Computer Upgrade Question

C

Cobra427so

Guest
Hi Guys

I have planned a simple upgrade to my older (but healthy) machine that I'm hoping will boost performance for OFF as well as other things, for only $220.

Since there are some real tech-knowledageable people here, I'm hoping I can get some input on the viability and value of this upgrade - what I might expect, how much improvement will it make, etc. At this point rebuilding or building a new system isn't an option till maybe late this year.

Currently:
• Biostar M7NCD N-Force 400FSB mobo (2G max capacity)
• Athalon XP 3000 333FSB 512K Barton Core
• 2) -512k DDR PC2700 333mhz
• G-Force 7800GS AGP 8x

Planned Upgrade:
• Athalon XP 3200 400FSB
• 2) - 1G DDR PC3200 400mhz

I'm hoping using the mobo to it's fullest extent all around, will make a difference... think it will be noticeable results?

Regards,
Cobra427so
 
Hm, don´t feel offended, but I would not spend so much money for low tech. Save up the money, and spend it later this year, when buying a new machine.

regards
 
Complete waste of money Cobra, you'll see next to no difference.
 
Cobra427so said:
Hi Guys

I have planned a simple upgrade to my older (but healthy) machine that I'm hoping will boost performance for OFF as well as other things, for only $220.

Since there are some real tech-knowledageable people here, I'm hoping I can get some input on the viability and value of this upgrade - what I might expect, how much improvement will it make, etc. At this point rebuilding or building a new system isn't an option till maybe late this year.

Currently:
• Biostar M7NCD N-Force 400FSB mobo (2G max capacity)
• Athalon XP 3000 333FSB 512K Barton Core
• 2) -512k DDR PC2700 333mhz
• G-Force 7800GS AGP 8x

Planned Upgrade:
• Athalon XP 3200 400FSB
• 2) - 1G DDR PC3200 400mhz

I'm hoping using the mobo to it's fullest extent all around, will make a difference... think it will be noticeable results?

Regards,
Cobra427so
Click to expand...

Here's an idea...

Wipe/overwrite the hard-drive and donate the system to some sort of charity.

Income tax time is coming, and you can deduct 20-25% of the original cost of the existing computer from your filing.

From there, I'd be looking to build a new system.

There are obviously multitudinous options, but here's a place to at least start:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-radeon-gefore,2147.html

BTW, there's been a lot of interest shown, hereabouts, in the Antec 900 computer case. It's apparently been upgraded, and it's reviewed here:

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3514

Good luck!
 
I have the Antec case preceding that model and it's a beast. With all it's fans going at full speed it sounded like a turbine. I've turned off the 180mm in it's roof and put all the others on low speed and it still sucks a mini gale through it.
 
Thanks guys... for me, $220 was reasonable compared to the $2000+ I want/need to spend on a new system, not to mention the $2000+ I would need to spend on the new production software to go with it.

This system is primarily a work system, (work from home), has 2 HDs in it, 2 DVD burners - and as well as it runs, I cannot justify wiping it clean for a tax write-off. Not to mention the hastle of saving all my archived work to DVDs, having to deal with all my production software... it would put me out of production for enough time to be costly.

I would need to build a new system first, get it set with all the software, then transfer all the needed artwork/video/publication files to the new one and then the old one would get used for storage/archiving of my work, as well as a secondary work station.

I know the system may sound "low tech" to you guys with newer systems, but with the economy the way it is and the severe drop off in my business in general, I have to make due with what I've got until I come across a good contract or things pick up a bit. I was hoping that a bump in parts would give me a bump in pperformance.

Thanks for your input...
Cobra427so
 
For the first six months or so after Barton-core chips were being sold, the multiplier was unlocked.

The 3200+ chip that you're looking at, runs at 2200mhz.

If you want 2200 mhz and have one of those early, unlocked Bartons, you can simply lower the multi to 11 and set the FSB to 200 (from 166).

If your RAM is a good brand, like Crucial or Corsair, you can probably up it's speed to 200 (from 166), by increasing the voltage a bit and setting the timings to 3-3-3-11.

I had a couple of NForce 2 boards, btw, both of them made by Abit (NF7-S 1.1 and 2.0).

The second board was just excellent, and exhibited an odd but fortuitous behavior in that it'd detect an Athlon XP 2500 as and Athlon XP 3200 and auto configure the settings that I cite above.

Those motherboards had the best integrated sound solution that I've ever come across, called Soundstorm.

They also supported dual-channel memory, but Athlon XP didn't much benefit from it.

The tweaks would improve your system performance, somewhat, but they might also be hard on your power-supply, depending on its age and specifications.

Ditto that last comment, were you to purchase a retail or OEM version of an Athlon XP 3200+ and run it stock.
 
512MB to 1GB will definitely help though if you only have 512 at the mo?
 
Thanks for the added information.

At the moment I have two unmatched - 512k sticks of ram totalling 1G. I figured going to two (matching sticks) of - 1G ram, to total 2G, that would provide the best part of a performance boost.

The power supply I have is newer and larger than the original. It's a 500W (Antec I think), with twin cooling fans.

Cobra427so
 
Cobra427so said:
Thanks guys... for me, $220 was reasonable compared to the $2000+ I want/need to spend on a new system, not to mention the $2000+ I would need to spend on the new production software to go with it.
Click to expand...

Well if your gonna game then get gaming system and quit making excusus for your production box's lack of umph! No offense meant.


  • BASE_PRICE: [+509]
  • CAS: Sigma Gaming Windstorm Mid-Tower 420W Case [+2] (Blue Color with Side-Window)
  • CASUPGRADE: NONE
  • CS_FAN: Default case fans
  • CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8600 CPU @ 3.33GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit [+106]
  • CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
  • FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
  • FAN: INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
  • HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+10])
  • KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)
  • MOUSE: Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse (BLACK COLOR)
  • MODEM: NONE
  • MONITOR: NONE
  • MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-D nForce 750i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard [+72]
  • MEMORY: 3GB (1GBx3) PC6400 DDR2/800 Memory [+15] (Kingston HyperX [+14])
  • NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
  • OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack 3 [+119]
  • PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU [+1
  • POWERSUPPLY: 580 Watts Power Supplies [+40] (SLI Ready Power Supply)
  • RUSH: RUSH!!! READY TO SHIP IN 5 BUSINESS DAYS [+49]
  • SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  • SOUND: 3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CARD
  • USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
  • VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 16X PCI Express [+163] (EVGA Powered by NVIDIA [+5])
  • VIDEO2: NONE
  • VIDEO3: NONE
  • VIDEOCAMERA: NONE
  • WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card [+19]
  • _PRICE: (+1137)

In my house and on my desk in 7 days for $1175. $150 was for rush build and 2 days shipping. Cyberpowerpc. Couldn't build it myself much cheaper.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
 
Cobra427so said:
Thanks for the added information.

At the moment I have two unmatched - 512k sticks of ram totalling 1G. I figured going to two (matching sticks) of - 1G ram, to total 2G, that would provide the best part of a performance boost.

The power supply I have is newer and larger than the original. It's a 500W (Antec I think), with twin cooling fans.

Cobra427so
Click to expand...

Sorry but you won't see any difference. I had pretty much the same build and it is just not enough to run OFF as it should.
 
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