How much money would it take to upgrade a system like this?

[Arkitech]

I have an older Pentium based system I would like to upgrade and I'd like to do it for as cheap as possible. The specs are:

Pentium Pro 300mhz
64mb
3 gig and 10 gig drive
17 inch monitor
ATI Rage video
Generic Sound Card


How much money would it take to make a modest upgrade to this machine? I'd like to use it for gaming, I'm trying to put together a small network to play games.



Also since I'm asking questions

Whats the least amount of money I can spend to build a low-end gaming machine




Thanks for the help

 

[igowerf]

I didn't know Pentium Pro's went up to 300...

Anyway, you could get some more RAM and possibly upgrade your video card but you'll most likely need a BIOS update for that.
ATA/66 controller cards are about 10 bucks so you can even upgrade your hard drives if you're up for it.

 

[Megatomic]

Which components are you willing to replace? You can get a decent Duron/mobo/PC133 upgrade for like $150. Then you can spend another $60 on a GF2 MX. Then I'd say you should be able to play games fairly decently.

 

[Arkitech]

Wow thats not bad, so for roughly about 200-250 bucks I can get a new processor, mobo, memory and a vid card?

How much memory?

 

[Om]

Upgrade? What do you want the machine to do? A modest upgrade would be to add some memory, and it's extemely cheap! Think about a stick of at least 64MB but for the price may as well go 128MB.

Total upgrade cost around $25.00

That's about it, unless you're out of HDD space, then put in a new HDD.
Again, not sure what you want the machine to do? Gaming covers a lot of ground. It should be able to run most games out there now with more memory, but just not very well. As far as bringing it up to speed of todays systems you're looking a total rebuild, meaning new everything. CPU, motherboard, memory, video card, HDD. You can keep the 3GB HDD as a spare storage in a new system, and the monitor if you can live with 17". Looking at maybe $300.00- $400.00 or so for a low end gaming system, again depending on how low you want to go with it. I wouldn't go any lower and consider it usable myself.

 

[Athlon4all]

Hmmm, I assume it's AT case. That really does limit your options. You could upgrade to a Voodoo3/TNT2 but anything higher won't be worth it and yeah, I'd up the Ram to 128MB. As for a cheap gaming rig, Here's what I'd go with:

Retail Duron 800 (Includes HSF) $50
ECS K7S5A $70
256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR $40
MSI GeForce2 Pro Video $150 or so
30GB 7200RPM ATA/100 HD $100
CD-ROM $30
Generic Floppy $10
NIC (If u don't have one) $20-30
300W case $40
SB Audigy for $60
A good set of 2.1 speakers $50
17" Monitor $100
Case Fan $10
Total: $750 + Shipping

To save an extra $100 or so. step down to Generic Speakers ($10), a Santa Cruz ($30) a Radeon LE ($75) and just use your curtrent monitor. Any more q's feel free to PM. God Bless

 

[MiExStacY]

motherboard+duron+256mb ram+GF mx=250

 

[Athlon4all]

Plus add a new case. He's gonna need a 300W ATX case and seriously, the MX isn't the best budget vid card today. I'd get a Radeon LE.

 

[MrHelpful]

Athlon4all, I don't think SB Audigies are $60...

 

[Athlon4all]

Well Pricewatch has 'em for around $60.