[TheOnly4u]

Hi everyone!

I got alot of old pc's and laptops, and I'm getting a new laptop. But one of the old PC's is in good shape, and I wondered if that old motherboard would support any of the new processors out there, or if not what is the best upgrade I can get.

The motherboard is a Abit IC7-MAX3 Intel 875P Chipset Pentium 4 Mainboard, Socket 478, running XP Pro.

• Supports Intel Pentium 4 Socket 478 processors(Prescott and Northwood) with 800/533 MHz Front Side Bus
• Supports Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
• Max 4GB Ram

That is what I got from the site.

The PC's now has Pentium 4 2.6GH processor with 1 Gigabyte Ram and a X800XT Platinum Edi. graphics card 256mb.

I use the PC for Webdesign including picture and vector design, and video editing. I usely have 4-8 main programs running with 2 screens. Once or twice a year there is game worthy playing so that need to be taken into cons.

Now the question is as stated above: Can I use any of the new processors out there, and if not what is the best I can get? And is there anything to gain in a memory upgrade and even a graphics board upgrade?

Chears and thx for any help!
TO

[BG-0]

About the highest available according to that information would be a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4. http://www.compuvest.com/Search.jsp?...dvsite=nexttag
I don't think that would be worth anything more than 30 $, rather spend a little money on an aftermarket CPU cooler and overclock your current one a little, so it will propably kick out about 3.2 GHz. Adding another GB of RAM (or replacing the old one too, getting one 2 GB stick, or 2 1 GB sticks(these options could be more of a boost, as the old RAM propably has lower clocks than the MBs max, and also might come with high latencies, making it slower.) could give you a slight performance boost. I assume you're using XP?
What are you planning to use/ using this machine for?
However, you won't be doing any hardcore gaming with that, so getting a new GFX card isn't worth the required new power supply.

[TheOnly4u]

Thank you!

It seems I have to upgrade my system. Keeping the price as low as possible, but still having the options to upgrade later, what system would you recommend?

I was thinking Intel with enough speed and ram to run Vista as a propper workstation(Need to run many programs at the same time). Graphics with at least 512mb(maybe upgradable by running 2 graphics cards). Geforce or ATI I woldnt know, but the one that is gone give me the least trouble.

Cheers
TO

[BG-0]

I'm not into factory-built PCs, so that's something I really can't answer..

BTW: about the graphics, if you want some info stuffed to your head. The video memory hardly is any factor in a graphics card's performance. You can find ones with 1024 MB=1 GB memory, worse than ones with 256 or 384 MB of video memory... So, don't get fooled. Ask us if you need to know which graphics card is better.

On the other side of the way: Would you be interested in building your own computer? You'd propably get better one cheaper, and it would be perfectly fit to your needs, which the pre-builts sometimes won't be, plus you'll learn many new things, e.g. knowing about the parts, so you can fix some minor hardware trouble without paying yourself broke for it, to the PC stores.

[TheOnly4u]

Hehe..Apart from laptops and Computers from work, I've always build my own PC's, It's just that I kinda dropped out of the builder game around when AMD X2 came around. The last PC I build was infact a AMD X2 that I build for a friend of my dad. I will have to admit that I didnt build my Commandore 64 or Atari STE...

So, no...I wouldnt dream of buying a factory PC. Building your own PC is a must for me. Them question above was more me asking for help to see what components to buy and not to buy i the current marked.

Cheers
TO

[BG-0]

Heh, good.
In short: (Let's assume I don't know your budget )
Intel dual- and quad-cores (Core 2 series) are the must for power use, AMD loses at CPUs other than tight budget builds(Athlon 64 X2). Looking in the mirror, very ashamed of my choice... :'''-/ Especially the Q-6600 is an almost legendary quad-core CPU.
Gigabyte P35 is a trustworthy mid-budget motherboard(I guess P35 are made with SLi capabilities), too many others out there to point out for all the possible needs.
ATI Radeon HD 4xxx series are the serious bang/buck cards now. Well, of course, nVidia has started to struggle and match the prices.
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (sata2) HDDs are good for the speed and capacity @640-1000 GB, at other capacities, they don't stand up as much.
OCZ StealthXtreams(other Xtreams too, not as much as a budget choice) are good for their price as quality PSUs. But just be sure to stick to a quality one.(FSP, OCZ, Antec, Enermax etc etc.)

If you want to try overclocking, throw in a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU cooler, or for extreme experience, Zalman CNPS 9700.
Case: Budget+quality=Cooler Master Centurion 5 or Antec 300. Flashy/1337: Antec 900/1200, Thermaltake Armor, some others too.
Monitor: No idea, I got Samsung Syncmaster 204B and it's fine. Not top of the line anymore, but got it used cheap.
Hmm.. >_< Ah, RAM: DDR2 is kinda best performance per buck. For example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145194 (I have linked that about 258 times) Or for a little less performance, cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

Need links for all the stuff?? Also, the budget could help

[TheOnly4u]

Well, the budget is limited atm as I'm waiting for worksmanas comp. In around 6 months it will be more or less unlimited as far PC goes anyway, but until then I need to stick to a budget.

What that budget is, is hard to tell. I want to find a pivit point where I go as cheap as I can, but still have proper power to run Vista with multiple programs like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, many different browsers and Excel at the same time.

As I said before, I play one or two games a year, so it's a must that I can play the latest game fairly good.

Last but not least, when I do get my workmans comp, I need to be able to upgrade by just adding a new processor and a second SLI GFX card and more ram.

How far as the whole driver issue come to with Vista 64? Or should I stick to the regular 32?

Cheers mate...
TO

[BG-0]

Okay. Here goes:
Motherboard. I don't think that support for more then 8 GB of RAM would be needed. Here's a good-looking Crossfire board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186148. If you want more room to upgrade... Just give a shout and I'll search.

For that, you could first get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115052, for mid-decent dual-core power. Or just make it up to Q-6600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115017. Then, when the budget is higher, get something like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115041 or, if you want to bankrupt them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115044

RAM. This would be a cheap, quite high-end 4 GB kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145194. Then you can get another one with their money. Even better kit...: Actually.. Couldn't find.

Graphics card... This is quite a dilemma. If you now have quite little money, and in 6 months outrageously much. You won't be satisfied by only getting a Radeon HD 4850 now, which is absolutely the best you can get (per-buck-wise). Then again, the 4870 and 4870X2 are quite pricey. ANYWAYS. 4850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121253 (I got it, and I'm most pleased with it. For the price, of course.) 4870: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125225 (this could just be the golden middle), 4870X2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103066 (suh-sweet! But... It comes with a price. These you wouldn't need two in years)

Power supply! This depends much on the choice of graphics cards. Some options: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817341002 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104043 etc etc

Case: If you like LEDs and stuff.. Antec 900 or Antec 1200 or Thermaltake Armor is your choice. For a more subtle touch: Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129042 (it's good, just add a few 120mm fans. Of course you can add LED fans or some cold cathode lights inside it to get a flashy look. If you plan to go that way, Antec 900 could be better... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129021)

Vista... Can't really say. I think 32-bit is bad, can't think how horrible would it be with added compatibility problems...

I'll post this and read through. And most possibly edit.

Reply, and I'll add/edit stuff.

[TheOnly4u]

Thanx for your answer...I'll check local prices and get back to you..I live in one of the most expensive countries in the world, though, so nothing is realy that cheap.

Cheers
TO

[TheOnly4u]

Originally Posted by BG-0

Okay. Here goes:
Motherboard. I don't think that support for more then 8 GB of RAM would be needed. Here's a good-looking Crossfire board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186148. If you want more room to upgrade... Just give a shout and I'll search.

Well here in Norway, these motherboards are what we get, MSI, ABIT, ASUS, XFX, Gigabyte, EVGA and a few more obscure brands.

As far as overclocking goes, I used to with the whole watercooling system, but now that I dont play that many games, I dont have the need to overclock anymore...

Edit: As far as Led as such...I just want a functional and Quiet PC. Getting to old to care otherwise.

[BG-0]

Can you provide some Norwegian web-store I could search for parts? And an about budget xxxx-xxxx in your currency?

[TheOnly4u]

Originally Posted by BG-0

Can you provide some Norwegian web-store I could search for parts? And an about budget xxxx-xxxx in your currency?

1 USD is 5,6 Nkr.

Budget is hard to guess, but there is a upper limit at around 4.500 nkr maybe 5k if if the curcumstances are right. Within the limits satt in earlier reply, I would like it as cheap as I can without compr. with speed and upgradebillity.

Cheers
TO

Store: http://www.komplett.no/k/k.aspx