Need some opinions for upgrading the 'rents computer

[haut]

My parents have an older Acer Aspire with a P2-350, 128 ram, 8mb video (I think, its an ATI Rage Pro or something), 10GB HDD, and whatever mobo Acer uses. Oh yeah, and it looks like an ATX case. They really want to upgrade and when I'm home from college this break I want to upgrade it for them. I was thinking along the lines of a new mobo and processor (I was thinking either Athlon 1.33 or even the XP 1600). I dont know about Intel stuff because I've got experience with AMD. I just recently built a 1.33 Athlon with an Epox 8k7a, so I would like something that easy to build for them. I plan on doing a complete reformat and everything, so they should have a nice fresh computer. Do you think I should get a new video card too? What are some good suggestions for CPU/motherboards? I mainly want to keep cost down, but don't want them to have to upgrade for another few years. They don't do too much gaming, but my brother does some. How about <$250 for mobo, memory, cpu, fan, and possibly a vid card. Would it be worth it to cheap out a little on the processor to get a better video card? Thanks for the suggestions!
--Ryan

 

[pillage2001]

Sub 250 dollars mobo?? I believe the Nforce is your choice dude. You get everything except the RAM, CPU and fan. I'm not too sure about the price but you can look up at the Nforce chipset if you want integrated features.

 

[haut]

Are the nForce's that good? I don't mind the idea of that built in GForce video, but I DEFINITELY won't use the built in sound because my parents do some recording and need something better than that. I think it would be cheaper thought to buy a separate motherboard and video card. But if I'm wrong about this, please tell me! Thanks for the help so far.
--Ryan

 

[miken]

You have to tell us what they are going to use it for.

Is that Acer case going to support regular ATX form factor Mobo's? How big is the power supply? A Good PS cost $60+

256M RAM DDR $50
1.0GHz Athlon $75
KT133A Mobo $85

That may be within your budget, but if your looking for good sound, it's going to cost you $70 more for the Santa Cruz or $100 for an Audigy.

The Video card would cost around $70 for an MX400, or $100 for A GF2 GTS, which would break your bank.

in short you can't build a good studio AV computer for less that $500.

nForce mobo's cost around $200 alone, so that may be hard to swallow, however you get Dolby 5.1 sound and an MX400 integrated (MX400 that acts like an MX200) video, and Ethernet, so it's just what you want to do vs. how much you have to spend.

 

[haut]

I'll have to make sure on the Acer case, but I hope so. If not I used to work at a computer place and they can probably hook me up with a cheap case (how big PS do I need?), then we can just build another computer out of the Acer case. They use it for mainly sound recording (lots of ram and processing power quickens up the editing process), email, internet, and some games (my brother has a few). I just want to build something thats going to be fast, reliable, and last for a while for what they want to do. Thanks for the help so far!
--Ryan

 

[SpecialEd]

I'd would definitely consider an nForce board as a cost effective solution. The boards aren't as cheap as many KT266A boards, but when you consider the onboard Geforce2 MX.... you're getting a good deal. Not to mention that the nForce chipset rated up their with the VIA KT266A. The only thing I'd be wary of with nForce is that this is Nvidia's first go at motherboard chipsets. they don't have the experience that VIA has in this field, so it could be buggy... however you are going to have to ask somebody that has actually used one to find out. Good luck!

 

[IgoByte]

First, sell that whole POS puter on eBay for $150 - $200. Upgrading it is absolutely useless, because even the case sucks, and I'm sure that the PSU wouldn't last very long with a 1.33Ghz TBird.

Second, here are some components you can get:
Case: Antec SX830 currently $58 shipped from Outpost (after $20 MIR...$50 shipped if purchase is over $100): very very solid case, with 300W PSU.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-7ZX-1 is currently going for $39 shipped (refurb) at newegg.com
CPU: Used 1.4Ghz AMD Thunderbird (from here on the forums) for $80 - $90 shipped
Heatsink: Cheap and sufficient, anything will do: $15 shipped
RAM: 128MB - 256MB of PC133 can be found anywhere dirt cheap: $30 shipped for 256MB
Video Card: Any TNT2 with 32MB of RAM: $25 shipped
HDD: 20GB 7200RPM Maxtor: saw one for $40 after $60 MIR at one of the big B&M stores
CD-Rom drive: Get used one on the FS/T forums or get a refurb for $30 shipped
Floppy drive: Around $12 shipped

Here's the total for the above components: $339 shipped, at the worst. It's simply the best thing to do, IMO. The Antec case and PSU are good enough that you won't have to upgrade them for a long time. If they did with a P2-350, they'll LOVE this computer.

 

[miken]

You're going to want at least 300W for the Athlon.

The above config would suit your needs, I would steer away from the nForce since the video would be a bottleneck

Try this

512M DDR + ECS K7S5A Mobo + Athlon 1GHz 266FSB w/fan for $272
ATI Radeon 7200 for $67
Audigy MP3+ for $83

That's above your price, but it's the cheapest and best your going to find from a reliable vendor www.mwave.com

 

[IgoByte]

<< You're going to want at least 300W for the Athlon.

The above config would suit your needs, I would steer away from the nForce since the video would be a bottleneck

Try this

512M DDR + ECS K7S5A Mobo + Athlon 1GHz 266FSB w/fan for $272
ATI Radeon 7200 for $67
Audigy MP3+ for $83

That's above your price, but it's the cheapest and best your going to find from a reliable vendor www.mwave.com >>


The 512MB DDR is a complete waste for them. 128MB would be sufficient. Also, DDR is too expensive right now, so I'd steer away from it for a budget system.

Ditto on the NForce issue. There's no point buying an NForce board for almost $200 when you can get the ECS K7S5A board and an MX for just over $100 or pretty much any awesome board and an MX for less than the NForce board.

 

[haut]

What about this:
Biostar M7VKD KT133A - $67
AMD Duron ScktA 900MHz 200FSB OEM - $48
Super Cool SocketA/7/370 - Ball Bearing - $9
Evga TNT2 M64 32MB 4X AGP OEM - $39
256 MB PC133 SDRAM - $36

Total shipped: $206

Granted that is a lot cheaper components than I was planning on earlier, but they don't need too much power. Would the PS in the Acer be enough to power the Duron? If not I should add a case on there too. I just picked all this stuff from www.tcwo.com becaue their cheap shipping policy, so it might be cheaper somewhere else. Thanks for all the help so far guys!
--Ryan

 

[miken]

I would spend the extra money and get the MX400 video card, 256M may be ok, but I would try more since you are doing audio work. I assume you're running 2k or XP? If your running 98 256M would act the same as 512M anyway. How big is the HD?

 

[evergreen96]

Sub 250 budget. it not going to happen Like the other AT said Nforce is really your only option, as for sound card it okay but if your really want sound card add on exect to pay >=$50 and that my friend will but you at least in $500 club, the ps is not going to work since most oem in general use lowest price parts they can find, so it probably a 235w or 250w. AMD recommends 300w but i heard some get away w/ 250 but it don't last too long (eg 2-3 months. Not to mention, the case will probably be a little bit tight.


As for PS ? ... it should be only to use it w/ durons, make sure it at least 250w

 

[Snoop]

<< I don't mind the idea of that built in GForce video, but I DEFINITELY won't use the built in sound because my parents do some recording and need something better than that. >>


The quality of the integrated soundcard on the Nforce should be as good if not better than most other consumer/home user add in soundcards, including the audigy, santa cruz, gametheater, and much better than the Soundblaster Live.