Upgrades? I've got about $250

[ziplux]

Here's my rig, I'd like to upgrade it but don't want to spend too much money right now. I just put in a Geforce 4, but it's limited by my 866MHz PIII. I would like to keep my current mobo, but the only upgrade path left that I can see is a 1 GHz PIII, and I don't think I'd see much of a preformace boost with that upgrade.

I think I'll need a new mobo, RAM, and processor. Any ideas about what I should buy if I've got about $250? Can I afford to get a P4? Or would an Athlon XP be more within my budget?

 

[krackato]

Get an Athlon XP 2200+ for $175. Get an ECS Motherboard for $53. Use your existing SDRAM, upgrade to DDR when you feel like. Total cost=$228+shipping. That would be my suggestion.

Edit: Those are Newegg prices, btw.

 

[FishTankX]

Ah eh.. what you say? You wanna upgrade for 250$? Hmm.. AthlonXP all the way.

I'd reccomend an A7S333 (70$) with an AthlonXP 1800+(90$ shipped) (Hopefully thoroughbred variant) and 256 megs of DDR2100.

Grand total=220$ and in games will perform right up there with the 2.0A

 

[Duvie]

For 250bucks you cant afford most p4 system unless you go to much older socket 423 and sdram mobos and I don't recommend it....If the budget was 300 and you got a 1.8a in about 2 weeks, maybe..

1.8a = 160 now but should drop to 140 very soon...full retail with adequate HSF for even 2.4ghz oc...
epox 4bdae mobno = 85.00 shipped
smasung 256mb pc2700 (333mhz ddr) = 62.00 shipped

so 310-290.00 wouldn't be bad for a system you likely could get 2.2 to 2.4ghz out of and great performance

And look you got latest intel i845e mobo and name brand memory of super fast pc2700...if you don't want to oc then get a sis645 mobo like asus p4s333 for about same 85 bucks and you can run 333mhz ddr at default 100fsb.



I would not get the 2200+...go with 1600 for like 55 bucks (75 with a decent hsf cooler)...get 256mb of crucial pc2100...and get a kt333a mobo...there are many mobos for 100 or slightly less....I don't know exact total but it should be under 250...

Also 1600+ with a decent non ecs mobo should be able to overclock to high levels even without vcore boost and subsequent extreme heat...

 

[TimeKeeper]

hmm........chances are you might need a new PS for either AMD or P4.


edit: your ps is fine. (didn't check your rig at first)

 

[blackhawk]

You should get the amd mb, XP and ddr ram. Your ps is fine for non overclocking.

You should also be able to realize some money from your old stuff being sold and why the plex & liteon burners? Sell the plex.

A kt266a mb is fine and an XP about 2000 or so.

I really like my epox motherboards, no problems.

 

[ziplux]

Originally posted by: blackhawk
You should also be able to realize some money from your old stuff being sold and why the plex & liteon burners? Sell the plex.

I like being able to burn two CDs at once, or being able to rip 2 audio CDs at once. Plus I got the Lite-On free thanks to Hot Deals 🙂. I think I could probably sell the PIII, mobo, and RAM for at least $150 (maybe?). I like the Athlon XP option, but what kind of upgrade path will that give me? What's comming out next from AMD, and will the new mobo I buy support it? And how to I make sure I get a thoroughbred XP+ instead of one on the old process?

Sorry about all the questions, and thanks for the help. I haven't upgraded in a while so I'm unfamilar with a lot of the newer hardware.