need recommendations for 'bargain' asus upgrade

[Kilgore65]

I need to upgrade my system - currently running a Asus P5B board with 1.5G Pentium. I would like to replace it with an up-to-date Asus board in the 'bargain' range, preferably less than $100. Only restrictions are that I still need to use my ATI Radeon 9600 vidcard and my old IDE drives Also, I was thinking of using a Pentium 4 single core 3.0G cpu with this board, until the dual cores drop in price. I haven't built a computer in quite some time. Anyone have a recommendation for a board and a heatsink?

 

[keeleysam]

You don't have a P5B, the 9600 is an AGP card. The only modern board with an AGP slot is the ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2.

 

[DSF]

Yeah you might be confused about which motherboard you have. Is your motherboard broken? Why not drop the 3GHz Pentium into the board you have now, or is it not supported?

Anyway, I'm not sure how much farther you're expecting dual cores to drop in price, as Core2Duos can already be had for $130 and less, although buying a Core2Duo would require a new motherboard. By the way, a Core2Duo is around twice as fast clock for clock as a Pentium 4.

What are you looking to upgrade for? Considering the age of your system, and depending on what it's used for, you may be best served by upgrading everything even if it means saving up for a few months.

 

[Kilgore65]

Sorry, I have the Asus P4B, vintage 2001 (when my system was built) or so... 1.5G is the max supported. Just want to do a minor upgrade as I have been experiencing frequent crashes and shutdowns when moving between programs. Also would like to run games, like Silent Hunter 3 and 4, smoother. Money is very tight right now as I am unemployed - so I'm looking to get the maximum use out of the components I have, while getting more performance. Any suggestions as to Asus boards and new vidcards (especially, since I'm out of the loop with whats been going on with them) will be appreciated.

 

[DSF]

What are your current video card and RAM? Problems switching between programs could be a RAM issue as much as anything else, although a 1.5GHz CPU from 2001 is pretty slow for anything more than basic use.

Honestly, you're looking at replacing your CPU and motherboard, new RAM and a new video card to play Silent Hunter 4 according to the system requirements if your machine is that old. (And there's the additional question of a PSU with all those upgrades.) Considering that you're unemployed you may want to wait on the PC upgrade unless you're prepared to spend $400 or so. Anything less just isn't going to get much done for you.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sadly, everything you have is outdated except the (slow but usable) IDE drive. Even your RAM is probably SDRAM instead of DDR.

You could get a cheap used motherboard/CPU/RAM combo in FS/FT to last you awhile, either something really old with AGP, or something newer with onboard video. But neither of these will let you play newer games.

Since money is tight you might try reformatting and reinstalling Windows in case this is a software issue.

If that fails, I can hook you up with a P3 (actually Tualatin Celeron) 1.3 GHz mobo & CPU combo that's almost as fast as your P4 and will use up to 512 MB of your SDRAM & the 9600 card, for $25 shipped

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Kilgore65
Sorry, I have the Asus P4B, vintage 2001 (when my system was built) or so... 1.5G is the max supported. Just want to do a minor upgrade as I have been experiencing frequent crashes and shutdowns when moving between programs. Also would like to run games, like Silent Hunter 3 and 4, smoother. Money is very tight right now as I am unemployed - so I'm looking to get the maximum use out of the components I have, while getting more performance. Any suggestions as to Asus boards and new vidcards (especially, since I'm out of the loop with whats been going on with them) will be appreciated.

So, you should be focusing on getting that taken care of rather than looking for ways to blow some cash on something that isn't really necessary; especially when money is tight and problems arise in the worst possible situations.

Trust me I know.

Also your situation with your PC is as Dave above me say's; your gonna need more than $100 to upgrade your current computer anyway.

 

[Kilgore65]

Found another 512k of RAM on Pricewatch (Partspc.com) for $14, so that should give me a gig of memory and help things out till I'm ready to upgrade. Still would appreciate some input on the best Asus board / CPU combo for the buck so I can start planning the upgrade now.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Kilgore65
Found another 512k of RAM on Pricewatch (Partspc.com) for $14, so that should give me a gig of memory and help things out till I'm ready to upgrade. Still would appreciate some input on the best Asus board / CPU combo for the buck so I can start planning the upgrade now.

For the same machine your using now, or like a whole new system upgrade?

Personally, if its for a whole new system; Id just wait until the end of this year sames intel is gonna switch to a new socket and AMD's CPU performance just isn't worth the money at the moment.

 

[DSF]

What's the time frame you'd be looking to buy? Next three months? Next six months? Next year?

Within the next six months you're probably looking at an E7200 or maybe even E5200 for the processor, but ASUS isn't your best bet for a board on a budget. If it's going to be any longer than that before you build, Quiksilver is right. There's not much point in planning things out at this time.

 

[Kilgore65]

The RAM is for my old system (PC133) with the Asus P4B.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Try reintstalling Windows first for the crashing.

There is only a small window of boards that used SDRAM before everony switched to DDR, so if you must spend money you will need a motherboard, CPU and DDR or DDR2 RAM.

Spending $14 for more PC133 is a waste if you are moving to DDR or DDR2, which you must for a 3 GHz setup.

Look for CPU/motherboard combos in Hot Deals, you can probably find an AMD A64 combo for under $100.

Newegg deals:
$50 Sempron 3100+ - newegg
$60 AR - AMD 3200+ w/512MB RAM - newegg

 

[ZootyGray]

Format the oldie and clean install windoze. Or dump the temp files and scan with adaware for spyware. Uninstall all the crapola proggies. Get regvac free regcleaner after you take out the junk.

Then buy amd - these ntel fanboys have no idea.

And sorry to say - you are way out of the loop. Just redo windoze - get a teeny bopper to help. They really like to show off - but tell him No Frills At All cos they like to install stupid crapola proggies like the ones you got rid of

You are running a pc that's almost as bad as mine (don't ask) (my old one blew capacitors) (it sukked too)

But have a look at asus new 780G boards that will handle 140 watt cpu's. for later when u r working