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Sad when your laptop is more powerful

C

Coherence

Senior member
My current (built in 2003, I think) rig consists of:

P4C (coppermine) 2.4 Ghz
Abit IC7-G mobo (replaced NB fan countless times, eventually went passive when they discontinued the part)
2GB RAM (never could get it to run right with 4GB, but that may have been a mobo issue)
XP Pro
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (also has aftermarket cooler)
Antec Performance 1080AMG case with clear side panel
Antec 430W PSU
One 160GB SATA drive (WD, I think)
Two maxtor 250GB IDE drives connected via SATA adapters in RAID 1 (data)


Using couple different builds as guides, I'm considering the following upgrades:

E7400 Core 2 Duo
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX mobo
MSI 4850 OC 512MB video card (already purchased, forgot to mail in rebate 🙁 )
G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 RAM
Corsair CMPSU-520HX modular 520W PSU (buying after work today)
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler


I'll likely be keeping the same case (arguably one of the best cases ever made, IMO), and my XP license was a full license when I got it, so should still be good with the upgrade in the same unit.

Any recommendations?

Anyone expect any problems with that much RAM (plus the graphics memory) in 32-bit XP? I'd love to build a Core i7 rig using a different mobo and memory (other parts likely remaining the same), which would make it easy to stick with the oft-touted 3GB usable limit in XP (since triple-channel 3x1GB takes care of that), but I'm not sure I can justify the cost nowadays. (Perhaps going 2x1GB + 2x512MB in the Core 2 board will get around that though?)
 
You won't have problems with the RAM; XP just won't use it all. Stick with the 2x2GB. A newer hard drive can be had for a great price right now. That would be a good addition. Otherwise, you are in for a huge upgrade.
 
I am in almost the exact same situation, and built at the same time - but I went with an Athlon 64 solution.

Before you buy a new video card, I found out we can flash the 9800 Pro with firmware to pretty much let it run as the next generation of ATI card (the "XT"). I don't have the original link I read, but here is another I found in 2 seconds of google: http://www.techarp.com/showart....aspx?artno=92&pgno=16

I personally have not tried it yet, because back then I didn't have the cash to replace the card if the firmware flash went haywire for some reason. But if you are thinking of replacing it anyway, it couldn't hurt to do it and see if you can squeeze another year out of it or so.

Might also not be a bad time to try your hand at some beginner overclocking if you haven't done it before. I'd say the time to take risks with your gear is when you're about to replace it anyway... as any gear that accidentally melts down will make up your mind for you = ) It's a win-win situation?!? HA!

God luck = )
 
Just a heads up, the P4C's were codenamed 'Northwood' not 'Coppermine'. Coppermine's were Pentium 3s, which, ironically, contained no actual copper. /history
 
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