Is a Pent. 3 still a viable gaming machine?

[tecumseh]

My specs:

600 mhz coppermine proc
256 mb Rdram (800)
G3 Ti200
Audigy X-gamer
30 gig hd
12X dvd
Sony 19" trinitron monitor

- As you can tell my processor is getting a litle dated. So, should I save my money and upgrade to a 933 mhz. and just continue to use my system for another year?
- I usually like FPS and I usually set my resolution at 1024X720X32
- I get a little slowdown but it's not to bad, unless I'm playing Tribes 2. I have to go to 16 bit with that game.
- Will I see a nice performance increase with a processor upgrade?
- Also, i was thinking about going with barebones setup and I was going to take out my hard drive, dvd player and such.... but I decided against it.
- My soundcard and video card will be taken out though. I upgraded these components about 2 months ago, and the original hardware (geforce 256, sb live!) are in a box!

Opinions?
thxs!!!!

 

[bacillus]

have you tried o/clocking that cpu for extra performance??

 

[Ben50]

I think you should consider upgrading to a P4 since you already have the rdram. You could get a 1.6A and a Abit TH7II and overclock it to over 2ghz easily depending on high your rdram will go. The processor and motherboard will cost about $300. I am going to wait for clawhammer to come out near the end of the year but if I was in your situation, that is what I would do.

 

[tecumseh]

"have you tried o/clocking that cpu for extra performance??"

Nope!! Thought about it, but it's a dell conmputer. I still have over a year left on my warranty.

 

[Wolfsraider]

if it was me i would upgrade the processor

why:
1. my 500 is a lot slower than my 866 and my friends 1 gig and it maybe me but i see a little difference between 866 and 1 gig enough almost to upgrade

2. is your harddrive 5400 or 7200 if it's not 7200 you may want to upgrade there first as this difference is almost supercharged on the five systems ive upgraded from 5400 to 7200

3.google gear has the 1 gig cheaper (coppermine i think?)than all the others not sure of coppermine though but its 115.00 add a wd 30 gig 7200 harddrive for 78.99 and total upgrade would be $ 193.99

4. if your happy with your present machine don't upgrade (4 is optional lol)


all prices from googlegear ymmv


hope this helps



ps

<< I think you should consider upgrading to a P4 since you already have the rdram. You could get a 1.6A and a Abit TH7II and overclock it to over 2ghz easily depending on high your rdram will go. The processor and motherboard will cost about $300 >>



i also agree here

 

[tecumseh]

"I think you should consider upgrading to a P4 since you already have the rdram. You could get a 1.6A and a Abit TH7II and overclock it to over 2ghz easily depending on high your rdram will go. The processor and motherboard will cost about $300. I am going to wait for clawhammer to come out near the end of the year but if I was in your situation, that is what I would do."

It's factory installed dell memory. Does that make a difference? Can I use it in a P4 motherboard such as an Asus?

 

[tecumseh]

"2. is your harddrive 5400 or 7200 if it's not 7200 you may want to upgrade there first as this difference is almost supercharged on the five systems ive upgraded from 5400 to 7200"

Hard drive is 7200. So no problems there.
In addition, my system resources is at 95%. So no problems there also!

 

[majewski9]

Trust me dont buy a 933mhz P3! I have an Athlon Tbird 1.33ghz with only 128megs SDRAM in an ECS K7S5A at home, but at work I have a 933mhz P3 with 256meg SDRAM in a Intel 815mobo and a matrox vid card. Trust me when I get home to my Athlon I am relived since my P3 at work seems so incredibly slow. If I were you I would pickup a cheap a Cheap AthlonXP or a Duron with a KT266A mobo. Forget about the 933 p3! It is a ripoff.

 

[Wolfsraider]

rdram should be usable in any board

take a look at it it should be like thishere

hope this helps

 

[tecumseh]

"rdram should be usable in any board

take a look at it it should be like thishere

hope this helps"

Similar. Mines blue though. Don't know if that matters.

thxs bro..

 

[ElFenix]

at that res your vid card is still a bit more limiting than your processor, even more so with FSAA. overclock your Ti dude!

EDIT: if you have to go to 16 bit its mostly your gfx card.

 

[hans007]

if you wanna go super cheap you can probably pick up an older 1.5 ghz p4 socket 478 on fs/ft for aroudn $110. add a $10 heatsink, and a atx rdram 850 478 board, you can get for around $70 used. so $200 or so. a slot1 933 which is probably what you need, would cost you around $100 so , it might be worth it. especially since you can probalby sell your current stuff to make up for that $100 difference.

 

[Colt45]

<< if you wanna go super cheap you can probably pick up an older 1.5 ghz p4 socket 478 on fs/ft for aroudn $110. add a $10 heatsink, and a atx rdram 850 478 board, you can get for around $70 used. so $200 or so. a slot1 933 which is probably what you need, would cost you around $100 so , it might be worth it. especially since you can probalby sell your current stuff to make up for that $100 difference. >>



why would you want a williamette P4?

a T-bird can kick the sh!t out of it, for a lot less cost too.
The tulatins probably beat it as well.

if you want to keep costs down i would go for a CuMine celeron 1ghz, and try to oc it to 1.33ghz.

a CuMine chip @1.33 will beat the sh!t out of a 1.5 williamette too.

 

[Ben50]

Does dell include ways to overclock the processor or the FSB? I don't think they do so that probably isn't an option for him

 

[BFG10K]

at that res your vid card is still a bit more limiting than your processor,

No it isn't. A Coppermine P3 600 MHz is a very slow processor and a 933 MHz P3 is still pretty slow too. My advice is to upgrade to a cheap Northwood (1.6A GHz) and use as much as you can from your existing system, including the RDRAM.

 

[oldfart]

I agree with BFG. Get a new case, PS, mobo, P4 NW. Reuse all the other stuff.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

It's really more cost effective to get a P4 1.6 & new mobo for $200 than just a P3 933 for $100, especially since you already have thr RDRAM, and since you'll likely be able to get that P4 to 2.2 or higher. In fact, you would be better off getting a 1.1 Celeron as opposed to the P3 933 anyway, it will be about as fast and a good bit cheaper. And your warranty will most likely be screwed with whatever you do anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to at least try to get that 600 up to 800. It may be enough to get you by for another month or two.

 

[BD231]

Upgrading is best man, your system is gonna choke on any new titles coming soon.

 

[formulav8]

Just upgrade the cpu. You don't need to go the P4 route yet. A 933 or 1ghz P3 is plenty of gaming power. It will make the video card the bottleneck at game playing resolutions.

 

[RanDum72]

The only upgrade you need is the processor. Just check your mobo and see whats the highest CPU it can take. The 933mhz should do, if you can go to 1ghz, the better. Maybe an additional 256mb of memory later on.

 

[UberNeuman]

I've got a PIII 1.G matched with a GeForce3 Ti200 - and it runs everything I throw at it just fine...

 

[hans007]

<<

<< if you wanna go super cheap you can probably pick up an older 1.5 ghz p4 socket 478 on fs/ft for aroudn $110. add a $10 heatsink, and a atx rdram 850 478 board, you can get for around $70 used. so $200 or so. a slot1 933 which is probably what you need, would cost you around $100 so , it might be worth it. especially since you can probalby sell your current stuff to make up for that $100 difference. >>



why would you want a williamette P4?

a T-bird can kick the sh!t out of it, for a lot less cost too.
The tulatins probably beat it as well.

if you want to keep costs down i would go for a CuMine celeron 1ghz, and try to oc it to 1.33ghz.

a CuMine chip @1.33 will beat the sh!t out of a 1.5 williamette too.
>>



well first off the guy has a dell. meaning intel vc820 mobo. that means no o/c for him. secondly i said williamette since you can get one for cheap on fs/ft around $110 shipped , while a p4-1.6a is gonna cost you around $150 + tax and shipping. so lik e$70 difference is likely. If he doesnt wnana o/c i think and he is worrying about spending money on an upgrade (thus he asked this question anyways) then its likely he'll wanna go cheap. if he doesnt o/c i think a p4-1.5 vs a sstraight p4-1.6a the $70 might be more valuable to him than the extra performance.

 

[tecumseh]

"I've got a PIII 1.G matched with a GeForce3 Ti200 - and it runs everything I throw at it just fine..."

Uber, this is what I'm thinking. I don't play at 1600X (resolution). I was able to play Wolf at 1024X720X32 just fine. Sure, I would like the extra head room that a P4 would allow, but I don't know

-Now, this is where it get's a little sticky. If I decide to upgrade to a 933 or 1 ghz. I have to buy have dell. A dell 933 will cost me $230.00
-The reason I would buy from Dell is because they cool the processor differently then other people. The heatsink is clipped on and the case fan sit's right on top of the CPU. It blows air directly on the processor. And they use 2 clips to secure the processor also.
-I have the Slot 1 600 mhz. coppermine proc. if that matters.

 

[oldfart]

<< A dell 933 will cost me $230.00 >>


GAAK! That is absurd. If you use a retail PIII, the included HS/fan should work just fine. Slot1 PIII's are more exp and harder to find than the FC-PGA versions, but not that crazy.

 

[LXi]

Here is a nice article on P3's performance with GeForce3s and GeForce4s, I don't think 600MHz is too bad for the Ti200.