Worth Upgrading?

T

tankman10024

New Member
I know most of you before replying to my thread would like to know exactly what components i have in my dell but i really dont know right now what i have in there, all i do know is that i had changed the hard drive a while ago (maxtor 100GB) but my question is simple...my pc has Win98SE. if i go with a new hard drive and go with WinXP will my pc work fine without having to make anymore upgrades?

Thx
tankman
 
Here are the specs for it: Pentium III-600, 128MB of RAM, 512KB L2 cache, 20.4GB hard drive, 17-inch monitor, Windows NT 4.0, Diamond Viper V770D Ultra graphics board with 32MB of RAM, 2X CD-RW drive, V.90...

I doubt it will run XP, you need at least 256mb Ram and a better CPU.
 
Yeah, that system is 7 year old, I don't think you would get any benefit from installing XP.

Forget playing any newer games, or any newer applications. My last system was faster than that and IT wouldn't play any new games.

I would suggest getting a new system.

And for future reference, Maxtor hard drives are not the best choice.
 
hey nutter
thx for your reply so you mean that im pretty much stuck unless i decide to do a full system upgrade like a new cpu, mobo etc...any suggestions on a good intel mobo/cpu combo?

tankman
 
And you will need a new case. That system had a proprietary motherboard that was made to fit that case. A standard ATX or Micro ATX board will not fit in your case.

So you will need to buy an all new system.

There are about 20 threads that have been posted in the last 2 weeks with tons of suggestions on building new systems. You should read those posts. Also at the top of this forum there is a link called Computer Specs 101. The moderator that wrote that did a very good job of listing system builds by price range. Some of the components are a little dated and the prices have defiantly gone down in price, but it's a good start for some research.

Heres a link for that computer specs page.

http://www.computerforum.com/81172-computer-specs-101-2007-04-a.html
 
paratwa
you've been a big help thx alot. i would like to take on building my own system, this is all new to me but ive been doing some research just to see what are my options. Im not into games so i'll go with a Intel setup...anything else you recommend?

tankman
 
Spend as much as you can afford, going cheap costs down the road.

Get a motherboard that will let you expand for the future. It sounds like you don't need the fastest system or the best gamer, so around $1000 should get you a very nice system.

Do not go cheap on the power supply or the ram, otherwise you can get a cheaper CPU (processor) and a cheaper video card. Those can be upgraded as you need, or can afford. At least until they come out with a new standard, and all the current processors are obsolete. Maybe another 1 to 2 years. But once the prices come down you could upgrade to a quad core and much better video card.

And please, please, please, build your own. You can get a better system doing so, and you will have the pleasure of knowing you did it yourself. Manufactured systems have proprietary parts that can not be upgraded.
 
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It wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure the MB and CPU has the latest CPU socket. At least you will be a little ahead of things for a while.
 
Or instead of building your own PC, you could hook up with one for like $700 from your local PC shop. Nothing fancy, but it will do the job.
 
paratwa, if he has had this system for 7 years, do you really think he needs to worry about expanding in the future? I would suggest you just get a mobo/cpu combo that fits your budget. Get a decent size hdd, at least 2-3 gigs of memory, especially if you plan on installing vista anytime in the next 4 yrs...good to go
 
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