Need help with a small upgrade

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Obheron

n00b
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
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23
Ok so I have an old Compaq (yes they suck). I recently bought a new case for a computer I was working on, but being a noob, bought an el cheapo. So since I plan on buying a different case for my new computer I figured I'd move the old Compaq into the cheap case since I don't like the Compaq case.

But adding to the suck, Compaq mounted the CPU on a daughter board which is held in place by a few screws on the inside of the case. That and the Mobo and Power supply are not standard 20-pin connectors.

Long story short, I was thinking about buying a new Mobo and CPU on the lower end of the budget and recycling the other components out of the Compaq. Any suggestions?

The Compaq was a PII - 450MHz so any type of upgrade will be noticed. I plan on installing XP and using it as my surfing/banking/older games computer while I work on my new rig. Can I get a decent CPU/Mobo for say under $200 total?

Thanks in advance. :D
 
Venice 3000+ is only $150, so add a cheap mobo or stretch a bit more and you'll have one of the faster systems available.
 
are you planning to use the old vid card out of the compaq? If so the newer 4x/8x agp port prolly wont support it...even if it is a 4x card, be careful, as the voltage may not be supported
so you may want to consider adding $ for a vid card...
Ok, the 3000+ venice core is nice and may be worth the $20 premium (due to cooler running and better overclocking)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ce=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=343&Submit=Property
for the 939 cpus (dunno if that type of link will work)
if you have a decent agp card - you may want to go with a agp motherboard...
agp boards can be had for as low as $68 plus $2.50 ship
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152052
ULi chipsets - huh thought they were long gone but they are back -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138248
nforce 4 chipset - biostar - $82 + $3 ship
for those who want cheap PCI- Express
remember avoid ecs and pc chips...
So, for like $227.49 you can get athlon 64 for agp
or $241.99 for Pci-Express (note: used the 3000+ venice core boxed)
so, hmm, you can get the higher end athlon XP - or pay a little more (skip going out to eat a couple of times) and buy Athlon 64...
 
The vid card is not the original that came with the Compaq. I had a bad experience with customer support in which they told me to download an incorrect video driver and fried my card.

The current card is a GeForce MX2 I believe. My main goal is to get away from the compaq board/PS. Further down the road I may grab an better AGP for the system(9800 pro?). For now I just want something for surfing/banking/old games that isn't the compaq.
 
Drivers don't usually fry cards...

Surfing/banking are kinda low on the list of things that are demanding on the graphics card. Old games...well if they run smoothly on what you have now, cool.

Epox it turns out is pretty good for A64 if you need a cheaper one.
 
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