My dad's current system is running on a Cyrix 166mhz MII and he wants me to upgrade it. How's this stuff sound?

[SithSolo1]

He doesn't need a monitor, keyboard, OS, a-drive, modem, or nic card.

Here is what he has:

Operating System System Model
Windows 95 B (OSR2) No details available
Processor a Main Circuit Board
166 megahertz Cyrix MII BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 08/13/97
Drives Memory Modules
2.56 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
630 Megabytes Hard Drive Free Space

MITSUMI CD-ROM FX240S !B
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")

WDC AC22500L (2.56 GB) [Hard drive] -- drive 0 32 Megabytes Installed Memory
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 2.15 GB 222 MB free
d: (on drive 0) 408 MB 408 MB free

Network Drives


Controllers Printers
Standard Floppy Disk Controller
Intel 82371SB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Standard IDE/ESDI Hard Disk Controller HP DeskJet 500 on LPT1:
HP DeskJet 840C Series on LPT1:
JFAX SEND on FAX:
Microsoft Fax Driver on FAX:
Microsoft Fax Driver on PUB:

Display
ATI Graphics Pro Turbo PCI (mach64) [Display adapter]
Super VGA 800x600 [Monitor]
Bus Adapters Multimedia
None detected ESS ES1868 Control Interface
ESS ES1868 Plug and Play AudioDrive
Gameport Joystick (joystick connected)
Communications Other Devices
336ifxC Internal Modem
AOL Adapter
Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet Adapter(LNE100TX v4)
Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter
WAN Miniport (ATW) Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
Standard Serial Mouse

Here is what I am gonna get for him:

ANTEC Mini Tower ATX Case Model SX630 with 300 Watt Power Supply
SHUTTLE AK31A AMD K7 VIA APOLLO KT266A SDRAM SOCKET A ATX MOTHERBOARD
VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP
AMD ATHLON THUNDERBIRD 1.33GHz 266MHz FSB SOCKET A PGA PROCESSOR
Crucial Micron 128MB 16x64 PC2100 DDR RAM, 184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered 2.5V
MAXTOR EIDE HARD DRIVE 30GB 7200RPM MODEL # 5T030H3
Microsoft Intelli-Mouse Optical - PS2/USB - OEM Version 1.1a
Lite On 52x Cd Rom - Model LTN-526

 

[Sniper82]

Sounds good he will be able to tell a huge and I mean huge difference. Load up Quake 3,UT,Half or RTCW for him and let him really enjoy it.

If hes into that type of thing of course if he ain't you might just want to get a Radeon AIW or Radeon VIVO. Maybe he will use the features on those 2.

 

[thedarkwolf]

How much more is the slowest speed XP? I am too lazy to look myself

 

[tsnyder]

Sounds good. I would get a 40GB hard drive though since they're not much more money. I would also consider an Athlon XP chip such as the 1700+ or 1800+. The shuttle motherboard is well worth the money, what it lacks in features it makes up for in quality. I have absolutely no stability problems with this board (not to say I've never crashed a program, but those crashes have always come down to a driver issue or buggy software. It doesn't HARD LOCK) I wouldn't hesitate buying another shuttle mobo.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

Looks like you are going to end up seting up a great gaming system, but is this what he really needs? (or are you setting this system up so you can play on it?)

What will your dad be using this system for?

If your dad isn't going to be playing games, save hima few bucks and and replace the video card with something a bit cheaper, and i would also replace the athlon with a duron as you will get better bang for yor buck.
If you are changing operating system or plan to soon (either to win2k or XP) increase your ram to 256Mb.

 

[SithSolo1]

I thought about getting an XP but the retail ones are around $135 and this proc is $102 for retail. I just wanna get the parts and slap it together. I don't wanna mess around with Artic Silver. As for getting 40 giger, there's no need. He's so stuck up on not using space that that 2 gig hard drive isn't even full. He also wants everthing to be in the $500 dollar range and I'm at $517 shipped right now.

He's mainly gonna use it for business but he also plays flight sims.

 

[GT578]

Definitely increase the RAM to at least 256 ....even if you have to drop the CPU speed......

 

[Comp625]

Save him money. Skimp on the video card but spend more on the RAM. Only 128mb of DDR ram? If you plan on upgrading him from Win95 to WinXP, then definitely go with 256mb at least. Also, you can go with one of the older KT133A motherboards and stick a Duron OEM in there. I saw a 800mhz Duron OEM for like $50 on pricewatch if I remember correctly.

Again, you haven't stated what the purpose of this PC is gonna be. Is he gonna game on it? Or is he doing productivity work (MS Office type stuff). My comments above are pointed towards a productivity worker rather than a gamer.

 

[SithSolo1]

Ok if I double the ram and drop the proc to a 1.2 ghz Duron it comes out to the same price.
Btw- He will be running Win2k

He will mainly use it for Quickbooks and FlightSim 98.
He may start trying other games, he's just never been able to do it before because he always bought my brothers and I the better computers.
I'm getting all of the parts from Newegg.com, except for the ram(I get that direct from Crucial) to save me that hassle and time of multiple store purchases.

 

[Mr. Burns]

Consider getting him a CDRW instead of a regular cdrom. It's not very much more $$$ and highly functional

 

[MrDudeMan]

if you are running win2k...128mb of ram is NOT ENOUGH...you will notice a huge increase in performance from 128 -> 256, i promise. get a radeon AIW and drop cpu speed...get a duron 1gHz for 54 shipped (pricewatch.com) and get your cd-rom to 56x because its all the same price. 48x-56x on pricewatch is all 17 dollars...so why not get the faster one? =) who cars if its Lite-On or not...its a cd-rom lol. if he is concerned about space...DONT get 30gb, drop it to 20, which is what i have, and i play every game you can think of, and i still dont use half. i have a western digital 20gb 7200rpm drive and it works like a charm. pretty cheap too... 20gb 7200rpm Maxtor from Newegg.com 69 dollars and 7 dollars fedex saver shipping, total of 76 dollars...and if you want to get a 5400 rpm drive, which isnt gonna make a whole lot of difference..it can be minus 15 dollars. but, definitely get the duron and get more ram..that is the big issue at hand

 

[Legendary]

Dude when you say you don't want to mess around with Arctic silver...well you're going to have to use some sort of thermal grease between your HSF and your processor or it WILL fry quite easily...don't forget the AS or something like it.



<< I don't wanna mess around with Artic Silver. >>

 

[FishTankX]

Can I suggest a few changes?
Mobo=KVTA3 (ECS KT266A at new egg)
RAM=256MB like everyone else says
CPU=Duron 1GHZ (If your father is putting up with an MII 166 which irked me even if I thought a Pentium133 was fine, a duron 1GHZ should be fine too)
Videocard=GTS-V A fine card. (note:That's not a change) (Note 2:It's Only 50$ people!!)
Same case
Maxtor 40GB ATA133 model is less than 100$ at new egg.
You'll have saved much money this way... Duron1GHZ will provide very nice performance for only 50$, and produces less heat than a 1.33GHZ T-bird.
Oh, and use an AMD retial HS/F
Oh yeah, Note to you. Get a real sound card.. it's worthit.
And get him some nice speakers..

 

[Blayze]

I ordered a VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP myself
its a great card and was only $49 from newegg.com

 

[Jhhnn]

You might consider a Matx board & box, like the Fong Kai fk611 (300w psu) and Epox ep-8khm board from Directron. The onboard graphics and hardware sound will be a helluva lot better than what he's accustomed to, and it's still upgradeable. 256meg of memory is obvious, and a 20gig 7200rpm drive will definitely do the job. Leaves enough in the budget for a cdrw and XP processor, maybe some decent speakers.

It's really easy to overestimate most user's needs and desires, particularly in the graphics subsystem and HDD capacity.

 

[BreakApart]

<< ANTEC Mini Tower ATX Case Model SX630 with 300 Watt Power Supply
SHUTTLE AK31A AMD K7 VIA APOLLO KT266A SDRAM SOCKET A ATX MOTHERBOARD
VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP
AMD ATHLON THUNDERBIRD 1.33GHz 266MHz FSB SOCKET A PGA PROCESSOR
Crucial Micron 128MB 16x64 PC2100 DDR RAM, 184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered 2.5V
MAXTOR EIDE HARD DRIVE 30GB 7200RPM MODEL # 5T030H3
Microsoft Intelli-Mouse Optical - PS2/USB - OEM Version 1.1a
Lite On 52x Cd Rom - Model LTN-526 >>


I like your original layout...but i would consider:
-Change the Athlon 1.33 with 1G+ Duron (as others have mentioned, helps to stay in your target budget)
-Add 128mb more for a 256mb total, at all cost make sure this makes it into the budget.(huge stability, performance boost)
-Swap the regular CD for a lite-on 12x+ burner, adds flexibility to the system.

-Sweet case
-Nice flexible video card, good for his flight sims
-20G, 30G or 40G hard drive you make the call, all of them are years ahead of what he had.
-Nice mainboard, has a good upgrade future, the KT133a boards are dead leave them be.

Good Luck

 

[SithSolo1]

"Dude when you say you don't want to mess around with Arctic silver...well you're going to have to use some sort of thermal grease between your HSF and your processor or it WILL fry quite easily...don't forget the AS or something like it.



<< I don't wanna mess around with Artic Silver. >>"

Don't the retail procs come with the heatsink on? If not I'll go with OEM and put on a better fan. Its not that I can't do it, I used it on my puter. It was just a pain trying to get it thin enough.

 

[BreakApart]

The retail AMD chip do include a fan, but you still have to assemble it. Yes, it does include one of those pink pads on the heatsink.

 

[ahsia]

$40 EVERCASE 300W ATX MID Tower Case (Popular, nice case, enough for what you have)
$56 ECS K7S5A SiS735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD (For budget system, this is still the mobo to get)
$68 AMD Duron 1.0 GHZ Socket A PGA Processor Retail (Sub Athlon if you want, but Duron 1GHz should do everything you need)
$76 KINGSTON 256MB PC2100 DDR RAM (You need 256mb, at least)
$69 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20GB 7200RPM Ultra DMA 100 Model D740X (If you have hard time filling 2GB, then 20GB should be plenty)
$28 SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM DRIVE ($2 cheaper than Lite-On)
$49 VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB AGP - OEM (Good choice)
$24 Microsoft Intelli-Mouse Optical - PS2/USB - OEM Version 1.1a (Good Choice)

This system is $410 before shipping and taxes, and since you want to stay under $500, you can get the Athlon, get a burner instead of a regular CD-ROM, or even get a KT266A mobo. Enjoy!

 

[schmeckp]

I'd have to agree with ahsia, the K7S5A is a great budget mobo - I've built about 20 systems with that board, never had a problem...

++schmeckp

 

[Nack]

Get yourself an XP 1700+ (which runs at 1.47GHz), a cheap $13 sink/fan like the Thermaltake Volcano 6cu (scrape off the pad that comes with it), and a tube of ASII or ASIII. Put a thin layer on it, but don't stress youself out too much about how thin it is. The Pressure of the sink on the chip will take care of that to SOME extent, and a reasonably thin layer of ASII will be better than ANY thermal pad, even if you don't manage to get it perfect. The reason overclockers are neurotic about the sink compound being ultra-thin is because it can be worth a reduction in core temperature of a few degrees, but like I said, the grease will almost always be thinner than any pad.

Newegg has the 1700+ OEM for $124 and the Volcano 6cu was $13 last I checked. If you want to save money that way, you can get the XP 1600+ (1.4GHz) for $116.

Nack