quick Qs about replacing an old family computer

B

bobstone

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 3, 2005
Messages
361
hey all

the shared/family computer is getting a bit dated.

it is a
amd athlon xp 3200+ 2.2 socket A with a 1 gig of ram.

I was thinking of getting this computer.

MSI atom bare bones

I already have 2 gigs of ddr 2 667 laptop ram and several spare laptop hdds.

do you all think this would be a decent enough upgrade?

fyi all we do on that computer is word/excel stuff and cheesy flash game, some of the family also do face book and the flash game on that site.

I know the current computer is fine for that but it is having some hardware issues with the ram and it is really old. just replacing the ram on it is like 60 dollars where as I have everything needed to get the msi atom one up for just the cost of the bare bone system.

I just dont want to take a performance hit. if this setup is only going to be the same as the old one I will spend a little more and get a basic c2d system instead.

anyways thanks for any help
Bob

edit... I figured it had a 2.5 hdd slot but it uses a 3.5 which I have plenty of also.
 
I'd expect that overall performance would probably be similar, probably a bit better especially because of the additional RAM, but I'd say it's worth spending a the extra for a Celeron E3300 setup. Remember that a Windows OS license is not included with a barebones system, so factor that cost in as well if you want to use Windows on this PC.
 
I should of said windows is not an issue also, I am sitting on about 3-5 legit xp and 1 vista. also got one windows 7 upgrade laying around also.

so.. an e3300. lemme look in to that, thanks for the heads up.

part of my idea tho is that I only have spare 200 pin ram, not any 240 pin ram. are there any good bare bone systems that can do the laptop ram ?
 
I'd say that barebones would be a definite step up over the current system since A) it's the newer dual-core Atoms and B) the old single core atoms were on par with Athlon XP 3200+ CPUs IIRC.

Also, every single barebones on newegg that uses 200Pin RAM are pretty much Intel Atom setups.
 
you think a 1.6 ghz atom is going to be similar to a 3200+?

good luck with that, as an "upgrade" seems like a waste of time

you could get an amd quad core + board for the same price and put it in your old case.
 
i really wouldnt consider any atom-based computer an upgrade at all. atoms are great for non essential netbooks or other basic task computers, especially if you want to conserve power, but performance suffers.
another option would be to just source out a smaller upgrade (ie cpu/ mobo/ram) (im not sure what your hardware issues are) ive had 3 amd 5200/asus m2ne/ 2gb sets pass through my hands and been reused over the last few months. that should be a cheap alternative and certainly would give you a boost. the atom based system as a secondary machine might be a nice idea.
 
Well my idea was that with that setup I Spend 173 shipped and I am good with a running system cause I have everything else, with buying a normal system to setup I am looking at just under 100$ for the ram and a psu, let alone the mb and CPU
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I'll try to give you some insight because I have gone through a similar change as I went from a socket 754 athlon to a netbook (atom 1.6). The performance is honestly... about the same. That being said, I don't think you are going to notice much of a difference (even if it is a newer atom), some things might run smoother but the power won't be all that different. Atom chips were made to be extremely efficient and still deliver decent performance, hence why they are used in netbooks (at least the single core/ht versions). If I were you I would grab an athlon II x2, 2gb of ram and a 785g motherboard for about that price and put it in your old case.

Edit:
Heres a quick cheap build that I put together:
Athlon II X2 245 Regor + Asus 785G Evo mATX

Antec NSK w/ ea380 + LG DVD Drive

A-DATA DDR3-1600 2GB Single Stick

Total is 282.50 for a complete system that would be much better than that MSI system.
 
Last edited:
keenan said:
I'd say it's worth spending a the extra for a Celeron E3300 setup.
Click to expand...

I second this. The e3300 will roast an atom for breakfast. lunch.. and dinner... ;)

just get that, grab the cheapest mobo you can find, and you're set.
 
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