[BigDaveinNJ]

In the upcomming months I will be looking to get a new PC. I only have about $500 or so to spend, maybe slightly more. Right now... this is what I have. I have listed all the specs below. My question is this. Wouldn't almost anything today, even a "low end" e Machine type be an upgrade over what I have now?

Thanks in advance

DAVID

MY CURRENT PC

Specifications: Dell™ Dimension™ XPS T-450

General • System Information • Expansion Bus • Memory • Drives • Ports • Video • Audio • Power • Physical • Environmental • Regulatory Notices • IRQ Assignments • Default Dell-Installed Expansion Card Placements • DMA Assignments
General
Microprocessor type Intel® Pentium® III
Microprocessor speeds 450 MHz internal/100 MHz external
500 MHz internal/100 MHz external
550 MHz internal/100 MHz external
L1 cache 32 KB SRAM (16 KB data; 16 KB instruction)
L2 cache 512 KB SRAM
Microprocessor mounting single-edge contact cartridge 2 (SECC2) package connected to the system board contains microprocessor and cache circuitry
Math coprocessor internal to microprocessor
System Information
System chip set Intel 440BX AGPset
Data bus width 64 bits
Address bus width 32 bits
DMA channels seven
Interrupt levels 15
System BIOS chip 4 Mb (512 KB)
System clock 100 MHz (matches external processor speed)
Diskette/communications ports 48 MHz from the system clock
Expansion Bus
Bus types ISA, PCI, and AGP
PCI expansion-card connectors four full-length
Shared PCI/ISA expansion-card connector one full-length (slot contains both a PCI and an ISA connector, only one of which can be used at any given time)
AGP expansion-card connector one full-length
ISA bus frequency 8.33 MHz
PCI bus frequency 33 MHz
AGP bus frequency 66 or 133 MHz (based on video card)
Plug and Play revision 1.2a
PCI bus specification complies with PCI specification 2.1
PC-to-PCI bridging supported
Memory
Architecture ECC or non-ECC SDRAM 168-pin modules (To support ECC, all installed DIMMs must be ECC-capable.)
DIMM sockets three
DIMM capacities 32, 64, 128, and 256 MB
Minimum RAM 64 MB (non-ECC)
Maximum RAM 768 MB
Frequency 100 MHz
Clock cycle 10 ns (supports 4 clocks only)
CAS latency three
SPD revision 1.2
Buffering unbuffered
Voltage 3.3 V
Data bus width 64 bits non-ECC; 72 bits ECC (8 bits per chip)
BIOS address F0000h
NOTE: Only 100-MHz DIMMs are supported. The system can include both ECC and non-ECC memory; however, to support ECC, all installed DIMMs must be ECC-capable. ECC DIMMs have an odd number of memory chips on the module and non-ECC DIMMs have an even number of chips.

Drives
Mini tower chassis:

Externally accessible bays five total: two 5.25-inch bays for diskette, tape, or CD-ROM drives; three 3.5-inch bays for diskette or tape drives

Internally accessible bays two bays for 1-inch-high EIDE or SCSI hard-disk drives
Desktop chassis (available only in certain locations):

Externally accessible bays four total: two 5.25-inch for diskette, tape, or CD-ROM drives; two 3.5-inch bays for diskette or tape drives

Internally accessible bays two bays for 1-inch-high EIDE or SCSI hard-disk drives
Ports
Externally accessible:

Serial (DTE) 9-pin connector; 16550C-compatible

Parallel 25-hole connector (bidirectional)

PS/2-style keyboard 6-pin mini-DIN connector

PS/2-compatible mouse 6-pin mini-DIN connector

MIDI/game* 15-pin connector

Video 15-hole connector on an AGP video card

Audio* three miniature jacks for LINE IN, LINE OUT, and MIC IN

USB two USB-compliant connectors
Internally accessible:

Primary EIDE 40-pin connector

Secondary EIDE 40-pin connector

Diskette drive 34-pin connector
* Available in integrated audio systems only

Video
Video 2X AGP video card (see manufacturer's specifications for information about the card and any utilities and drivers included)
Audio
Audio Yamaha 724 DS-1 chip set

Power
DC power supply:

Wattage 200 W

Voltage (switch selectable on back panel) 90 to 135 V at 60 Hz;
180 to 265 V at 50 Hz;
100 V at 50 to 60 Hz for Japanese systems

Heat dissipation 778 BTU (fully loaded system without monitor)
Battery 3-V CR2032 coin cell
Physical
Mini tower chassis:

Height 43.69 cm (17.2 inches)

Width (with base) 20.32 cm (8 inches)

Depth 44.45 cm (17.5 inches)

Weight 11.3 to 13.6 kg (25.0 to 30.0 lb)
Desktop chassis:

Height 16.00 cm (6.3 inches)

Width 42.42 cm (16.7 inches)

Depth 44.45 cm (17.5 inches)

Weight 11.3 to 13.6 kg (25.0 to 30.0 lb)
Environmental
Temperature:

Operating 10° to 35°C* (50° to 95°F)

Storage –40° to 65°C (–40° to 149°F)
Relative humidity 20% to 80% (noncondensing)
Maximum vibration:

Operating 0.25 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 1/2 octave/min

Storage 0.5 G at 3 to 200 Hz at 1/2 octave/min
Maximum shock:

Operating left side (for mini tower orientation) and bottom half-sine pulse with a change in velocity of 50.8 cm (20 inches)/sec

Storage 23-G faired-square wave with a velocity change of 508.0 cm (200 inches)/sec
Altitude:

Operating –16 to 3048 m* (–50 to 10,000 ft)

Storage –16 to 10,600 m (–50 to 35,000 ft)
* At 35°C (95°F), the maximum operating altitude is 914 m (3000 ft).
Regulatory Notices
FCC (U.S. only) Class B
IC Notice (Canada only) Class B
CE Notice Class B
VCCI Notice (Japan only) Class B
NOM O24 Information (Mexico only)


IRQ AssignmentsIRQ Line System Resource IRQ Line System Resource
IRQ0 System timer IRQ8 RTC
IRQ1 Keyboard buffer IRQ9 Available2
IRQ2 Enables IRQ8 through IRQ15 IRQ10 Available
IRQ3 Available1 IRQ11 Default PCI IRQ3
IRQ4 Serial port IRQ12 Mouse port
IRQ5 Available IRQ13 Math coprocessor
IRQ6 Diskette/tape drive controller IRQ14 Primary EIDE channel
IRQ7 Parallel port IRQ15 Secondary EIDE channel
1IRQ3 is available provided that no other device in the computer (such as a modem) is using COM2 or COM4.
2IRQ9 is available to PCI cards only.
3The PCI IRQ is assigned to an available IRQ line after an ISA expansion card has been configured. If an ISA expansion card is configured for IRQ11, the PCI IRQ is assigned to another available IRQ line.

Default Dell-Installed Expansion Card Placement

Table 1 provides the default Dell-installed expansion card placements if a system is ordered without a TV tuner card. Table 2 provides the default Dell-installed expansion card placements if a system is ordered with a TV tuner card.

Table 1. Default Dell-Installed Expansion Card Placements for Systems Without TV Tuner CardExpansion-Card Slot Expansion Card
AGP Port AGP video
PCI Slot 1 NIC
PCI Slot 2 DVD/audio
PCI Slot 3 Audio/SCSI
PCI Slot 4 PCI modem
PCI Slot 5 PCI/ISA shared
ISA Slot 1 Open


Table 2. Default Dell-Installed Expansion Card Placements for Systems With TV Tuner CardExpansion-Card Slot Expansion Card
AGP Port AGP video
PCI Slot 1 DVD
PCI Slot 2 Audio
PCI Slot 3 TV tuner
PCI Slot 4 PCI modem
PCI Slot 5 PCI/ISA shared
ISA Slot 1 Open



DMA Channel AssignmentsDREQ Line Used By/Available
DREQ0 Default audio DMA channel assignment
DREQ1 Default audio DMA channel assignment
DREQ2 Generated by I/O controller to enable DMA cycle for attached diskette drive
DREQ3 Parallel port (ECP)
DREQ4 Reserved
DREQ5 Available
DREQ6 Available
DREQ7 Available

[etaf]

what is it that this PC - will not do for you
and what are you hoping to be able to do on the new machine

[BigDaveinNJ]

Hi... Well, for one thing, as you can see, my PC, which at one time was considered one of the better ones back in 99, is now way outdated. I run Win98se... and that in itself doesn't allow me to run most of the newer programs.

Also... things like only having 128mb of ram and just a 16mb video card by todays standards, are really very weak.

What I would like my newer PC to do would be some of the things I do now, such as surf the internet, do some photo editing and play some games and also try things like GOOGLE EARTH etc... and other programs you simply cannot run on 98.

So back to my original question, wouldn't any newer PC, even one like an e Machine be an upgrade over this dinosaur?

Thanks again.

DAVID

[JohnWill]

Well, most machines would be an upgrade, but if you're going to spend the money, you might as well get something that will last for a longer time.

You have to decide what your budget is for this machine first...

[calvin-c]

One thing that an emachine will probably not do that your current PC is doing is last. My experience with eMachines is that a 3-year old one is ready-to-fail and a 4-year old one probably has already failed. Contrast that with your 10-year old PC. Yes, it's outdated & even the emachine will probably outperform it, but don't expect to get 10 years out of something like an emachine-I just don't think that's going to happen.