PC upgrade - how high can I go?

[BigBadJay]

I have a TINY PC which is 2 yrs old now and needs upgrading but I dont know where to start.

It's a PII 350 mhz
128 MB SdRam
440 BX chipset
Microstar motherboard
Voodoo 3 3000 graphics

Can I go to PIII or AMD Athlon with a faster processor speed
?
I am a novice to this subject so any info uwould be appreciated

BigBadJay

[Edited by BigBadJay on 19-10-2000 at 08:10 PM]

[-[Raven]-]

Considering its a tiny PC, it'll prolly be a beatch to upgrade. Also, seeing as tiny (usually) refuse to tell you the make and model of the components they shove in your PC, you may have to do alot of researching.

Plus, looking at the age and the speed, I'd recommend you flog it and get a new PC. BUT not from Tiny, or any other crappy dealer, find a knowledgeable PC guy (like me :E) to build it.

Much better quality, usually cheaper, and usually free technical support too :)

I've got a m8 considering getting a Tiny, and I've been trying to convince him to let me do it, and not bother. Built PCs for tonnes of other mates.

If you want proof of Tinys crapness, just look at how often they 'feature' on Watchdog.

Back to the main point, I'd recommend a new CPU, but I dunno what you'd be able to get in there, though someone else might. Still easier to start afresh imo.

[Calzor Suzay]

Whats your budget and whats it going to be used for?

Theres plenty of peeps on here that will knock up a list of components if you want to go down the whole new pc route.

[libertysurfer]

I'll let u look at this page as its not memery you need as there a ok amount there your cpu needs to go faster so check this out
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_CPU_Coolers_2.html

And the frist fan go to the link review and read the test they did and it will only cost you £30 to have you cpu at 600 mhz

[BigBadJay]

I just want my PC to run games faster as it has started to feel slow on the new stuff.
I can spend about £200

I was told I would need a new motherbourd if I wanted to upgrade but I'm not sure if I do
I dont really want to build a whole new one as this PC cost me a fortune
also my pc already gets quite hot so i dont want to fry anything by overclocking

jason

[Edited by BigBadJay on 20-10-2000 at 09:07 PM]

[Ronin99]

You will need to change your motherboard I recommend an AMD Athlon and motherboard

AMD ThunderBird Athlon Socket CPU 700MHz 111.63 inc. vat
Abit KT7 Socket A (AMD/Duron/Tbird) 111.04 inc. vat
and fan

These prices are from http://www.scan.co.uk

Hope this helps

[physicalfeature]

IM TOTALLY NEW TO COMPUTERS AND I HAVE THE CHANCE OF A COMPUTER REALLY CHEAP

ITS A PACKARD BELL PENTIUM 3 500MHZ 128RAM
10GIG HARD DISK
AND A VOODOO 3 3000

ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS--------- IS THIS MACHINE STILL FAIRLY POWERFULL BY TODAYS STANDARDS OR IS IT STONEAGE
AND NEEDS UPGRADING
IF SO WHAT COULD I UPGRADE IT TO

I WOULD APPRECIATE SOME HELP

CHEERS

[BigBadJay]

will the KT7 motherboard fit in my Tiny ATX midi case?

[-[Raven]-]

Theoretically, yes, it should fit, but Tiny are exactly the ones to be using the correct standards nowadays, so theres a slight possibility it won't fit at all, seeing as they have their cases built for them, they build them how they want, and completely ignore the end user :)

Physical. This is my opinion, but that spec is what I'd expect to be the 'minimum' for gaming usage nowadays. Don't read what they say on game boxes for the min. spec, they always lie. That system wouldn't be able to handle the latest games in the next 8 months or so.

[-[Raven]-]

And turn off caps lock :P

[BigBadJay]

I just realised that I have a TINY Micro case!!
surely i will need a new one??

also how do u use smileys?????

[Edited by BigBadJay on 21-10-2000 at 01:02 PM]

[Deathwish2000]

I had a Tiny PC and my new components fitted in the case just fine (Abit BX6-2 mobo) :E FYI

[DizMatt]

I had a p2 333 on a BX mobo...
upgraded to a p3 550...
no problems now...
what you need a a bios upgrade, and a slot 1 chip
check what is the highest speed of CPU your mobo can take and then buy that...
remember your BX probs won't take coppermine, or 133 bus speeds...SO you might have to buy second hand no as 100Mhz FSB non-CU chips are hard to come by new at the mo

[FTM]

ok big bad jay...you can get micro ATX boards for duron/thunderbird..again scan have them in stock
but they are so lacking in slots I would rather spend another 35/40 quid and get a full size atx case

[Biggus]

Most decent slot-based BX boards will quite readily take Coppermine chips. In most cases, all you need to do is upgrade the BIOS, buy a decent slocket (socket to slot1) adaptor (Abit or Iwill), the P3 that your board will take, and a decent cooler that will fit in the gap between the slot and the RAM. The slocket is needed to reduce to voltage the CU chips need from 2.0v to 1.65v

A m8 of mine recently put a P3-800FCPGA in his 2 year old Gigabyte 6BXE. The GB site says that his board will take up to a 650, but further investigation revealed that the board has multiplier abilities up to 9.5

Hope that helps someone.

[libertysurfer]

just got a new case with 6 addictional fans and updated my bios so I'm now running at 700mhz on a 500mhzk6-2 also Its only on 30degress sometimes hits 35 when playing games

[Rigo]

Originally posted by physicalfeature
IM TOTALLY NEW TO COMPUTERS AND I HAVE THE CHANCE OF A COMPUTER REALLY CHEAP

ITS A PACKARD BELL PENTIUM 3 500MHZ 128RAM
10GIG HARD DISK
AND A VOODOO 3 3000

ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS--------- IS THIS MACHINE STILL FAIRLY POWERFULL BY TODAYS STANDARDS OR IS IT STONEAGE
AND NEEDS UPGRADING
IF SO WHAT COULD I UPGRADE IT TO

I WOULD APPRECIATE SOME HELP

CHEERS

it's a packard bell man, steer well clear f it cos they are crap. buy a decent computer from mesh or evesham or build your own. PB are cheap cs they use crap un-upgradeable components.