(updated: got rig) best upgrade for price for old celeron rig?

[beatniks3]

Hi all. So my laptop is going to have to get sent in for some work and i will be without a computer except for an old monovision celeron 300 or 333 MHz rig with 192megs of ram (shivers at the thought). I have been trying to decide what the cheapest best route to go for upgrading this machine to make it more powerful. In hot deals I've seen adapters that allow for the use of the new celerons for like $10. Or would it better to replace the mb and perhaps get a cheap AMD processor (but then i would need a new powersupply right?). I would like to keep the cost of the project as low as possible. please post your advice as it is needed quickly! Thanks in advance.

 

[spanky]

if u were gonna stay with ur current mobo... first, what is the max fsb it will support? if it goes to 133mhz... next check if it will support a tualatin celery cpu. if so... u can pick up a 1.1ghz or 1.2ghz tualatin celery for like $30-$40 ( i do not recommend a p3 becuz in the $40 range... i think u will probably only be able to get a cpu in the 600mhz range). then throw some more ram in that mobo and u will be set.

 

[DaveSimmons]

FSB - need 100 MHz FSB for tualatin and need PC100 RAM. You are currently running 66 MHz for both FSB and RAM so your mobo and RAM might not work.

If your mobo has BX chipset it does support 100 MHz FSB, if it's LX or ZX you're out of luck. The max my old Abit LX6 could use was a celeron-1 at 466 MHz (66 FSB).

 

[Ketchup]

How about this: ECS K7S5A PRO motherboard(SIS 735 Chipset) and AMD Athlon XP 1700+ (t-bred) for $92.95 shipped from Newegg.

With something so fast for so cheap, it is really hard to recommend upgrading your current system. Your power supply should be fine as long as it's ATX.

 

[beatniks3]

thanks for everyones posts. I'll have to check out the FSB and ram speeds when i get the computer tonight from home, but i'm pretty sure that DaveSimmons is right about my rig being 66MHz. In that case it looks like i will need to spend more than i hoped. i'll post again when i grab it. anyone have any other ideas?

 

[beatniks3]

well i finally put together my new rig for when my laptop is gone.

WHat i put together last night:

AMD XP 1700 from newegg
ASUS A7N266-VM AA motherboard from newegg
IGLOO SILENT BREEZE 462 heatsing and fan also from newegg
old powersupply and case (which the motherboard fit perfectly)
Kingston 512MB 2700 DDR RAM stick from bestbuy (the ones on sale after mfr.)
80GB MAXTOR 8MB Harddrive 7200rpm also from bestbuy (also on sale after mfr.)
firewire card from old computer

motherboard has everything else built in. The hardest part about the whole upgrade was figuring out the power switch and power led connections. The little diagram in the motherboard user manual lead had me confused for awhile but whatever. after rebates on the memory and harddrive i'll have put alittle over $200 into the machine.

So welcome me into the new century, I'm finally a member of the 1Ghz+ club!