Could really use some opinions on cheap upgrade path for an old machine...

[hhpwang]

hi there,

any help would be most welcome. i've been put in charge of upgrading an old family PC. i have around $250 to spend -- maybe a little more if there's really a good justification for it. here's what it looks like now:

Gigabyte 686-LX3 (440LX) mobo
Pentium II 266 MHz
196 MB PC66 RAM
coupla small hard drives (< 10GB each)
STB Velocity 128 AGP video card
Creative AWE64 sound card
random NIC

i think the case, floppy drive, cd-rom, cd burner are salvageable. the machine will be used mostly for web surfing, cd burning, office applications, etc. but i'd like to be able to play games like jedi knight II on it too. it doesn't have to be incredible, just sufficient. no hard core gamers/overclockers here. what do you think?

thanks so much in advance!

han

 

[cholley]

we can do alot, really cheap
shoot me a dollar figure and we'll go from there
you already stated (which is the most important step) what kind of work you need to do so now you need to come up with a price cap.

 

[BD231]

250 wont get JKII performance, your talking about a whole computer almost, I'd wait till you had at least 350 to 400 to spend.

 

[hhpwang]

ok, $350-$400 then...$250 was sort of an arbitrary "cheap" dollar amount. the local mom and pop shop down the street sells whole systems out the door for $300, so i figured a little less than that was a good amount to aim for. ok, now what? :^)

 

[spanky]

$250? do this...

$45 ecs k7s5a (onboard lan & sound)
$40 1ghz duron
$35 256mb pc2100
$90 gf3 (stock) or radeon8500

these are prices i seen on FS/FT.


u'll have $40 left over to buy me lunch


Edit - i assume the other part u will salvage from the previous rig.

 

[hhpwang]

i'll prolly have to buy a new power supply too huh?

 

[spanky]

i seen 300w antec psu's on FS/FT for $30. btw, all prices i am spitting out are shipped. so now u have $10 to buy me lunch. it's ok... i dun mind mcdonalds.

 

[hhpwang]

if it's gonna be burgers in-n-out burger beats mcd by a mile...

 

[MrGrim]

Originally posted by: spankyOO7
$250? do this...

$45 ecs k7s5a (onboard lan & sound)
$40 1ghz duron
$35 256mb pc2100
$90 gf3 (stock) or radeon8500

these are prices i seen on FS/FT.

I'll have to agree with that. Can't beat the value of that CPU/mobo combo.

 

[hhpwang]

bump to top for more help...

(thanks to everyone for your responses so far!)

 

[AluminumStudios]

I say spend $99 on a new HD.

Newer, larger, hard drives are faster (in part because of their size - more data passes under the head per revolution.)

A faster hard drive will improve load times (no doubt an area of frustration.) Also, if you stick with 196 megs of RAM, a faster hard drive will soften the slow down caused by swapping (using virtual memory.)

I find that a good, fast, hard drive can really make an older system feel faster. It's game frame rates won't be helped though.

 

[Tominator]

I'd get a Celeron 533 on a slotket and a Voodoo 3 3000 or even a 2000 if TV out isn't used. $50 bucks spent and for what you use it for it will be fine.

Spend the $200 on a Samsung 955df monitor or save the cash for a whole new box.

 

[hhpwang]

thanks for the suggestion tominator, but i have a feeling that system wouldn't be quite enough to run JKII...

 

[hhpwang]

so how does this configuration look to you guys? prices are from newegg (i think ordering RAM from crucial will save me a few bucks). is there a better choice for the CPU (i.e., a sweeter spot than the 1.2 duron? should i go athlon XP?)? how 'bout the mobo choice? would you go shuttle or save $4 and go with the K7S5a?

TIA!


SHUTTLE AK31A AMD K7 VIA APOLLO KT266A DDR SOCKET A ATX MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL New Ver. $59.00

AMD Duron 1.2 GHZ Socket A PGA Processor Retail (Box with Heatsink and fan) more info-> N82E16819104155 $60.00

ATI RADEON 8500LE 64MB DDR CRT/DVI/TV ,Dual Monitor support DVIS+CRT only $94.00

CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM - OEM 184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered 2.5V,6-Layers $66.00

Seagate Barracuda IV ST340016A 40gb 7200rpm EIDE , OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty $73.00

CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 - OEM $32.00

Subtotal » $384.00

 

[spanky]

some ppl have problems with via chipsets and sblive cards. i like the ecs board for the onboard lan and the sis735 chipset. it's not slower then kt266a by much. plus u could use either sdr or ddr... so save $4 for mobo... and spend $6 more for an xp1600 (actually more, since u have to get a hsf too).

 

[hhpwang]

thanks spanky. the things i'm concerned about with the ECS mobo are: 1) only two slots for RAM (well, ok, 4, but you can only use 2 at a time), and 2) reports of finicky-ness w.r.t. to power supply. thoughts?

 

[Tanked]

I would go for the ECS board, not only because it's cheaper, but it has the integrated LAN which will save you an additional $10 or so. I would also shell out a little bit more for an Athlon XP - it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[hhpwang]

i've already got a NIC in the old machine, so the onboard LAN isn't critical but point taken. which XP CPU is the best buy these days?

 

[Actaeon]

Just in time.