Upgrading Older Pc.

[AcID ZeR0]

I've got a TIME pc factory built.



AMD Athlon, 1485 MHz (5.5 x 270) 1700+ (Slightly OC)
Chipset: http://www.via.com.tw/en/ProSavage%20Chipsets/km266.jsp
Motherboard: (MSI MS-6390)
Ram: 512mb DDR
GC: GeForce 5200fx 120ddr TV Out (Upgrading soon so don't count that)



I'm new at posting the specs so if I missed anythng out plz let me know. I tried to keep it technical and short.

I was wondering what would I be able to do with it w/o breaking the bank or changing the mboard.

[kaiweiler]

I would probably upgrade your processor out of any of those, not counting the gfx card that is a must.
what is your hard drive? if it is anything under...80 gig upgrade that as well, depending on what you are using your computer for??

[AcID ZeR0]

Ones 120gb the others 40gb.

[AcID ZeR0]

do you know how much I could upgrade to without having to buy a new motherboard?

[kaiweiler]

What's your budget?

[AcID ZeR0]

Including the gfx card I'd have about £150.

[kaiweiler]

You can get an Athlon 2500+Barton and OC it if you like, it OC very well.
They are only about 85 USD, not sure what that is where your from, but it's a lot less then that I think.
Are you formt he UK? if so thats only about 45, which leaves you with a lot for a nice gfx card
or if you dont plan on overclockin at all, you could even go with a 2800 for about 75 or even an Athlon 64 if you want to go big witht he processor and not as big with the gfx

[Smurfette]

Well, the fastest CPU you can put in would be a 2600+, but mind that you get the 266MHz one (not 333MHz) - the 266es can be identified by the C designation at the end of the AMD part number e.g. AXDA2600DKV3C.

You've gpt a 4x AGP slot so an 8x gfx card won't be used to it's full potential.

There's nothing else really that would improve your performance other than adding a 7,200rpm, 8MB cache ATA133 hard drive if you don't already have one.

You can get a half deccent mobo for £50-£70 to go with your new CPU but that wouldn't leave you with anything for your new gfx card... which would really benefit from a mobo with 8x AGP support anyway.

[Dray_04]

i just bought a radeon 9600xt off this guy who specialises in graphic cards, memory and motherboards,

and he told me that an 8x agp mobo would only increse performance by 1% - 3%.
weird ay?! im not an expert or anything like that, he sells quite alot of cards e.g. he has about 5 radeon 9800 pros at home right now, but for me 1-3% doesnt sound right.
wot do u think smuff?

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by dray_02@4 February 2004 - 19:48
i just bought a radeon 9600xt off this guy who specialises in graphic cards, memory and motherboards,

Exactly how does he specalize in Graphics memory and mobos?

[Smurfette]

Originally posted by dray_02@5 February 2004 - 00:48
i just bought a radeon 9600xt off this guy who specialises in graphic cards, memory and motherboards,

and he told me that an 8x agp mobo would only increse performance by 1% - 3%.
weird ay?! im not an expert or anything like that, he sells quite alot of cards e.g. he has about 5 radeon 9800 pros at home right now, but for me 1-3% doesnt sound right.
wot do u think smuff?
I think I buy memory, cards, mobos, HDDs, CDRWs, speakers, cases and, oooh lots of other things from various specialists in one field or another that haven't got a fucking clue what they're selling.
Heh, memory's always good because it's often being sold by people that have trouble speaking English, never mind telling you the CAS latency. I once bought a GA5-AX and K6-II/350 from AMBROS DIRECT (http://www.computermarket.com/cgi-bin/vendor?ven_id=32) and the guy told me PC133 wouldn't work in it, then changed his mind when another customer put him right.
Buy from whoever you want if you feel confident enough to trust your own judgement.

Bottom line on your question? Tom's Hardware is a more reliable source for that sort of comparison.

[Smurfette]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_+5 February 2004 - 01:42--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (_John_Lennon_ @ 5 February 2004 - 01:42)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-dray_02@4 February 2004 - 19:48
i just bought a radeon 9600xt off this guy who specialises in graphic cards, memory and motherboards,

Exactly how does he specalize in Graphics memory and mobos? [/b][/quote]
My guess is that he knows what sells fastest.