Tech Help Assistance

[jonavacado]

I've been out of the loop for some time, and in need of upgrades. Current PC home built 3 years old.
Don't wish to change my case or motherboard.

Currently running XP no problems or conflicts and is NOT overclocked, Duel Creative Blaster 56k v.92/v44 modems. Linksys Lne 100Tx. My case has 6 USB ports 4 in the rear and jumpers to the front for 2 USB ports. Duel Dell UltraSharp 1703FP.



Atx Case
Nvidia Geforce2 GTS/Pro ATI
Asus P4B Motherboard 845 chipset ASUS P4B ACPI BIOS
P4 1.74 Intel Cmos Real time
Pc133, 256 x 2 Ram kingston is the only ram that would work,humm...
Sound, Creative SB live
WD hard drive 120g 4 meg.


My systems does fine gaming, Max Payne2, 1942, MOH, a boost is needed.
Is a bit slow when during Adobe and FTP and Graphic Designs...


I have no clue on what to upgrade to, I do know I need a DVI Graphics card w/duel inputs/monitors. 2.0 USB card, Video Card, and was wondering about the new P4 Hyper Threading if acceptable for my system.
Any input/help, will be very thankful, and happy PCing...

 

[mechBgon]

Welcome to the Forums What is your budget for the upgrade project, to start with?

 

[mechBgon]

While I'm waiting on the budget question, I looked up the P4B's CPU support at Asus. You cannot run any Hyperthreading CPUs on it. It maxes out at a Pentium4 2.6GHz with Northwood core and 400MHz frontside bus. To use the 2.6GHz processor, you would first upgrade your P4B's BIOS to 1011 so it would work.

Big picture here: a 2.6GHz non-Hyperthreading P4 with single-channel PC133 for its "carbeurator" is not a very good foundation for a gaming rig, but that's all you'll get if you want to keep the old P4B motherboard

 

[jonavacado]

Hello MechBgon,

and thank for the welcome glad to be here.

It's been some time since I have monkeyed around inside my box. I don't know if I have enough time to change out the MB, Unless something very easy has come out that doesnt require what I went through with the current, my first home build, and is operating fine, even for the games that I have, I don't get the chance to play much, 12-14 hour days of self-employment, all PC related...

I did upgraded the Bios, copied from sys info, BIOS Version/Date Award Software, Inc. ASUS P4B ACPI BIOS Revision 1001, 8/7/2001...

Budget isn't a problem, it the time involved.

The hyperthreading P4, stability issues with what I'm current with?

 

[mechBgon]

Your motherboard can't run a HT processor for several reasons, one of the fundamental ones being that the chipset doesn't support either HT, or 800MHz frontside bus like the HT-equipped CPUs use either.

You might want to look at AnandTech's second HalfLife 2 review where they compare the performance and visuals of HL2 on older and newer video cards. Look at how different the water looks using the get-me-by DirectX 7 codepath, versus the DirectX 9 codepath. Which do you want to see in your game :evil: Yeah, me too... the nice DX9 stuff. That calls for a better video card.

Now go to XBit Labs and look at their analysis of the CPU needs for HL2. You can see that sooner or later, you're going to run out of steam on your old 1.7GHz Williamette-core P4 no matter how good your video card is, unless you're content to stick with older games.

So where I am going with all of that, is that if you want to upgrade the system for high gaming performance, you really ought to swap the whole kaboodle and be done with it. You've got your mileage out of your P4B. Budget kit:

• Shuttle AN35N Ultra $55
• AthlonXP 2500+ $85
• 2 x 512MB Corsair ValueSelect PC3200 $160
• Radeon 9800Pro 256MB with the proper 256-bit memory interface $240
• Enermax 370W power supply to support that stuff $70

and if you can swing a little more than that, substitute an Asus K8N-E Deluxe and an Athlon64 3000+. All the prices are just top-of-my-head ballpark, you can check them at newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com, or mwave.com. Also, you can figure $90 for a WinXP Home Edition license or $145 for WinXP Pro if your license is attached to your old hardware.

 

[jonavacado]

You have my full attention

My findings,

I found this bundle,{{ AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor Skt 754 & Asus K8N-E DELUXE nForce3 250Gb Athlon 64 Skt754 Motherboard Retail Bundle$269.00 }}

( ATI Radeon 9800PRO 256MB DDR, DVI-I/S-Video 8x AGP $295.88)

ENERMAX Noisetaker Series 370W Power Supply, ATX 12V V1.3 compatible: Support latest P4 and Athlon 64 platforms, Model "EG375P-VE-SFMA" $54.00

GIGABYTE 3D Rocket Cooler-Pro for P4/K7/K8, Model "GH-PCU22-VG" -RETAIL 48.99

CORSAIR VS1GBKIT400 2X64X64 PC3200 2X512MB CL2.5 DDR DIMM $161.00

Before I go into another subject, I'll wait and see if I'm close. Heck all of the new techno stuff I'm confused/lost and running for the door, and I built this dino...

 

[mechBgon]

That looks like a home run except I have no personal knowledge good/bad about that Gigabyte heatsink/fan unit. But people usually rant about stuff that doesn't work well so having not heard about it is usually a good sign! It's a bit expensive at nearly $50... if you can opt for a retail-boxed CPU that comes with its own heatsink/fan, that would probably save you almost enough money to pick up HalfLife2

 

[jonavacado]

The AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor Socket 754 Retail *** Free 2nd Day ***
w/Fan and Heatsink in this bundle comes with the FAN and heat sink. I don't need the ^ $$$ ^ fan

 

[jonavacado]

MechBgon,

I wish to thank you for all of your help. Looks like I'll be on the cutting edge.


Thanks,

Jon