I want to upgrade my computer. What should I get.

[Stercus]

I would go for a cheap high performing P4.

Check out a P4 1.6A (the one with 512kb cache). It will easy go up to 2.4GHz with the shipped cooler.

Then you should combine it with 256MB DDR-RAM (DDR333 is best). As someone mentioned earlier more is fairly supported by Windows.
A motherboard with SiS645 chipset.
I don't know what this will cost in Canada but here in Denmark (we have the highest taxes in the world) it is about 400$ so you should be able to get it some cheaper.

[Zealot]

You don't know much about computers, do you Stercus? Because NO high-end processor is cheap! NONE! They're all rips-offs of your money, aimed to the lunatics that have money to spend in the supposed-state-of-the-art processors.

Stick with the Duron, Yolky!

[child of Thor]

Hey Yolky,I'll sell you(and post) my 8bit Atari 800XL(4.5mhz 6502processor) 64k RAM, 16k ROM, 5.25 inch Floppy Drive(with TurboDrive!) and 300+ excellent games(well ok maybe 30 are excellent) and two joysticks for £60.00(in $??)
Actually sorry i don't think i could bare to be without my 'wizard of wor' or 'joust'.......besides it's a museum piece you know.
I'm Afraid you'll just have to make do with your upgraded PC...sorry

[Stercus]

You don't know much about computers, do you Stercus?

Was it an insult? Is the price incorrect or what?
I happens to know quite a lot about computers. That is why I even bothered replying here.

Since I cannot find a site as good as the Danish www.edbpriser.dk I cannot make a complete price.

But from Pricewatch's prices I would say <350$ for CPU, 256MB RAM (PC2400 - PC2100 Apacer/Crucial should easily go this far) and Motherboard. With 256MB PC2100 it should be able to build for about 300$ (as far as I can see).

This system really outperforms Athlon systems in Price/performance. If you want something not as expensive but not as good go for a Celeron 1GHz (Tualatin version) it can go up to 1,5GHz. But the price won't be much lower than the first I suggested.

If you have questions about the OC'ing just contact me and shall explain how to do it. It is very easy.

[Zealot]

Looks like we could have a little flame war in here!

But I don't want to take part in it.
If you really knew anything about PCs, you wouldn't even advise anything from Intel, even with its Northwood!

But since Yolky shouldn't spend any money with high-end processors, since he won't overclock, I recommend him this site:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/02q1/020121/index.html

It's one of the world's most respected hardware site. I don't think anyone here will have the nerve to contest it...

[Stercus]

Looks like we could have a little flame war in here!

But I don't want to take part in it.

Neither will I. I just recommended the best buy if you dare to OC. I have an Athlon so I cannot say that I am an Intel fanatic. I couldn't see that he mentioned "I will not OC" but if he won't it must be his problem.

I will not agree that he should go Duron. Athlon 1.4GHz is about the same price as Duron 1.3GHz - Athlon is much faster than the Duron. Athlon XP 1.4GHz (1600+) is not that much more expensive compared to the Athlon. These CPU will not be able to OC.

Motherboard for Athlon is definitely ECS K7S6A. It is very cheap but rock stable and really nice. You will not get some of the usual VIA problems (there will proberly come more bugs from VIA) and only the necessary stuff is on the board.

Low-end CPUs are not a good choice unless you can OC them about 1.5x.

[Yolky]

Thanks you all for all your tips. I still havn't got the money yet to upgrade but since now that its been delayed till the 2nd Q I might be in luck for later.

From reading the tips I now know not to get ONE GIG of RAM. I thought the more the better but after reading some posts I will just get 256.

I just wish 300mghz would be enough since I jumped up and down when I got it but boy did it become a dinosaur really fast.

Davor

[Akaoz]

Sorry, wrong thread...

[Stercus]

just wish 300mghz would be enough

300PHz (as it also is shortened) should be enough ;-)

If I was you I would ask again when you are about to buy a new PC.

[Wiglaf]

From reading the tips I now know not to get ONE GIG of RAM. I thought the more the better but after reading some posts I will just get 256.

Just remember that if you need more, you can always buy some for around $30 extra and install it from crucial or pricewatch.com. For the future (2003), you'd probably be safer going the 512 RAM route if you've got the cash on hand. If not, just wait and upgrade later.

I just wish 300mghz would be enough since I jumped up and down when I got it but boy did it become a dinosaur really fast.

What Stercus said: for your next purchase, be sure to check by here and get some extra opinions for what exactly you should buy in terms of processor speed, RAM totals, etc. The market changes very quickly, and it's not uncommon to be on top of it one day and have a "dinosaur" so to speak the next.

Although 300 MHz is fine for most older games and almost all everyday tasks aside from rendering and the like.

Oh, one more thing: another important consideration, aside from the processor and RAM count, is the video card...that's a market that changes verry quickly. Definitely get some opinions here before buying a new computer as far as that's concerned.

[vmxa1]

As to video cards, Geforce2 are now cheap and will do for anything, except a few effects in dam few games. I got a Geforce 3 when they came out and it did nothing for any of my games that the Geforce 2 could not do. With Geforce 4 coming, the others will be going down in price.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by child of Thor
Hey Yolky,I'll sell you(and post) my 8bit Atari 800XL(4.5mhz 6502processor) 64k RAM, 16k ROM, 5.25 inch Floppy Drive(with TurboDrive!) and 300+ excellent games(well ok maybe 30 are excellent) and two joysticks for £60.00(in $??)

Bah. That's nothing. I still have my Atari 400, 16K Ram and with a cassette tape loader! Worth much more as a museum piece than your newfangled gadjet...

[child of Thor]

ravagon,
If only i hadn't used my ZX81 as a coffee mat
Ahhhh....those days of typing out 1k games cause i didn't have a storage device!!!!

P.S.Sorry for this hijack Yolky - i couldn't resist

[Sikander]

It's nice to see some of my contemporaries posting here. Waiting for that cassette drive to load a program, my friends and I would often start playing ball and forget completely about the whole thing.