Upgrade advice for parents computer

[Satyrist]

The setup as it is currently:

Asus P5A (full atx, ALi chipset)
K6/450 CPU
128mb PC SDRAM
20gb WD (WD 20 0EB-00BHF0)--Probably 5400RPM/2mb cache.
18x Panasonic CD drive
Nvidia Vanta 16mb AGP video
SoundBlaster Gold AWE64
3COM 10/100 LAN
56K Sportster Modem (internal)
Windows98 (first)

As it is currently, it runs like a dog...After all of the (small amount of) spyware I've cleaned out of it, and it was running with a virus for a while (w95.mtx) that has since been cleaned out, but I feel more and more when I take a look at it, they're in need of something faster. Spybot/AdAware scans take forever to complete/update, and overall feeling is general sluggishness.

I do have some spare things I can upgrade them with:

ECS K7S5A v3.0
XP 1800+ (Palomino)
512MB PC133 SDRAM
Asus Geforce2 7700 Deluxe

To that, I could stick with either the onboard sound, or perhaps give them my old SB Live! value card. The LAN onboard will suffice fine for them as well.

This is generally a machine that'll be used for email, and nothing particularly heavy, app-wise...I don't think they'll notice the slower SDRAM as a result...I want to upgrade them to XP home, preferably, as well.

Opinions?

Thanks.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Anything is better that what they've got.

 

[Goi]

Either whatever spare parts you have that are better than what they have(assuming you have enough to actually make a whole working computer), or a Dell.

 

[Satyrist]

Originally posted by: Goi
Either whatever spare parts you have that are better than what they have

LOL

I sort of figured that, by consensus of this thread so far...Just wanted to make sure, ya know?

I've enough parts for a rig, certainly.

 

[carpenter]

Yeah Satyrist, the "spare parts" you have are a definite jump in performance for them. And if you put one together out of your spare parts and give it to them, it'll be a partial pay back for all their food you ate.

 

[deadken]

Originally posted by: dbdynsty25
Anything is better that what they've got.

He makes a good point there. It is obvious that your hardware is far better then what they are currently using.

My main concern is stability. I have heard a few bad things about ECS mobos, but I have never owned one. I am wondering if you are going to be re-using the case/PS they already have. If so, I am wondering about the Power Supply, are you sure it is going to be up to the task of the new hardware?
Also, what O/S is going in? Staying with Win98?

 

[Satyrist]

Originally posted by: deadken

Originally posted by: dbdynsty25
Anything is better that what they've got.

He makes a good point there. It is obvious that your hardware is far better then what they are currently using.

My main concern is stability. I have heard a few bad things about ECS mobos, but I have never owned one. I am wondering if you are going to be re-using the case/PS they already have. If so, I am wondering about the Power Supply, are you sure it is going to be up to the task of the new hardware?
Also, what O/S is going in? Staying with Win98?

I've got an Antec 350Watt that will be going in along with the board upgrade; The board itself has run fine for a couple of years now, the only issues I had with it initially traced back to an older Enermax 350Watt not having enough juice to run it reliably-The problems went away once replacing it with the Antec. No bulging/burst caps on the board either. (knock on wood)

I'm looking at giving it to them simply because I replaced this board as a simple upgrade, (went to nforce2) I'm confident they'll be getting something that will last.

Originally posted by: Satyrist.I want to upgrade them to XP home, preferably, as well.

Or at least Windows 2000 Professional.

 

[maxtorblaster]

Yup, you pretty much got it there. You should just replace it with the board and parts you have lying around. I think where your noticing your sluggishness is from that crummy 5400RPM drive. How about this, since your going to need to get them a faster drive anyways why dont you get a fast 7200RPM 8MB Cache maxtor, western digital or seagate (seagate according to ppl here). Here is a very good example of why a slow drive is a slow computer: I have a Sony Vaio PCG F480 laptop (before I got the new IBM) with a measly 4200RPM drive. Now the computer has a 600MHZ PIII processor so I was wondering why it ran so slowly compaired to my PII Desktop with a 7200RPM drive. I replaced the laptop's HDD with a 7200RPM and it's like 3X faster. So about thier computer, just get them a good HDD first and have the 20GB and storage then see if the computer runs sluggishly. Infact just image the old drive onto the new drive so you can see upfront with the same OS and setup whether or not the system is slow. If it's still slow, then just give em those spare parts.

I just don't like to see older parts being tossed simply because 1 part was the culprit and not the other perfectly working parts. I guess I'm very old school maybe not to the point of having people stick with 8086's but relatively old. I still have Pentium machines lying around my house, still thinking what to do with them.

 

[Satyrist]

I think a good deal of the slowness comes from an old, bloated registry and damage wreaked by a virus, or spyware nailed the final nail in the coffin.

But you've a point about a faster hdd.