• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Help a guy help his girl....System Upgrade Advice for Girlfriends computer..Thanks

B

bozack

Diamond Member
hello all....

Just looking to get some upgrade advice on what I should do with my Girlfriends computer, and thought some here might be able to assist.

Currently she has a.....

Celeron 466
Abit BM6 Motherboard
256 PC 100 Ram
CD ROM
2 HD's
Voodoo 3 2000 Video
NIC
Diamond Supra Modem (Will go after the upgrade)
Antec 250w Powersupply

She is constantly getting out of memory errors and frequent lockups...I feel that this can be corrected by a full format and reinstall as she has loaded alot of garbage programs and such in the past two years that it has been on the same OS load...however I feel that while I am doing that I would like to give her a bit of an upgrade....

I would really like to just upgrade the Mobo/CPU and retain the rest of the components, however if that is not possible I am always open to suggestions.

And as always when it comes to computer stuff we are both on a budget, so I would like to get out of this for as little as possible.

I was looking at a Duron Chip for her on either an MSI/Abit/ Or Asus board...but as I have been out of it for a while I do not know what to look at.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
MJ
 
depending on what amount of money you have to work with here, here's what i would do:


1. Get an Athlon 1.2 Ghz retail >> $99 at newegg
--> ECS K7S5A Mobo >> $57

Total: ~$160 for a pretty nice performance increase, you can still use that RAM in the new MOBO or you can upgrade to DDR (it has slots for both)

2. Get an Epox 8K7A mobo (good OC'er) >> $79
--> Athlon 1 Ghz and hsf >> ~$80
--> 256 MB DDR ram (crucial)>> ~$30 (i think)

Total: ~$190. You could push that processor to probably around 1.3 or 1.4 ghz if you're into OC'ing at all. And the DDR ram should significantly speed up overall performance.


Then again, I've been known to be wrong sometimes 🙂
Good luck and have fun!
 
LucJoe's pretty much got it. But, I personally, if all possible would go for the 2nd option except, get a Shuttle AK31 rev3.1, (About $85 at Newegg, a tad faster than 8K7A, great OCer, 4 DIMM slots) for 2 reasons:

1. I know people have gotten K7S5A to work, but because I haven't got experience with it but it just worries me what I've heard about it. I guess, I'd make sure you have good experience with building computers before you go for it. I know there are zealots (IMO) for and against K7S5A.
2. I would at all cost not use the PC100 because that would seriously cripple the Athlon-C 1.2, so, if u can, go to DDR, but if u can't, it still will be a good upgrade.
 
Well I am looking for something that will have a noticable performance boost over a Celeron 466 (something which I think should be easily achievable) and that will be 100% stable.....

I don't mind spending a little more if necessary to get a machine that will be "worry free" for the most part.

Also she is not concerend with the highest level of performance possible or overclocking, just something faster and better at multitasking than what she has now...

Option 2 sounds good but I would rather spend more on a mobo and get something that is stable, than get her the fastest chip out there as she really does not need it. Her 466 is fast enough for her, just not good at handeling the multi-tasking

thanks for the responses though
 
The only possible problem with the suggestions made before me is the PSU not being good enough. The 1.2GHz TBird uses a lot more power than a 466 Celeron. I would say a 900MHz Duron would do the trick. Combine that with an ECS K7S5A (Very stable). This way you can retain the current crop of memory you have. Then, later on, the memory can be upgraded without a problem.
 
The K7S5A has been completely trouble-free for me and I have three of them. I love the board.

I would agree with the other guy's advice. Get this board with a Duron. Nice upgrade.
 


<< hello all....

Just looking to get some upgrade advice on what I should do with my Girlfriends computer, and thought some here might be able to assist.

Currently she has a.....

Celeron 466
Abit BM6 Motherboard
256 PC 100 Ram
CD ROM
2 HD's
Voodoo 3 2000 Video
NIC
Diamond Supra Modem (Will go after the upgrade)
Antec 250w Powersupply

She is constantly getting out of memory errors and frequent lockups...I feel that this can be corrected by a full format and reinstall as she has loaded alot of garbage programs and such in the past two years that it has been on the same OS load...however I feel that while I am doing that I would like to give her a bit of an upgrade....

I would really like to just upgrade the Mobo/CPU and retain the rest of the components, however if that is not possible I am always open to suggestions.

And as always when it comes to computer stuff we are both on a budget, so I would like to get out of this for as little as possible.

I was looking at a Duron Chip for her on either an MSI/Abit/ Or Asus board...but as I have been out of it for a while I do not know what to look at.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
MJ >>


ECS K7S5A Mobo and a Duron, and a Matrox G350 graphics card. Athlon is unfeasible because that would require a new PSU.
 
Thanks for the advice all..will get the stuff after christmas. Now just have to see if they have it at MWave or if I have to go somewhere new with Newegg
 
I am using a Trancend TS-AKT4 motherboard and a Duron 800 processor with a 250watt power supply and a equivelant video card to what she has-- prefectly stable and good game play. Fast enough for multitasking with 256 mb of ram & Win98SE.
 
Replacing the motherboard/CPU is probably the better way to go but there is an alternative. You could get a PowerLeap adapter that should allow the use of FC-PGA Coppermine CPUs in that board for $25.00. Here are some reviews:

http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/pwrleap/
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/1809/5/

Since the PowerLeap comes with its own HSF fan, you could pick up an OEM Celeron 700 at Newegg for $38.00. So for less than $80 (including tax and shipping) you would get a reasonible speed increase without much effort. Or you could shop the For Sale Section here and pick up another suitable processor for cheap.

You mentioned she has 2 HDs, are either of them 7200 RPM models? If they are both 5200 RPM models moving to 7200 RPM drive should provide a bit of a speed boost.

Lastly. the description of the crashing/out of memory errors she is experiencing sounds similar to the bug with with Win9x systems with over 512MB of RAM installed. I know you said she has only 256 but is it possible that the vcache setting on her machine has been messed with? In any event, you might want to check out the FAQ (http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=27) on the subject.

Like I said, and as others have pointed out, a new motherboard/CPU is probably a better way to go in the long run. However, the PowerLeap option is cheap and easy which does appeal to a lot a folks. Just thought I would put it out there for consideration.

Regards,
KeithP
 
Hey Keith and all.....

Thanks for mentioning the Powerleap...I did consider that route, but one of my main things is to get away from that MOBO (I am Running an abit BH6 in mine and want to lose that ASAP as well).

I figure I want to spend about or under $200 for the Upgrade.

I didn't think about the vcache setting on her machine, so thanks for pointing that out too...I will be sure to check it tonight. I don't think it should have been messed with but there is always the possibility.

I know for sure that one of her HD's is 5400, it is a 4 gig Western Digital that she only uses for storing MP3 files....however I believe that her primary Hard Drive is an IBM 10.2 7200 drive, however I am not 100% sure of that, almost positive but not 100%...I can check though.

I was considering getting her a primary 20gig 7200 drive and then putting all of her MP3 files on the 10.2 gig drive, which would also make backup and restore alot easier as I can slave the old primary...but I am not sure if I want to do that yet as she doesn't even use 10.2 gig of space so 20 would be a waste.

Also I checked out that ECS Mobo and was disappointed in the number of Dimm slots that it supported for pc 100(2) and was wondering if there were any other alternatives...I was looking at the MSI -T board but don't want to go too far back in time/technology.

Thanks again for the help.
 
The ECS board is an excellent choice. I have been using one since they first came out and it has been the most stable board I've ever owned.

you can run an Athlon off a 250.
You may want more, but I've been doing it for a while now.

I would stay away from matrox video cards, though.
 
The only thing about the ECS is that Her Memory is broken up into

1 128 MB PC 100
2 64mb PC100

So if I go with that board then she will only be able to have 192MB ram VS 256.......

However I can always upgrade her...but if I did that I would just get her DDR ram and screw it.
 
Also is the SIS chipset better than the VIA??

Have not worked at all with SIS and or ECS...so I am a little skeptical.

Thanks
 
First off, unless you want to change your power supply I would stay away from using the AMD Processor, most of then if not all require at least a 300 Watt PS. Since you want to reuse the current memory (SDRAM), I would recommend a board based on the Intel 815 Chipset, my personal choice is the MSI 815ET Pro. I would then install a 1.0GHz Celeron processor & heatsink. This would give you a very stable system and be compatible with your current hardware & case. You can do this for under 200.00, check out newegg.com for pricing or even pricewatch.com. Understand I am not against AMD or any of the chipsets that support the Duron/Thunderbird/XP processors, I personally own one. But this is what I do for a living, upgrading older systems, and this will meet your original request.
 
Quix I originally considered a Celeron upgrade but did not know if the newer revisions would handle the multi tasking that she does on a daily basis and if the upgrade path would be feasable (any future possibility??) but I will look into it again.

Thanks
 
CPU: Duron 1GHz 200MHz Bus $ 50 + $6.95 shipping
Newegg.com

Motherboard: ECS K7S5A (its faster than other motherboards)
$55 + $8 shipping
Pricewatch

Cooler: CHROME Orb (its not the best cooler but very quiet) $6+$5 shipping
pricewatch cooler amd

If she wants to play games, she will need a better videocard.
A Geforce2 MX 400 is fast enogh, but don't buy the MX200. They are very slow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top