you get more cash.

 

[0div0]

I agree, its not worth it to get a whole new system. Thats the root I went and I did go overboard a little Anyway I'm sure you could even sell that mobo and processor on here for a decent price. Someone will want to use it, even if its just for rc5 cracking. Also I'm not big on sound. To me as long as there is noise humming out of the speakers thats good enough. You probably dont really need to upgrade the sound card unless you have some kickin speakers.

 

[frover2000]

Thanx havoc for the great post

i was wondering though if anyone has any motherboard recomendations
if i go with the celeron.

Also will i see a considerable or any performance increasein 3d games when upgrading to a fast celeron or will my banshee be holding me back?

 

[MGallik]

I still run PCI Banshee's with P3 806/124's. They're fine, I play UT,
Homeworld, Diablo2, Total Annihilation, Mech3, and even Quake3 once in
a while (I dont like Q3).

If you really want a jump in video performance, and it'll only be in
3d, get a V3 2000. For $50 or even less, there is no better bang
for the buck.

 

[frover2000]

I was wondering if anyone could suggest some motherboard
recommendations for initially a celeron which will later be upgraded to a p3?

 

[HaVoC]

MGallik: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1268&amp;p=9 I can't really see why you recommend a V3-2K. Even at twice the price, the geForce2 can offer twice the performance and a lot more features (T&amp;L, texture compression, etc.)

 

[frover2000]

I was wondering if the asus p3v4x is a good choice for a fcpga celeron

keeping with upgrading to a p3 coppermine in mind

 

[Linc]

I'm going through the same upgrading ordeal.

I'm going with the AMD Thunderbird myself. gonna start nice and cheap at 700MHz and save up for the 1GHz and up processors to come WAY down.

Video: I'm getting the Voodoo3 3000 (with price matching and rebate it's ONLY $45!) this card can hold it's own until the GeForce2 cards drop.

Chassis: Enlight model 7237 midtower. plenty of room and good cooling. For under $60 it comes with 250watt ps.

Sound: Sound Blaster X-Gamer PCI, good card for under $80

Memory: 128mb PC133 CAS-2. Gotta be CAS-2 for overclockability

Mobo: Gonna go with the Microstar K7T Pro. The reviews on this puppy says it's well made and very stable. Not to mention is already available, not much else available for KT133 chipset. Not yet anyway.

Good Luck,

Linc.

 

[Ornery]

$115 566MHz Celeron II, <check>
$115 ASUS P3V4X, <check>
$150 SuperMicro Tower, <check>
$380 Budget Upgrade w/ Good Upgrade Path, <check>

That memory will be fine for quite a while.
Buy a used V3 from one of these upgrade freaks for $25 or so later.

Sounds like you have your priorities straight!

Good Luck

 

[Vich]

thats not bad frover my system 3 months ago was a p133, with 96mb ram and a tnt1 and 13 inch monitor.