Upgrading in stages

**Uzona** · 04-28-2002, 12:22 AM

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. My PC bites and I'm going to build a new one but due to limited budget I have to do it in stages. Finally convinced the misses to let me spend some money, but I gotta spend it before she does so waiting for something better or I have enough for all of it is not an option.

What I plan to salvage from current PC until I get a chance to upgrade it in stage III:

Monitor, Floppy, CDROM, mouse, keyboard.
MAXTOR 8GB 5400 ATA-66 (I think, but might even be ATA-33).
LINKSYS 10/100 NIC
USR 56K v.90 PCI modem

Stage I.
ANTEC SX1040 or Maybe the 1080.
MSI 845 ULTRA-ARU
P4 1.6a
256 MB Samsung PC2700
Win2K or WinXP Pro
Radeon 32MB DDR 4X AGP

(I know, I know, You don't like the video card. But it's $39 at newegg and my old Viper 4MB card won't work on the new config. It's only temporary and this is actually a big step up. lol. I'm also out of cash for stage I)

Stage II
Cable Internet comes to my area in June.(Woo Hoo!, no more 56K

)
Cable Modem
Linksys Wireless Router
Wireless PCI Card so my son can share internet access thru the router.

STAGE III
August

2 40GB Maxtor ATA-133 Quiet Drive (RAID 0)
Lite-on CD-RW
Another 256 MB Samsung PC2700
DVD Drive

[b]Stage IV[/V]
Radeon 8500 AIW
or
Latest Card + TV Tuner

Now I know the HD, 256 MB Ram and Radeon 32 are going to be bottlenecks initially. But do you see any problems that will stop it from working?

My questions are:

1) Will my plan work?

2) Is the Samsung PC2700 Single Sided or Double Sided?

3) Ati's site says the Radeon 32 is 2X or 4X AGP and 3.3V or 1.5V.
A 3.3V card will damage the MSI board. Will I be safe? Will the card automatically operate at 1.5 when it see's the MSI supports 4X AGP?

4) With that Radeon can I use XP or should I stick with WIN2K? It doesn't look like there are drivers for XP. What drivers would you recommend?

5) If no conflicts with XP which OS would you recommend?

6) Anything else I should be concerned about? Incompatibilities etc.

**indieboy117** · 04-28-2002, 01:18 AM

One suggestion, if your money is limited why don't you go with an AMD Athlon XP instead of a Pentium 4?

**Uzona** · 04-28-2002, 02:35 AM

lol. I should have anticipated that question.

Honestly I've debated the AMD/Intel issue quite a bit and keep changing my mind. It's a tough choice, but monetarily it's not that big a difference.

AMD System
$110 Epox 8k3a+
$108 Athlon 1800XP
$ 22 Volcano 7+
---------
$240

P4 System
$124 MSI 845 ULTRA ARU
$132 P4 1.6a retail with HSF
----------
$256

I could knock $20 off the AMD system by going with a KT266A board. But the difference in price isn't going to help me get another stick of ram,HD, or better video card.

Also heat is a big issue. It gets darn hot in AZ in the summer and ambient temps in the loft will be about 82F. The cooler running Northwood currently has me leaning towards Intel.

Plus I'd like to see if I can OC the 1.6a during the winter months.

Oh, I should also mention that I'm a bit of a pansy and the thought of cracking the core on an athlon makes me nervious.

**Chicken** · 04-28-2002, 03:50 AM

Yes, its just crazy enough to work, lol
I had to do that with my comp, i'm still doing that
i'm at my third to last step
1. get new sound card. i'm tired of this 2 bit sound crap
2. get new mobo/with cpu and mem
3. New video card

04-28-2002, 12:22 AM	#1
Uzona Catfish Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 115	Upgrading in stages I'll try to keep this as short as possible. My PC bites and I'm going to build a new one but due to limited budget I have to do it in stages. Finally convinced the misses to let me spend some money, but I gotta spend it before she does so waiting for something better or I have enough for all of it is not an option. What I plan to salvage from current PC until I get a chance to upgrade it in stage III: Monitor, Floppy, CDROM, mouse, keyboard. MAXTOR 8GB 5400 ATA-66 (I think, but might even be ATA-33). LINKSYS 10/100 NIC USR 56K v.90 PCI modem Stage I. ANTEC SX1040 or Maybe the 1080. MSI 845 ULTRA-ARU P4 1.6a 256 MB Samsung PC2700 Win2K or WinXP Pro Radeon 32MB DDR 4X AGP (I know, I know, You don't like the video card. But it's $39 at newegg and my old Viper 4MB card won't work on the new config. It's only temporary and this is actually a big step up. lol. I'm also out of cash for stage I) Stage II Cable Internet comes to my area in June.(Woo Hoo!, no more 56K ) Cable Modem Linksys Wireless Router Wireless PCI Card so my son can share internet access thru the router. STAGE III August 2 40GB Maxtor ATA-133 Quiet Drive (RAID 0) Lite-on CD-RW Another 256 MB Samsung PC2700 DVD Drive [b]Stage IV[/V] Radeon 8500 AIW or Latest Card + TV Tuner Now I know the HD, 256 MB Ram and Radeon 32 are going to be bottlenecks initially. But do you see any problems that will stop it from working? My questions are: 1) Will my plan work? 2) Is the Samsung PC2700 Single Sided or Double Sided? 3) Ati's site says the Radeon 32 is 2X or 4X AGP and 3.3V or 1.5V. A 3.3V card will damage the MSI board. Will I be safe? Will the card automatically operate at 1.5 when it see's the MSI supports 4X AGP? 4) With that Radeon can I use XP or should I stick with WIN2K? It doesn't look like there are drivers for XP. What drivers would you recommend? 5) If no conflicts with XP which OS would you recommend? 6) Anything else I should be concerned about? Incompatibilities etc. Last edited by Uzona; 04-28-2002 at 12:30 AM.

04-28-2002, 03:50 AM	#4
Chicken Hammerhead Shark Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 1,908	Yes, its just crazy enough to work, lol I had to do that with my comp, i'm still doing that i'm at my third to last step 1. get new sound card. i'm tired of this 2 bit sound crap 2. get new mobo/with cpu and mem 3. New video card __________________ 2.8 800fsb xeon supermicro x6gdal-go geforce 6600gt 160gb Seagate x2 raid0 lsi150-4 1gb pc2700 ecc reg

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04-28-2002, 01:18 AM	#2
indieboy117 Hammerhead Shark Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 1,285	One suggestion, if your money is limited why don't you go with an AMD Athlon XP instead of a Pentium 4?

04-28-2002, 02:35 AM	#3
Uzona Catfish Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 115	lol. I should have anticipated that question. Honestly I've debated the AMD/Intel issue quite a bit and keep changing my mind. It's a tough choice, but monetarily it's not that big a difference. AMD System $110 Epox 8k3a+ $108 Athlon 1800XP $ 22 Volcano 7+ --------- $240 P4 System $124 MSI 845 ULTRA ARU $132 P4 1.6a retail with HSF ---------- $256 I could knock $20 off the AMD system by going with a KT266A board. But the difference in price isn't going to help me get another stick of ram,HD, or better video card. Also heat is a big issue. It gets darn hot in AZ in the summer and ambient temps in the loft will be about 82F. The cooler running Northwood currently has me leaning towards Intel. Plus I'd like to see if I can OC the 1.6a during the winter months. Oh, I should also mention that I'm a bit of a pansy and the thought of cracking the core on an athlon makes me nervious.