supercharging a dinosaur for internet

pengyou · 07-26-2007, 03:14 PM

I have an 800 mhz pentium 3 that I am looking for a motherboard for. I want to make it an internet machine. Yes, I know it is old...but I want to have a designated internet machine to keep virus's confined to one machine. I usually open 15 to 20 windows at a time, will be downloading files while listening to music, reading e-mails, googling for research materials, reading news magazines, etc all at the same time. I have broadband.

My questions:

Which piece of hardware has the greatest impact on speed? Video card? memory? hard drive? I already have the cpu, so that is not changeable.

Is there a particular OS will make this faster? 98? XP? some flavor of Linux?

Which browser will be faster?

How much memory is enough? too much?

How do I optimize the OS?

Anything else?

bratton · 07-26-2007, 03:22 PM

to start, the cpu is going to determine your speed, then ram. if youre using windows it should definitely be an older version.

although, youd really be better off yardsaleing someone elses dinosaur, or getting a cheap dell, hp, gateway etc

Camper · 07-26-2007, 03:29 PM

Is there a particular OS will make this faster? 98? XP? some flavor of Linux?
Linux "Xubuntu", Win 98 and Win2000 will also be good.

Which browser will be faster?
Firefox

How much memory is enough? too much?
512MB if you want to use Windows XP.
Minimum of 64mb for Windows 98.

How do I optimize the OS?
With Windows use msconfig to limit the amount of programs running.
Xubuntu is using XFCE a lightweight GUI designed for older PC's

Nevakonaza · 07-26-2007, 03:44 PM

i think Windows 98 would run fine on that system...2000 would be okay also.

i use to run windows 2000 on a P2 400Mhz and 128 Mb of ram and it was fine.

oscaryu1 · 07-26-2007, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper

Is there a particular OS will make this faster? 98? XP? some flavor of Linux?
Linux "Xubuntu", Win 98 and Win2000 will also be good.

Which browser will be faster?
Firefox

How much memory is enough? too much?
512MB if you want to use Windows XP.
Minimum of 64mb for Windows 98.

How do I optimize the OS?
With Windows use msconfig to limit the amount of programs running.
Xubuntu is using XFCE a lightweight GUI designed for older PC's

Minumum for 98 is 24MB...
128MB Minumum for XP.

I'm pretty sure your not gonna get even 10 browers on that CPU before it slows down. At 3/4 broweres your CPU will probably be at 100%. Overclock? JK

07-26-2007, 03:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
pengyou New Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1	supercharging a dinosaur for internet I have an 800 mhz pentium 3 that I am looking for a motherboard for. I want to make it an internet machine. Yes, I know it is old...but I want to have a designated internet machine to keep virus's confined to one machine. I usually open 15 to 20 windows at a time, will be downloading files while listening to music, reading e-mails, googling for research materials, reading news magazines, etc all at the same time. I have broadband. My questions: Which piece of hardware has the greatest impact on speed? Video card? memory? hard drive? I already have the cpu, so that is not changeable. Is there a particular OS will make this faster? 98? XP? some flavor of Linux? Which browser will be faster? How much memory is enough? too much? How do I optimize the OS? Anything else?

07-26-2007, 03:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
bratton Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: PA Age: 19 Posts: 343	to start, the cpu is going to determine your speed, then ram. if youre using windows it should definitely be an older version. although, youd really be better off yardsaleing someone elses dinosaur, or getting a cheap dell, hp, gateway etc __________________ ultra xfinity 500w xfx 7900gs w/ zalman cooler asus a8n5x skt939 3800x2 @ 2.0 w/ zalman 700cu gskill 2gb sb audigy4 w/ logitech x230 & akg k81 dj wd 80gb + wd 160gb acer 22" ws & viewsonic 17" Last edited by bratton; 07-26-2007 at 03:24 PM.

07-26-2007, 03:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
Camper Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: /dev/null Age: 22 Posts: 1,227	Is there a particular OS will make this faster? 98? XP? some flavor of Linux? Linux "Xubuntu", Win 98 and Win2000 will also be good. Which browser will be faster? Firefox How much memory is enough? too much? 512MB if you want to use Windows XP. Minimum of 64mb for Windows 98. How do I optimize the OS? With Windows use msconfig to limit the amount of programs running. Xubuntu is using XFCE a lightweight GUI designed for older PC's __________________ Dell Inspiron 530 Q6600 Quad 3gb RAM Nvidia 8600 GT 500GB HD Last edited by Camper; 07-26-2007 at 03:31 PM.

07-26-2007, 03:44 PM	#4 (permalink)
Nevakonaza Diamond Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Inside my 500Se Benz Age: 19 Posts: 7,755	i think Windows 98 would run fine on that system...2000 would be okay also. i use to run windows 2000 on a P2 400Mhz and 128 Mb of ram and it was fine. __________________ Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.8Ghz - Asus Silent Knight II MSI P35 Neo-F (45nm Ready) 3Gb GeIL DDR2 @ 800 Mhz (Dual channel) Asus Extreme 8800GT G92 512Mb with Glaciator cooler Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity 7.1 WDC 400GB Sata II + 120Gb Slave = 520Gb total Sony 20X DVD±RW DL & DVD-RAM SATA Windows Xp Pro SP3\|Kaspersky IS 2009 Belinea o.display 22'' Widescreen (1680x1050)

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