Need help with upgrade

[Dotman]

I'm new to upgrading pc's and need advice for a friend. He has a computer with the follwing motherboard and specs and wants to upgrade the processor. Is it possible, how is it done and what processor would you reccomend for this board:

1. Socket 423 for the intel pentium 4 front side bus speeds up to 400 mhz
2.VIA VT8753(P4X266) Northbridge and VT8233 Southbridge chipsets

The board is made by amptron and te model is p4-920LSD

Sorry to be so new at this. Is it difficult to do this? Again, which processor should I buy and anything else needed to complete this. I've bought stuff from Newegg so I'm guessing I coulde get whatever is suggested there.

Thanks again.

 

[nick1985]

socket 423??....barf....

anyway, i think that is limited to a 1.5, MAYBE a 1.6

 

[Dotman]

Thanks nick. What about throwing a new board in there? what combo of board and processor would be a value?

Thanks

 

[Redviffer]

Well, the socket 423 will go up to 2.0 GHz, but try finding a socket 423 2.0 GHz is going to be way expensive (like $300-ish). The best bet and best price is for a 1.5 GHz P4 @ around $100 (not at Newegg though, try CompGeeks or even better yet: Ebay).

I'm not sure if it supports it, would be something you'd have to look into, but you might be able to get a socket 423 to 478 adapter, then you could upgrade to a higher clocked socket 478 processor at a fraction of the cost. You'll probably still be limited to only 100 MHz FSB (so only cpu's that are rated for the 400 MHz FSB which is 2.4 or 2.6 GHz).

You should be able to actually get a socket 478 motherboard for about $60, running a SiS 645DX chipset (which is officially liscenced by Intel), and an P4 Celeron 2.0 GHz for $100. Nice little upgrade for very little cash.

Disadvantage of the P4 Celeron are that it does run multimedia applications & games slower than a "real" P4 at the same clock speed, but it's still FAST, and is probably faster than what he has now.

There are several different ways to go, the main question is: does your friend like to upgrade every couple of months or does he like to upgrade once every couple of years. If he likes to upgrade all the time, then I say get the best bang for the buck (it won't be at the technological forefront, but should be fast). If he likes to get something and leave it for a long time, then he should really consider spending the extra money now and getting something that will be able to satisfy him for a long time.

You didn't really say, what is his problem now? Applications too slow, games too slow? Encoding video too slow? If it's just games, a better video card might be all he needs.

 

[Dotman]

Good question Red. He's really new to computers so I think he would upgrade that offen. I told him to max out the ram first, which he said he'd do. It has 4 slots, 2 take pc133 and the other two take ddr2100 I believe. Would he benefit from the faster ram? He's running XP home with 256mb. I'm trying to wean him of AOL if that give you a perspective. He just wants to make his current system as fast as it can be, but it sounds like short of replacing the boad, it's not really worth it.

So, guessing he's willing to replace the board with something much better, what do you suggest? Is this beyond his ability (or mine) and should he jsut ebay it and pick up a dell 4550 or something?

Thanks again

 

[kd2777]

Being an intel guy myself for years, it hurts me to say what about an Athlon xp. The 2100 you can get for right at the same price as a celeron and the board will cost less to boot. So you get the proformance of the p4 (HA) at the price of the celeron.

$71.99 On Sale! Asus A7N266-VM AA (AMD Assured Version) NVIDIA nFORCE
$95.00 AMD Athlon XP 2100+/266 FSB Thoroughbred Processor CPU 2100+/ 1.73GHz -Retail
$58.00 KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/512 512MB DDR PC2100

$227.99 if he is not a gamer

$178.00 SAPPHIRE ATI OEM RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI

$405.99 for a very good gaming rig


edit prices from newegg

 

[Redviffer]

Originally posted by: Dotman
Good question Red. He's really new to computers so I think he would upgrade that offen. I told him to max out the ram first, which he said he'd do. It has 4 slots, 2 take pc133 and the other two take ddr2100 I believe. Would he benefit from the faster ram? He's running XP home with 256mb. I'm trying to wean him of AOL if that give you a perspective. He just wants to make his current system as fast as it can be, but it sounds like short of replacing the boad, it's not really worth it.

So, guessing he's willing to replace the board with something much better, what do you suggest? Is this beyond his ability (or mine) and should he jsut ebay it and pick up a dell 4550 or something?

Thanks again

One word of caution: he can only run PC133 SDRAM OR DDR2100, not both at the same time. With that said, he will benefit the most from the DDR ram. Running SDRAM is very limiting to the P4 platform, if you want a rough approximation, it will "decrease" the performance of the processor to that of one that is running 300 MHz slower (very approximate - don't quote me). I'd say he would get an immediate booste just by switching to 512 MB DDR (but unless his motherboard allows him to run the memory at 133, it will only be running at PC1600 speed: default 100 MHz FSB).

AOL is alright UNLESS he is trying to play online games, then it completely sucks. Random log offs, slow ping times, etc. Can he get broadband in his area?

You *should* be able to replace the motherboard in that system as long as it is in a standard ATX case. Whether you go with an AMD or Intel system is up to you. I just built a P4 2.0 GHz that runs at 2.4 GHz at default voltage and with OEM HSF, very stable (as I run SETI 24x7x365). Current deals for P4 right now are the P4 2.4 GHz which everyone I know is able to get to 2.8 GHz no problems. If he's going to upgrade, go with Dual-channel DDR. It might be a little tough on some stuff, but you should be able to do it as long as you follow your basic electrical guidlines (i.e. ground yourself before touching electrically sensitive parts like cpu, memory, video, etc.) AND by following the motherboard manufacturer's installation book. I've built many systems and I STILL always read the book, just to make sure I'm plugging in everything correctly. Last but not least, you have this forum to help you out should you run into any problems.