Multi-stage upgrade from a PIII

A

alek)_a

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Hello all

I need to change almost everything on my current PC. It is a PIII 450 with a mATX 440BX (or ZX, I cant determine) board, 128MB SDRAM with 100MHz FSB. I also have the original 4.3G Quantum Fireball HD. All sits in a 145W case with only one 20 pin ATX connector. Originally, the PC was a Fujitsu Siemens 350 that was probably sold in the late 90s (bought it second hand). It is funny how they still have the moderboard manual at the support page...

I bought a 120GB Samsung HD a couple of years ago (dont really know if it is ATA 100 or 133, too lazy to check) and a ATI Saphire 9250 last year. But I am running out of upgrade possibilities it seems. Adding more RAM is the only thing I can imagine.

My plan is to build a new PC. The purpose is to have at least a 3 year upgrade path with the new motherboard (maybe a i975x chipset).

I will have a 1000$ budget in maybe 6 to 8 months from now. However, I am afraid that the current PC will cease to boot one of these days (I had a few bad memroy errors lately). So, I have a 250$ budget alloted right now.

What would you reccomend?

- Get a cheap mobo+CPU+RAM (example 1 or example 2 in Dutch sorry) to fit in the 145W case and then buy better when money becomes available. The question here is whether it is possible for anything to fit in this case. I was thinking of a mobile processor.

- Get a new case with a good mobo (that will stay on later), a cheap processor and little RAM (to fit in the budget)

- Give up and just yield the money

The requirements for the PC will be an average/good gaming performance, multitasking (word, excell, internet, messengers, number crunching) and most important of all: upgrade possibilities that are aplenty in the long trem (that is what makes life interesting, yes?).


Aleksandar
 
I'd say you wait a bit until you've got more cash lying around. If you want a 3 year upgrade path... you won't get one nowadays. But currently, the best path lies with Intel. Current AMD rigs with DDR1 will only get you 6 months until the AM2 socket gets released. Current intel rigs equipped with the 975x chipset (LGA775) and DDR2 will last you at least 1 year, if not 1.5, before Intel switches anything major.

The only problem here, is that the 975x motherboards are all more than $200 right now, which would take you near your budget easily. Anything less than a 975x chipset right now would last you only 6 months as well. So if your memory does die in your current machine, get yourself a cheap stick of 128mb of SD Ram for $30 to tide you over and wait until you've got closer to $1000 lying around, so that you can build yourself a better rig. That's my 2 cents :)
 
I would go the AMD route myself.

Look at a mobo based on the GF6150 chipset. £70
Then an A64 3000 cpu. £100
256/512 meg memory. £15/30
A reasonable 400 watt psu. £40
A cheap case. £30
The whole set up will come to around £270.
Prices from Scan.co.uk

The upgrade route is.......
More memory.... 4x1 Gig max.
Better cpu...... X2
Sata II hard drives.
PCI-E vid card.

Let the flames begin........ :p

Luck............ :D
 
You're already double his limit (he said dollars, not pounds). And he'll already be out of date and out of upgrade options by October.
 
- Get a cheap mobo+CPU+RAM (example 1 or example 2 in Dutch sorry) to fit in the 145W case and then buy better when money becomes available. The question here is whether it is possible for anything to fit in this case. I was thinking of a mobile processor.
Click to expand...
for the love of god, dont do that. not only will the PSU be horribly underpowering the system, youll be stuck with out of date stuff when you have more money to throw at an upgrade.

just stick with waht you got until you can get an entire new system. itll go much better, partial upgrades always end up being more expensive than just blowing a larger amount of money at one time.
 
steviep said:
You're already double his limit (he said dollars, not pounds). And he'll already be out of date and out of upgrade options by October.
Click to expand...

You can get similar from the egg for around $300 but he is in Europe so wanted something closer to home.

Why would something like that be out of upgrades by October ?

I also agree with Lithium.

Luck........ :D
 
Because the new AMD socket (AM2) is coming out later this year, with DDR2 support... so any AMD gear that he buys now will be left with NO upgrade path, since everything will be new later this year. Intel, you at least get 1 year since they will be sticking with Socket 775 for minimum 1-1 1/2 years. That, and Intel supports DDR2 already, so his memory will be usable for at least 1 year as well. AMD is a dead-end upgrade path right now. If he must upgrade now, Intel is the only way to go.

If he's going to wait, he'll have both options later this year. And, as the consensus in this thread, you should definately wait before upgrading, and not do a few pieces at a time. Your system will suffer AND cost more as a result.
 
As has already been suggested, I would save up and buy the machine you want all at once. Buying in phases over the course of many months is not a path worth traveling imo.

Having said that, $250 can get you a pretty nice 'throw away' system to tide you over.

ASRock K8NF4G $60
Sempron 64 2500+ $66
Crucial 512MB $42
APEX MicroATX Mid Tower $36
HDD already in your possession :)

$204 before tax and shipping. Sourced at newegg for ease but Im guessing there is a comparable place local to you.
This motherboard supports sata-2 and has a pci-e slot so you could, over time, purchase hdd's and a videocard that can be transplanted into the new system.
 
Thanks all.

Yes, indeed I will wait for more funding. I already learned that giving money for cheap things (like the PCChips combo's) is not worth it. You also seem correct that a multi-stage approach is not the best option.

Nevertheless, it is the most boring soluition of all. :eek:

Probably I will only get more SDRAM at this point. Maybe it will then need less than 1 minute to open a pdf file. It will not be a dead-end investment since I plan on using this PC as a HTPC later.

Probably a high-end AMD M2 mobo might be worth the investment later. Although Intel seems on the way to regain the momentum with them being way ahead in process development than AMD. I think that Intel is the only company in the world that has a 65nm high-volume production going on at this moment (IBM and TI maybe also). We (at Philips) are struglling to get the 65nm running and are 9 months to a year away (my estimate) from any serious product ramp-ups (mostly ICs for mobile phones). I am currently working on a 65nm design and we just cant get stable device models from the fab.

Aleksandar
 
My advice to you is to put $750 towards a new computer, and save the other $250 for upgrades two years down the road. Since you are not building a gaming machine, that's just about the sweet spot for a work machine.
 
I have actually found something more interesting to upgrade: a new processor to max out the system. It seems that my mobo supports an 800MHz CPU. But I have to fiddle with the jumpers.

I saw an ad on the local ebay-look-alike: a tualatin 1.2GHz (or something like that) with a socket 370 to Slot 1 converter (probably a special one). This should be fun, the CPU will be underclocked but better than the 450MHz I now have. I also understand this CPU is an improved version of the most advanced PIII (coopermine) and is in a 0.13um process.

If I can also put 2x256MB in the two slots I am probably set until the major upgrade.

If I could only overclock this motherboard... Has anyone tried to change the reference XTAL (the crystal resoantor) on the mobo that provides a base for all frequencies? If I take a 10% higher frequency crystal, all should be working at a 10% higher frequency and hopefully within spec limits. This is equivalent to lowering down the rate of passage of time of the environment relative to the PC... My system clock will also run faster and it will count a 21.6-hour day :D .

Now if I have the guts to fidle with the XTAL and get a 10% bump (i.e. a 900MHz tualatin), how do you think the system will benchmark against the lowest frequency P4 (provided graphic card is the same)? What if I make a 20% increase (ok, just imagine it)?

I assume that the PCU will flat-out first. It already runs 2 HD's, a 24x TEAC CD from 1997, a DVD/CD R/RW, an NIC, a 5.1 soundcard, the AGP radeon 9250, the 128MB RAM, the 450MHZ CPU and the chipset itself. And as I said, it is 145W.

Aleksandar
 
I would worry most about data corruption since everything is running faster. I would not recommend doing it if it's on a work machine.
 
The guy with the PIII 1.3GHZ and active slot converter asked for 70 euros for both (and a cooler). That looks a bit too much, I have just bought 2 sticks of 256MB SDRAM in the local shop for that much and they work with my board (that declares only 256MB support - but it needs double-sided low-density sticks that are hard to find). I can probably sell them for 50 at least next year.

It seems that I will go for an PIII 800 with an ordinary slot converter. It is more than twice as cheap and will improve greatly on this PIII 450 anyways.

Thanks for the suggestions.


Grtz,
Aleksandar
 
You will notice a pretty big improvement with 800mhz PIII (w/512k cache hopefully!) and 512mb of ram... enjoy it ;)
 
steviep said:
You will notice a pretty big improvement with 800mhz PIII (w/512k cache hopefully!) and 512mb of ram... enjoy it ;)
Click to expand...
the only 800mhz tualatins were LV models... all normal 800mhz chips are gonna be coppermines.
 
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