Pentium Iii, Upgrade.

[Jumbo chilli]

Hi all.

Couple of days ago one of my friends gave me his old computer(Pentum III, 128MB sd-ram, with WIN xp) which has become my wife's game-boy.

I'd like to upgrade this system for my wife.(for playing games, surfing internet))

Would you guys please tell me what options are available-My budget is 5-6,000 baht.?

Thanks in advance.

[solo siam]

Best bet would probably be to upgrade the motherboard and CPU, You could probably just about squeeze that all in for 6,000 baht (including 256mb memory).

[stumonster]

definately more ram , at least another 128 meg , maybe install win2k pro instead of xp

, and an AGP video card ( what card is in it now? - and check for new drivers for everything - and what speed P3 CPU is it?

[Tywais]

ASUS Mainboard ~2000.00Baht with the following features:

Intel Pentium IV/Centron support - Integrated Graphics - 6 Channel Audio - 10/100 Mbps LAN Supports - Max. 6 USB2.0 ports support

2.4GHz Celeron CPU ~3000.00 Baht

256MB PC2100 memory ~2000.00 Baht

That is about the minimum for a true performance upgrade.

If not willing to go that route then:

Increase memory to 256M or more though SDRAM is going to expensive and perhaps difficult to find. Price ?

Higher speed/capacity disk drive 80GB 7200 RPM ~2500.00 Baht

64-128MB Video card 1400.00 - 2000.00 Baht

As for games. If you mean basic games like mahjong, solitare, etc. then the 2nd system suggestion will be no problem. Actually your current setup will run these type of games and browse the network with no problems.

If you want medium level games then the mainboard upgrade will be needed. If you want high level games like DOOM3, F.E.A.R then that is a whole different issue completely and the video card alone would cost more then your budget.

[Thetyim]

Assuming that you are on dial-up no upgrade will improve your surfing speed.

For simple games you will need more RAM and a VGA card.

2k baht for 256mb sdram and 2k for a low end VGA card.

For more serious gaming then go for CPU and MoBo as suggested by Ben but you will still need a VGA card.

[Jumbo chilli]

ASUS Mainboard ~2000.00Baht with the following features:

Intel Pentium IV/Centron support - Integrated Graphics - 6 Channel Audio - 10/100 Mbps LAN Supports - Max. 6 USB2.0 ports support

2.4GHz Celeron CPU ~3000.00 Baht

256MB PC2100 memory ~2000.00 Baht

That is about the minimum for a true performance upgrade.

If not willing to go that route then:

Increase memory to 256M or more though SDRAM is going to expensive and perhaps difficult to find.  Price ?

Higher speed/capacity disk drive 80GB 7200 RPM  ~2500.00 Baht

64-128MB Video card  1400.00 - 2000.00 Baht

As for games. If you mean basic games like mahjong, solitare, etc. then the 2nd system suggestion will be no problem.  Actually your current setup will run these type of games and browse the network with no problems.

If you want medium level games then the mainboard upgrade will be needed.  If you want high level games like DOOM3, F.E.A.R then that is a whole different issue completely and the video card alone would cost more then your budget.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think your second suggestion sound's good to me.

As this computer is our second desktop and is basically for my wifes game, I don't want to go through all hassle(?)

Wouldl adding 256 ram help speeding up system while C.P.U is P3 1Ghz?

JC

[Jumbo chilli]

Assuming that you are on dial-up no upgrade will improve your surfing speed.

For simple games you will need more RAM and a VGA card.

2k baht for 256mb sdram and 2k for a low end VGA card.

For more serious gaming then go for CPU and MoBo as suggested by Ben but you will still need a VGA card.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well.. it seems adding up more ram and upgrading vga card is only option then?

What if I add more than 512ram, any advice?

[Thetyim]

If you are running XP then 256 ram is the minimum reccommended.

Sdram costs about 2000 baht for a 256MB stick

[The Coder]

I think trying to stretch a gaming machine life to 10 years which you may be thinking is going to be a losing battle. It just doesn't have the horse power. I'd say make do with it long enough until you can afford a newer mobo, cpu, ram, and video card. The machine is just too outdated to reasonably upgrade. About your best bet in the mean time is stick to games that came out in the 1990's and it will run great.

[Tywais]

Assuming that you are on dial-up no upgrade will improve your surfing speed.

For simple games you will need more RAM and a VGA card.

2k baht for 256mb sdram and 2k for a low end VGA card.

For more serious gaming then go for CPU and MoBo as suggested by Ben but you will still need a VGA card.

Well.. it seems adding up more ram and upgrading vga card is only option then?

What if I add more than 512ram, any advice?

For XP, 128M is marginal, 256MB would be minimum as suggested already and from 256 to 512 will give an additional 20-30% boost if you have a slow hard disk drive (prevents swapping to virtual memory).

So memory 1st then video card would be the recommendation.

[Highwayman]

The Coder summed it up nicely.

SD-RAM is outdated and if bought new is not exactly cheap. Few modern motherboards support it so you're unlikely to be able to transfer it for use in any newer system you may decide to buy in the future.

This PC l'm using now has an old Duron 900 so l upped the memory from 256 to 512RAM. Using WinXP the performance has improved greatly. I used to get programs stalling and freezing often but now that rarely happens. I don't play high end games but if l did, judging by the performance on mid range games l've tried it would be a bad idea. Increasing the RAM further would not have as dramatic an effect so would be a waste of money imo. 512RAM is the sweet spot for a machine like yours.

Spending money other than on RAM would be foolish, maybe a used VGA card. Upgrading to a new VGA card that can handle the latest games would mean a new CPU, cooling etc. Any extra money would be much better spent on buying a complete current model machine which will be much better value for your outlay.

Earlier this year l got a new budget computer for a friend. It cost half the price of what l paid for this machine about 3 years ago, has double the memory, a DVD-RW instead of a CD-ROM, a Celeron 2.6 instead of a Duron900, a LCD monitor etc. etc.

While it was good of your friend to give you the PC he probably worked out that it was not worth upgrading. Throw in some memory and keep it for the internet and older games and then in the future just buy a new machine. Have a look at some of the online retailers and when you see what you can get you will realise the folly of spending money on something so outdated.

Edited November 25, 2005 by Highwayman

[Jumbo chilli]

I've just decided not to take any action on my wife's old computer and leave it as it is.

As most of posters say it isn't really worth a go.

Well.. . this is it.

Thanks very much all of you guys, it was great finding or learning new stuff.

It is really great to be a tv member.

[stumonster]

if there is nothing on there you need - re-install the operating system , a new install is much faster than one that has been used for a while.

[mouse]

If you are running XP then 256 ram is the minimum reccommended.

My vote goes to upgrading the RAM to the maximum extend possible (I run 1GB RAM) and upgrading the Video card to what is available with the rest of the funds.

[Jumbo chilli]

If you are running XP then 256 ram is the minimum reccommended.

My vote goes to upgrading the RAM to the maximum extend possible (I run 1GB RAM) and upgrading the Video card to what is available with the rest of the funds.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would you tell me differences between the P-III(1Ghz)system fitted with 512ram and one with 128ram(sdram)?

I'm computer green eyed.

[The Coder]

Simple. At the times you find yourself inconvenienced by having to wait for something to happen, look at your hard drive light. If it is blinking wildly and churning away more ram should speed things up quite a bit. You really do want bare minimum 256MB these days, and even that is less than ideal. RAM will give you the most bang for the buck.