Upgrading (1 Viewer)

[stargaze]

Hey ppls,

I've got a fairly old comp (bought in 2000ish)... It's a Pentium 3 800, 256 SDRAM, 20g hd, 32mb geforce 2mx etc...

Basically, I would like to upgrade my comp, but I'm not sure if its worth it cos I know a lot of new stuff just wouldnt work on this old processor + motherboard. However, I really only use my comp for microsoft office stuff + net + music + media stuff, so I don't really need something spectucular. Really what I want is mad sound, massive amounts of hd space and would like a dvd burner, I would also like a tv tuner, but really I dont have cash haha... I would like some RAM but I think SDRAM is long goone.. Would this work on my comp? Or is this just not worth getting?

Anyway, my question is (BUDGET is the key), what would u recommend in terms of sound (souncard + speaker set), hard disk, dvd burner, tv turner... ? Or just any recommendations on getting a budget pc with the above?

Thanks

 

[ogmzergrush]

Do you actually need a soundcard? If you only want it to listen to music, a lot of the time you'll be able to get by just fine with the onboard sound capability of your motherboard (Assuming you have/get one with this feature).

For what you've described you could probably buy a new fairly basic system for a bit short of $1000. The upgrade path would possibly work out a bit cheaper, but you'd have to post more information about your motherboard, etc, for people to recommend newer gear (To ensure that people can recommend stuff which is actually compatible).

For some price comparisons and indications, you might want to check out some of the shops listed in this thread.

http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=17756&highlight=shops
(Mods, it'd be helpful for that list to be stickied, I could have sworn it used to be?)

 

[stargaze]

Well, I quite like having higher quality music... And if I can't afford the whole upgrade/new comp, I'll buy a 5.1 system regardless, cos that's what I've wanted for for a while..

I'm really outdated with comps, used to be into it around the time I bought my comp way back then... But here's what I dug out, not sure what it means to u guys :

- Intel Pentium 3 800MHz
- ASUS CUV4X Motherboard:
-- Socket 370
-- VIA 694x AGPset
-- PC133/VC133
-- Ultra DMA/66 Ready
-- Coppermine CPU Support
- 20G hard disk
- 256mb SDRAM (2x128)
- 32mb Asus GeForce 2 MX
- Creative Vibra 128 Soundcard
- Sony cd-burner / lg dvd drive (both like, the first generation of each)

Well, I don't really know anything about that motherboard stuff... but hopefully u do.. thanks

 

[fatmuscle]

i agree with the above post.

if oyu've got a network setup, u can use ur P3 800 as some sort of file server.
or set it up as a permanent downloading machine.

what im trying to say is, it's still useful

 

[ogmzergrush]

Yeah, that's what I was sort of angling at. It's possible that you could upgrade that one for slightly less to get it to the level you want, but for the minimal price difference, you'd be better off with a brand spanking new machine (In addition to the existing system, which will make a great garden decoration).

 

[SashatheMan]

u can get a new comp for like $699 (without moniutor)

plus if you want good speakers thats extra

 

[stargaze]

hmm i thought that as much - that i would have to just get a whole new system

If I were to make some minor changes, like replacing the hard drive, a new sound card and possibly a dvd-burner would that be okay?

I know to most ppl an p3 800 is a good 2 years out of its time, but like I said, I don't really need a high performing computer. I wouldn't mind one of course, but we're working a limited budget here.

 

[tempco]

well, you don't really need to change anything apart from what you've bolded. i'm sure you can keep your current cpu - just add more ram (sd ram, you could get some from ebay?), and get a new audio card + speaker set. but the thing is, the total price of getting these items separately might be surprisingly close to what you'd pay for a new budget pc.