Need Computer Help -- Trying to Decide if I Want to Upgrade CPU

[NYC GOP Chick]

OK, I have a computer that's about 3 years old and I'm very attached to it. I've done lots of upgrades and improvements over the past year or so and instead of getting a new one, I'd like to do one more upgrade.

Having put in a Network Interface Card, doubled the RAM to 256K, installed a CD-RW drive and replaced the hard drive in my IBM Aptiva, I'm giving serious thought to updating the processor from a Pentium III 600 MHz to something like a P4 2G or something, and I have a few questions:

1) Do I need a new motherboard to do this?

2) How difficult is this to do? Will it become one of those "more trouble than its worth" things?

3) What issues and potential problems should I consider?

Here are some of the specs:

Pentium III 600
system board: V66M
system board chipset: Intel 82443ZX
system board form factor: micro-ATX
front-side bus speed: 100 MHz

[NYC GOP Chick]

I've installed and formatted my hard drive, but never did the partition thing.

[Revel]

They may be OK if you are going with intel, but I am unhappy with there AMD boards. I am suppose to be able to run at 133 FSB. The board won't post if I do.(This is a replacement board) Lots of other people had the same problem. The first one I bought would run at the correct bus speed. As soon as I got every thing installed I shut down the computer and it would never boot again. So I did not bother to go through all the hassle to send the 2nd one back. Asus is no help. People seemed to be pulling there hair out trying to get even there newer(Than mine) AMD MB's to work right. (Check AMDMB.com) Back in my intel days I had an Asus P2B-f And I have used the slightly newer P3B-F. It was one of the most stable and reliable MB's ever made. I Know nothing about biostar...I don't remember hearing about them in comparative reviews(Of top motherboards). Go to newegg and check the soyo MB's. Free shipping. Read the reviews there.

[Revel]

Thanks. It want it so bad I can taste it.

[John Lenin]

I have seen them for under $130 out here in CA, try e-bay.

[krizzy]

When you first install the operating system, you are given the option to keep drive C the full size of the hard drive. you can select no and set the size to a smaller number. then you do the same for each of the other drive letters, D,E, and F.

If you are not going to reinstall the os use a third party program like Partition Magic from Norton

as far as getting in over your head, I am assuming you have never done this before, you can get yourself into a bit of trouble. IE, halfway through you have a question, or you dont have a driver and your machine wont start, you can't get online to ask the question or DL the driver.

[krizzy]

When you first install the operating system, you are given the option to keep drive C the full size of the hard drive. you can select no and set the size to a smaller number. then you do the same for each of the other drive letters, D,E, and F.

If you are not going to reinstall the os use a third party program like Partition Magic from Norton

as far as getting in over your head, I am assuming you have never done this before, you can get yourself into a bit of trouble. IE, halfway through you have a question, or you dont have a driver and your machine wont start, you can't get online to ask the question or DL the driver.

[XBob]

77 - ping - you jogged my memory, it is 180, where the break is. I had 64, added 128 to dramatically increase speed, then later I added another 128, and it turned into a slug. took it back out and it worked fine again. checked the new memory, it was good. Then started checking with techies and found out the bug in 98. but they lost me explaining it, and said get 2000.

memory of both mother board and graphics card. but the operating systems and motherboards must be able to support them. this is why I said, just get a new complete system. You can transfer your software applications programs and your data.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I put together a nice system this summer with an AMD Athlon XP 2000+, Gigabyte GA-7vaxp motherboard, 512 mbyte of Ram and other goodies, MoBo available at new egg for about 112$, will have AGP 8X and support the newest fastest memory, on board 5.1 sound, ethernet, RAID Firewire, USB 2.0.

---------------------------

Gigabyte GA-7VAXP, VIA KT400 chipset 8X AGP ATX motherboard Retail
Specifications:
CPU Support: Socket A for AMD Athlon XP /Athlon/Duron processors
Chipset: VIA KT400/VIA 8235
Controllers: Promise PDC20276 ATA 133 RAID controller, Realtek 8100BL Ethernet 10/100Mb LAN controller, AC97 Realtek ALC650 6-channel sound Chip
Memory: 3x 184-pin DIMM slots
Memory Type: DDR400(PC3200) / DDR333 (PC2700) / DDR266 (PC2100) / DDR200 (PC1600), 3GB Max
IDE: 4 x UDMA ATA133/100/66 Bus Master IDE ports
Slots: 1x AGP(8X), 5x PCI
Ports: 1x FDD, PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse, 2x USB 2.0, 2x COM, 1x RJ45, Audio (1 x Line-in / 1 x Line-out / 1 x Mic) connector Model#: GA-7VAXP  user reviews-GA-7VAX   Special Free FedEx Saver Shipping

Add this for $91:

---------------------------------------------

Hot Item! AMD Athlon XP 2000+/266 FSB Processor CPU - 2000+/ 1.67GHz -Retail Box
BOX2000DMT3C. 3 Years Warranty. The AMD Athlon XP processor with QuantiSpeed architecture powers the next generation in computing platforms, delivering extra performance for cutting-edge applications and an extra-ordinary computing experience.world's highest overall performing PC processor.
Specifications:
CPU: 1.67 GHz
Type: 2000 XP
Cache: 256K
BUS: 266MHz
Socket A (PGA)
Retail (Box with Heatsink and Fan)Free FedEx Saver Shipping more info>

And for a really nice looking box go with this:

--------------------------

Price is down to $173:

Cooler Master ATC-210-VX1 (VERDANT). All Aluminum and Acrylic Case. Dual USB ports at the front. Drive Bay: 5.25' Bays (Exposed) x 4, 3.5' Bays (Exposed) x 2, 3.5' Bays (Shadow) x 4. 2 fans. Slot Bracket: 7. M/B Type: Standard ATX MB. Dimension: 520 mm(L) x 196 mm(W) x 452 mm(H). No Power Supply. Model#: ATC-210-VX1(VERDANT)   (Click here for Power Supplies)  FedEx Saver Shipping $12.00

Has a removable motherboard tray, and you will need a good power supply!

Several choices on the acrylic, blue and frosted blue!

All othe above available from newegg!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is a more complete spec on the Gigabyte board:

GA-7VAXP VIA KT400+8235 chipset
PROCESSOR
	Socket A for AMD Athlon™ XP / Athlon™ / Duron™ processor
CHIPSET
	Northbridge : VIA KT400
	Southbridge : VIA 8235
	VIA 8X V-Link architecture (533MB/s)
	VIA VT6306 IEEE1394 controller
	Super I/O : ITE IT8705F
	Smart I/O : Winbond Smart@IO
	Promise PDC20276 ATA 133 RAID controller
	Raeltek 8100BL Ethernet 10/100Mb LAN controller
	AC97 Realtek ALC650 6-channel sound Chip
	Dual BIOS
MEMORY
	Type : DDR400(PC3200) / DDR333 (PC2700) / DDR266 (PC2100) / DDR200 (PC1600) -184pin
	Max capacity : Up to 3GB by 3 DIMM slots
CONNECTOR
	1 x AGP universal slot (8X/4X/2X-AGP 2.0 compliant)
	5 x PCI slots (PCI 2.2 compliant)
	1 x FDD port
	4 x UDMA ATA133/100/66 Bus Master IDE ports
	3 x IEEE 1394 connectors
	2 x 2ports USB 2.0 connector (by front USB ports)
	1 x 2ports USB 2.0 connector (by cable with rear USB bracket)
	Memory Stick / Security Digital (MMC) / Smart Card Reader connectors
	2 x cooling fan pin header
REAR PANEL
	PS/2 Keyboard / Mouse
	2 x USB 2.0 ports
	2 x COM ports
	1 x RJ45 LAN port
	Audio (1 x Line-in / 1 x Line-out / 1 x Mic) connector
	1 x joystick
CPU SETTING
	CPU FSB adjustable via BIOS (1MHz-linear)
	CPU multiplier by DIP Switch
	CPU Vcore Voltage adjustable via BIOS
	AGP Voltage : N/A
	Memory Voltage : N/A
H/W MONITORING
	System health status auto-detect and report by BIOS
	H/W detect and report power-in voltage, CPU voltage, and Fan Speed Support auto detect temperature thermal shutdown function
POWER
	ATX power connector
	Power-off by Windows 95/ 98/ Me/ 2000/ NT/ XP shut down and Switch
BIOS
	2Mbit flash RAM
	AMI BIOS with enhanced ACPI feature for PC98/Win98/Win2000/WinMe/XP compliance, Green, PnP, DMI, INT13 (>8.4GB) and Anti-Virus functions
	IDE#1~#4, SCSI, LS120, ZIP and CD-ROM bootable
	AC recovery ON/OFF control
FORM FACTOR
	ATX, Dimension : ( 23.5 x 30.4 cm )
OTHER FEATURES
	GIGABYTE patented DualBIOS™
	Suspend-To-RAM (STR)
	Supports USB KB/MS Wake up from S3
	Poly fuse for keyboard over-current protection

[XBob]

partitioning your hard drive is relatively easy, and very dangerous - you erase all your data.

normally, you use the dos command, FORMAT (search your C: drive for FORMAT.COM)

but, it used to be, if you don't partition it first, you would lose everything already on it. with the latest versions, I don't know.

Partitioning is dividing up one hard drive into two or more hard drives, which are the addressed separately.

For example, you probably have an A: drive - the floppy, a C: drive, you hard drive, and then the D: drive, the CD (or something similar. Partitioning your C: drive, say 40GB, into 2ea 20GB drives, and your C drive becomes a 20GB, your D: drive is a 20GB, your CD becomes E: drive, etc.

I always partition my main hard drive, and put all my data on my D: drive (that way, if I screw up my C: drive, my data is not gone - unless there is a real physical problem with my hard drive), and also, when I screw up I can re-format my C: drive, reinstall all my applications, and still have my data, safe.

the best bet is to buy a program called Partition Magic:

http://www.westgatemedia.com/products/part_magic8.html

[Revel]

If you have a stand alone AGP card then you should be able to upgrade your video if you want to. If it does not get you the results you need then you can transfer the card over to a new system if you build one. The best bang for the buck is the ATI radeon series. It is also the most all around compatable card in my opinion. Other cards like Geoforce may be ahead in some areas, but lack in others. Radeons come in many varietys. Staples sells a cheaper 32MB DDR card for about $49.00. And they go up from there. Even this card would be an improvent for you. But if you are going all out then go for at least 64MB. You can find a 9000 series for about $115 here: NewEgg

What brand is your hard drive ? Both Maxtor and Western digital have free programs that will partition(Via volumes) for you with there brand of drive.

Windows 98 does not manage large amounts of memory well. That is one of greatest arguments for updating to XP. Of course there a whole lot of reasons not too.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Thanks for the info! Now I understand more of what it's all about.

[NYC GOP Chick]

I'm going to open the tower in the morning, after some sleep. :)

I *think* my hard drive is a Western digital -- I just installed it about six months ago. :)

[NYC GOP Chick]

Oh, and what are some of the reasons to not upgrade to XP?

[goldstategop]

Get Goback. Its better than Windows XP's built-in restore utility and even lets you reboot into Windows from a boot up menu with no boot up disks or complicated commands to input if one day your OS should go south. Its the restore feature Microsoft who have equipped Windows XP with but didn't and after having to reinstall Windows the hard way its worth every penny.

[Revel]

Yeah, but check out this:

DRAGON

[goldstategop]

Curious. How did you defeat the anti-piracy safeguard? Windows XP is supposedly locked into your particular hardware configuration so you can't install your desktop XP say on your laptop. It makes MS a lot of $$$$ forcing you to buy additional copies of XP for every computer in your home.

[goldstategop]

Isn't that warez?? LOL, no wonder you sound like a Leninist!!! :)

[John Lenin]

Corporate is not warez. It's an official MS release.

[XBob]

you are welcome.

to find out your motherboard serial number, on powerup, hit the pause button, as soon as you get some writing, and the serial number is normally in the bottom or top left. write it down with a pencil (normally a long numer) then when you go on internet, go to www.motherboard.com, and find out all about your MB from the serial number.