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Need a spec recommendation for strict Xp Home E-mail/Browse.

M

mingsoup

Golden Member
The system currently has a Celeron 1300 with 512 Meg SD Ram and a built in 8meg built in vga.

The system chugs while attempting to browse with Mozilla, even after reformat. I don't know what to do really. System response isn't very nice either. The current system chugs while scrolling through intense web pages. Reaction of the of the OS is rather slow.

You'd think 1300Mhz would be enough for general stuff. I thought it might be the built in graphics at 8meg. If I did build a new system I would just use an old 32meg Matrox Video card. Could the problem be the Built in VGA? If it is....I don't have an AGP slot on this mobo...Just PCI.

What would be an ideal CPU/Mobo/Ram combo to build a Cheap but Able system to use for Email-XP Homing-Firefoxing and similar lite general tasking. No Gaming, No Hard-Core Anything. Just general stuff. Could I do it with 100$ 75$? I'm not looking to throw money around.

Ideas?
 
Even a Celery 500 w/ 256 ram is fine for a web surfer.

[*]Did you install the correct chipset and other drivers?
[*]Are you sure the HDD is in perfect working order? A 7200RPM HDD is a nice upgrade from an old 5400RPM clunker
[*]Can you complete 2 passes of Memtest86+?
[*]switch the XP visual effects to 'performance'
[*]I'd take a 32MB Matrox PCI over an 8MB integrated any day
 
Originally posted by: John
Even a Celery 500 w/ 256 ram is fine for a web surfer.

[*]Did you install the correct chipset and other drivers?
[*]Are you sure the HDD is in perfect working order? A 7200RPM HDD is a nice upgrade from an old 5400RPM clunker
[*]Can you complete 2 passes of Memtest86+?
[*]switch the XP visual effects to 'performance'
[*]I'd take a 32MB Matrox PCI over an 8MB integrated any day
Click to expand...

Exactly! You don't need a new PC.

pcgeek11
 
Ok, I updated the archaic Via 4-1 Drivers and the Built In VGA Driver set. I can already feel it starting to feel alot more peppy....and I mean alot. The drivers that were being used were year 2000 drivers.

The board I'm talking about is the MS-6368 Socket 370 chipset built around a Via PLE133T chipset.

However, I hate the fact that there isn't an AGP slot for a better video solution. I know that that intergrated 8Mb Trider 2d/3d solution is sucking hard core in the background. I would be way more comfortable with an actual video card in there? I think I have a voodoo somewhere around......were those pci? Would that work better? Should I try find a cheap pci graphics card?

So you 100% believe I don't need another mobo/cpu. Again it's strictly email/browsing.

I built a sempron 2200...with a k8n and 512 mb ddr......that system is so beautiful......Can I live with this one....I really should.
 
Get Linux

For Web browsing that is probibly the best way for you to go.

Use Konkerer or Firefox for browsing (probibly the later) Evelution or Kmail for email and you are set to go.

All the junk abut linux hard to use are rubish. I have a friend who just started to try linux (Kubuntu distro) and he says that for everything he does it is good enough. If you dont game I think that is the best choce. I also know a 7 year lod girl who got a laptop from me with linux and she uses it all the time. If she can use it (and she doesn't even know what a cely or what MHz is) then you can too.
 
Could be a bad motherboard. I bought a REAL CHEAP motherboard for my dad's computer is it was painfully slow. Really bad ram and disk performance no matter what drivers I tried. Replaced the motherboard and everything was quick after that.
 
Originally posted by: mingsoup
However, I hate the fact that there isn't an AGP slot for a better video solution.
Click to expand...
Did you consider a PCI video card? They can be just as fast as AGP cards. You can probably find a really good PCI video card on eBay for nearly nothing nowadays.

Usually, though, the problem with built-in video chips for browsing/email stuff is that the drivers for the video card haven't been installed and the system is using the generic VGA drivers, which don't use any hardware graphics acceleration at all.
 
I know I have the Built In Video Card Drivers up to date and installed.

The new drivers helped quite a bit, but the system certainly is still slower than the sempron I recently built.

I think I might be ok if I put in a video card. However, there is no AGP slot on this dumb mobo. I do have a Voodoo 2 PCI, but I don't know how XP would handle 3rd party drivers, if I could find some, having no idea which ones to get? Should I give it a shot? I don't know if it's the Built in Video that is slowing me down with like.....scrolling/ switching windows times and response or if its the CPU/Mobo.

Spend money on a PCI video card?
Be happy?
Sempron AM2/512mb DDR2/Mobo/x16 Geforce 6200ish (200$)
Sempron 754/512mb DDR 400/Mobo/x16 Geforce 6200ish.(175$)
Cheaper system alternatives? (100$?)
Install Linux? I could give it a shot.

I could probably get $75 for this mobo/cpu/memory?...I just spent 35$ on the 512mb of PC 133 SD-Ram I put in here...thinking that was the primary problem. It helped again, but still not up to snuff.

This system isn't my primary system, but its the only one I have access to on the weekends when I'm away from my primary system.

 
Originally posted by: mingsoup
I know I have the Built In Video Card Drivers up to date and installed.

The new drivers helped quite a bit, but the system certainly is still slower than the sempron I recently built.

I think I might be ok if I put in a video card. However, there is no AGP slot on this dumb mobo. I do have a Voodoo 2 PCI, but I don't know how XP would handle 3rd party drivers, if I could find some, having no idea which ones to get? Should I give it a shot? I don't know if it's the Built in Video that is slowing me down with like.....scrolling/ switching windows times and response or if its the CPU/Mobo.

Spend money on a PCI video card?
Be happy?
Sempron AM2/512mb DDR2/Mobo/x16 Geforce 6200ish (200$)
Sempron 754/512mb DDR 400/Mobo/x16 Geforce 6200ish.(175$)

Cheaper system alternatives? (100$?)

Install Linux? I could give it a shot.

I could probably get $75 for this mobo/cpu/memory?...I just spent 35$ on the 512mb of PC 133 SD-Ram I put in here...thinking that was the primary problem. It helped again, but still not up to snuff.

This system isn't my primary system, but its the only one I have access to on the weekends when I'm away from my primary system.
Click to expand...

 
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