Upgrading my PC

[Thue]

I am thinking of upgrading my computer. Currently it is a

Pentium 3EB 600MHZ with noisy generic cooler
256MB SDRAM (128MB PC100, 128MB PC133)
ASUS CUSL2 i815 Motherboard with integrated intel gfx.
40GB IBM HDD, somewhat noisy
Soundblaster live soundcard
Generic LAN card
Generic case
380watt antac truepower powersupply (upgraded for being low-noise and to be powerfull enough to be used with an athlon, in preperation for this upgrade.)

Now, I am on a low budget, about DKK 2000 (~$300). My priorities are:

• It needs to be stable!
  
• It must run linux, preferably non-binary drives *cough*nvidia*cough*
  
• It should be low-noise.
  
• The graphics subsystem is primarily for 2D. It should have fairly nice picture quality outputted. It would be nice to run a 3D game now and then, perhaps in low-detail mode. I would probably use windows for 3D *shudder*, so 3D drivers for linux is not imperative.
  
• If some ok quility component came integrated in the motherboard it would be a plus, allowing me to sell of my old components/use them otherwhere and cut down on the clutter in the case.

CPU	I was thinking about something like AMD Athlon XP 2200 for $62. You can't beat low-end AMD right now for price/performance.
RAM	DDR RAM comes natural. 256MB for $27 or 512MB for $59. Those were links to PC2700 RAM; does PC2700 RAM work in a PC2100 motherboard?
Graphics	I have a very basic gfx card I could use (Diamond viper v330, the generation before TNT), but I wonder if I would notice 2D improvement with a never card. I would like to have a newer card, but don't want to use too much money on it. It would be nice if it was integrated into the motherboard and therefore cheap.
Motherboard	Here I have looked at the ASUS A7N266-VM microATX at $59. This is cheap, has nice integrated GeForce2MX graphics, integrated LAN, as well as reviewer-recommened integrated sound. It only supports PC2100 RAM and 266MHZ FSB processors, but as I was looking at those anyway and you get the best performance when running RAM and FSB in sync this works out all right. BUT: To get the LAN, sound and 3D part of the graphics to work I would need to use nvidias binary drivers. Bummer. Any recommendations for other motherboards? Btw, I have an ATX cabinet, and am assuming that the microATX A7N266-VM will fit; is that reasonable?
CPU cooler	It would be nice to have a silent cooler. Maybe something like Silent Viking (~$30?)? Do anyone have recommendations?
Hard disk	I read (forgot where) that seagate barracuda made nice silent drives, and their latest 7200.7 models were also nice performers. So I was thinking about a 120GB , 8MB cache drive for $129. The 8MB cache costs about $30, but reviews indicate it is important for performance. This is the ATA/100 model, the serial ATA model cost more for no extra benefit (again according to review), and restricts the choise of motherboards.

This totals at 62+59+59+30+129=$339 for an Athlon 2200 with 512Mb RAM and 120GB HDD, all as good as silent.
It will leave me with the old PC intact minus case,powersupply,mouse,screen,mouse and keyboard. That could still be usefull as a computer, maybe sold for ~$100?.

I wonder if I will actually do this upgrade, as I don't really have a pressing need for it. And as I mentioned I don't have that much money.

Comments, help, ideas, flames?

[St Leo]

512mb is barely enough. That's what came with the system I bought two years ago.

[Unspeakable Horror]

If you are not planning to upgrade again in the near future then I would do it. Otherwise just wait to have more money .

[SlowwHand]

Mine is powered by a hamster on an exercise wheel , so it's noisy.
Quiet being important to you, I wouldn't recommend mine.

[alva]

That Atlon is anything but silent, count on spending close to 50€ for a cooler that is silentish and can handle it.
I have a 2000Xp and one of the best coolers for it, but it not P3 600 quiet.
(it's a lot better then my 1400amd though, noise was the main reason to upgrade, I was sick of sitting next to a vacuum-cleaner )
-

does PC2700 RAM work in a PC2100 motherboard?

It should work.

[Lord Merciless]

Build a new PC from scratch and setup a home network with your old one.

[Skanky Burns]

The powersupply from a system that old would probably be underpowered. Greatly. So your best bet would be to get a new one of them, they should be cheap enough.

[Urban Ranger]

For Athlon, the breakpoint seems to be at 1700XP at US$44. As for graphics, all integrated chipsets perform somewhat poor, but you probably don't care as long as you see something on the screen

[Cruddy]

I'd go with Skanky and Lord Merciless - your old PSU may still have to be eplacied if you want it stable. Check the outputs for 3.3 V and 5.0 Volts (mostly what the motherboard uses). 20 Amps 3.3V is a minimum really for what you are looking for - but as you have already looked into this, maybe Skanky and I are wrong.

The Micro ATX cards fit fine in an full ATX box, but you might need to swap the inserts around a bit (the bits you put screws into to hold the motherboard in place).

PC2700 should work fine as PC2100 RAM (never tried it so CHECK - but I'm pretty sure it's OK). Not sure I see the point unless maybe you plan for a motherboard upgrade later - but RAM prices usually fall, so why not get PC2100 now and PC2700 when you need it?

If you need to save a bit of money, I'd go for a smaller hard disk unless you can think of reasons why you need the extra gigs. Maybe smaller hard disk + CD writer would be more useful.

Your most important criterion is going to be getting Liix friendly extras, so it's probably best to build around these (maybe checking with Linux forums against what the folks therw use.

[Skanky Burns]

Actually, I didn't even read what the powersupply was. Yes, 380W should be enough.
But you can still buy a new cheap one and put it in the old system.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Actually, I didn't even read what the powersupply was. Yes, 380W should be enough.

Dweeb

[Fve Crathva]

Originally posted by alva
That Atlon is anything but silent, count on spending close to 50€ for a cooler that is silentish and can handle it.

No way! I bought a Vantec Aeroflow for less than C$40 (25€). It keeps my Barton 2500+ just above 30°C on a cool day, and puts out less than 40 dB of sound. With it and two case fans (in a light aluminum case), I can sleep at night with my head 2m away from the box.

Seagate Barracuda drives are extremely quiet and give excellent performance, I understand (though they don't have an ATA133 version). They're also very expensive, compared to equivalent drives. A Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB 7200RPM 9MS ATA100 drive costs nearly as much as a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB 7200RPM 8.5MS ATA133 drive (it's just a few dollars' difference). If I was on a budget, I'd buy a smaller Maxtor drive and spend the extra on a better motherboard. On the other hand, I guess if you're heavy into disk I/O then 8MB of cache would be nice.

SP

[Thue]

Originally posted by St Leo
512mb is barely enough. That's what came with the system I bought two years ago.

I just have a hard time imagining what I would use more RAM for. With my current 256MB all the programs I use can be cached, and I can compile a fairly big project and keep the files in cache. With 512MB I should be able to easily hold anything I work on in cache.

On the powersupply thing: you finally noticed that I had 380 Watt .

[Thue]

Originally posted by Carlos113
If you are not planning to upgrade again in the near future then I would do it. Otherwise just wait to have more money .

I think the smarter tactic is to buy at the low end, rather than wait to buy at the high end. This makes it possible to upgrade more often, so on average you will have a faster computer at hand. As added benefits you get more old hardware laying around, and you get to buy and assemble computers more often, which I consider as a big plus.

[Panag]

hi ,

get the new G5 from www.apple.com

and sell the old one or keep it to play games , .....

have a nice day