Motherboard upgrade

[Tonnica]

I decided to split my phased upgrading project into Hardware Chat, 'cause that's where it belongs. Anyways!

How fast is your processor?  Is your motherboard really hard limited to only 1 gb of RAM?  If a video card would help, you can get an x1950Pro AGP for $299 at Memory Express.

On my board is a AMD Athlon XP2200+:
Frequency: 1800 MHz
L2-Cache: 256 KiB
FSB 1: 266 MHz
Multiplier: 13.5x
Voltage: 1.65 V
TDP (Core): 67.9 W (A)
Not bad overall. For my video card I've got an ATI 9800 All-In-Wonder. I'm a big fan of the component-in and cable-in features as I can hook up both TV and game consoles to it. I use the feature regularly (at least twice every other day) and won't part with it even if I need to go with a lower performance card(s).

I'll clarify on the RAM a bit. My board can take up to three sticks of 2.5Volt Non-ECC PC2100/PC1600 DDR RAM (3GB max over the three slots, doesn't support SDRAM modules). Currently I have 2x512MB sticks for 1GB of RAM. The problem doesn't lie within the max speed of the RAM but rather in the value and availability. So for lulz let's say I go for 2 PC2100 1GB sticks. NCIX says two matching sticks of Kingston ValueRAM brand that are compatible will run me $233.40, give or take.

That's a good chunk of money to slap down on something that won't carry me very far into the future. It's a bit like putting racing slicks onto an aging Honda Civic. Sure, it can go faster under the right conditions but the engine under the hood is the same. Sure, it's reliable and still works but it just doesn't meet my needs. Or more realistically I should say "wants". My home PC is devoted to the idle hours so I want it for gaming and I want it for graphics editing and video composition. So in my eyes the value is moot.

And most off all I want to be able to play PC games at LAN parties without having to crank the graphics settings to Low so I can play without crashing. Lordy lou that's an irritant.

P.S.: Before anyone asks I have gone through the process of tweaking my video settings to get the most out of my video card. I had to do that to get semi-nice graphics out of City of Villains.

[Thorin]

So what are you aiming at getting?  And will you be sticking with XP, or switching to Vista? (note the explicit lack of the word "upgrade" in that second question ).  Are you planning on selling the mobo/CPU/RAM?  Are you going with a new case or power supply or fans or anything?

[Tom]

So for lulz let's say I go for 2 PC2100 1GB sticks. NCIX says two matching sticks of Kingston ValueRAM brand that are compatible will run me $233.40, give or take.

Getting PC3200 is proabbly cheaper than looking for 2100, though I do have a PC2100 512 stick floating around that _was_ in my mini-itx box that is out of commision till I can replace its caps AND PSU.

[Lazybones]

IF you are going to rebuild do it right.. None of that equipment can stay..

Keep your Case, Optical drive and harddrive, replace everything else.

Intel Core 2 processors are currently the best bank for the buck, shoot for 2 GB of ram and you will need to get a PCI Express video card.. It is to bad that ATI does not make the all in wonders anymore, but you should be able to get a Video in video out board, just not one with a tuner.

[Tonnica]

I'm sticking with XP for now. As far as my OS needs go, XP does the job. Depending on what I upgrade I will be selling off my old parts, probably listing them here first for anyone who wants dibs. Though before I do anything I have to replace the CMOS battery on my motherboard. My suspicion is the battery is starting to go.

You're right Tom, the 3200 RAM does come in at a lower price (anywhere from $30-60 less on average) and it's much more available (I see multiple compatible sticks on Memory Express' site).

The real question driving me is: will just plugging in more RAM considering my current system really be worth it beyond this years' Fraga? It might actually be worth it to replace the guts of my system with something that will last me 5-7 more years.

[Tom]

Its likely a better idea to just replace. My system is _way_ overdue. And it seems yours is about the same as mine (I had a 2400+ till just recently, upgraded to a 2800+).

So yeah, go for the new machine if you can justify the expense. Most new motherboards only come with one IDE/PATA port, so if you have several IDE drives, you're going to be out of luck unless you pick up a ide pci card. Grabbing a SATA drive might be worth it, but don't let the marketing fool you, a SATA drive isn't actually any faster than an IDE disk. Consumer disks don't yet even pull ATA133's limits, let alone SATAI (150MB/s) or SATAII (300MB/s).

The one benefit SATA has over PATA, is a single SATA port can be "split" into multiple channels, so if you have a SATAII port, you can hook at least two SATAI compatible drives via some port multiplier, and have that many more ports. Not that any of this _really_ matters. I was just shocked to find out that the best performing consumer Seagate disk right now is the 7200.10 PATA/IDE 320GB disk with 8MB cache.

[Thorin]

IF you are going to rebuild do it right.. None of that equipment can stay..

Keep your Case, Optical drive and harddrive, replace everything else.

Now that's something I can agree with...  If you're willing to spend some coin, you'll be able to build a rig with the right parts that won't require you to turn down any video settings.  Of course, that begs the question: how much are you willing to spend on new hardware?

[Tom]

You can get a pretty decent machine for about 800-1200 right now. GF7900GS (200$), Asus Mobo (M2N SLI or Core2 board) ($150), C2D cpu or AM2 @ 2.5-3Ghz ($200-300), 2GB ram (300$), etc. You can _probably_ get a better 8xxx gforce that might outgun the 7900GS now, but I haven't looked into the medium and low end 8xxx cards yet.

DO NOT skimp on the motherboard. If you have any doubts about your PSU, get a new one. something thats not under say, $80, and has good reviews. The two most important bits to a system's stability and longevity are the PSU and motherboard. Even "value" ram will work fine in a good board with a good PSU, so ram isn't _that_ important, unless you expect to do some overclocking. Just make sure its not a "generic" pcb from some random Chinese company. Get one of the more well known brands, but it doesn't have to be any of the high end stuff.

[Adams]

I have 2 6600GT's sitting collecting dust if you want to upgrade slowly then get the mobo, processor and ram and I can sell you my 6600's real cheap.

Also FYI if anyone wants them. They are stock and I do believe I overclocked them once to see if i could, but other then that they are in pretty good condition.

[Tom]

I would be interested in taking one off your hands. My ATI is a pos. Stupid drivers >:E