Upgrading

Happy New Year to all. This is going to be a slightly long post but Ive been going back and forth about upgrading my PC for about 6 months now and I will probably (finally!) do something in the next 90 days or so. Here is my current PC: Gateway P166MMX Windows95b 64mb of SDRAM Diamond Stealth II S220 Telepath 33,600/14,400 Fax/modem Ensoniq sb compatible sound on the motherboard 3.2 Quantum Fireball HD 1.26 Maxtor HD 1.44 Floppy CD-Rom (16X maybe?) 15 inch Compaq Monitor Intellimouse Thrustmaster NASCAR Pro wheel MS Sidewinder joystick HP 560 C printer Color Scanner OK.. where to start? LOL Ive been trying to decide whether or not to wait until I have $2,000 to "spare" or just do a partial upgrade now. Well, since my ol P166 is getting to be "ancient"... I decided I would spend about $500 to upgrade this PC with consideration taken into future upgrades. A second PC in the future is not out of the question either. Here are my thoughts: Case: I need a new ATX case. My Gateway is only 145watts and the case a new case. Probably mid-tower with 235 or above watt power supply and removeable sides. Motherboard and CPU: I have read so many arguments about going for AMD or Celery chip. Im 95% sure I am going to go the Asus P5A route with an AMD K6-2 350 chip. I can get this with 64mb of PC100 SDRAM for about $350.00 Too bad my current 64mb of sdram were not PC100. Anyways... I was looking at this combo because with the P5A it is upgradeable for the K6-3s which will be coming out first and second quarter 1999. I can then just purchase a CPU upgrade as prices on the K6-3 drop. The K6-2 350 should be adequate for awhile and is still quite an upgrade from my 166MMX. Since my Gateway has the sound on the mb... I will need to purchase a sound card. Is the Creative 64 any good? Again.. I know about the Live card but Im trying to stay around my $500 total upgrade price for right now. I will swap over my Diamond Stealth II video card that I paid $14.00 for (My rebate from Diamond has been mailed ;) ). In the future I would like to upgrade to a TNT card, maybe the Viper 550. I understand the new bios for the P5A is working well with the TNT cards now. Windows98... should I upgrade to it?? Is it worth wiping my hard drive clean and starting over with it?? I dread reloading ALL my software =( I have CD-Rom for 90% of my software and the rest I can probably download again. I will have an LS-120 Super Disk to back up most of my stuff like setups, Communicator, etc. If I do go to Windows98... I will probably spend an extra few dollars on a large hard drive as well. As far as the modem goes... I havent upgrade to 56K yet for 2 reasons. My modem is pretty much rock solid right now and I may be going ISDN, cable, or ADSL in the next 6 - 12 months. So.... what I am looking for is suggestions and/or opinions on the above. I would also like any information and tips on upgrading to Windows98 or if you know of sites with alot of good info regarding that. Also looking at upgradability as a huge factor. I would like to be able to plug in $100 here or there to keep my system viable for N3, GPL, the new Trans-Am and Sports Car sims coming out. Maybe next year I will splurge and buy a top of the line Intel system, etc... but for now Im trying to get the most bang for the buck. The primary thing to remember is I have never done anything this extensive before and I am not overly computer literate. As I always tell people, I dont know enough about computers to be very useful... but I know enough to cause all kinds of trouble <VBG> I have added hard drives, ram, video cards, overdrive processors, etc. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Scott PA-Scott on TEN -- Scott B. Husted Marketing and Administrative Manager Riegel Federal Credit Union http://www.riegelfcu.org ICQ# 4395450

Scott, I am sure I won't be the only one to tell you this but I may be the first! GET THE CELERON 300A AND ABIT BH6 MOTHERBOARD! Overclock the processor to 450 Mhz and you will have the fastest PC around. I got this combo for Christmas and it is amazing. I had a P166, 32 megs ram, and Creative Banshee video card. In GPL for instance in practice, with most of the graphics turned off, I got about 20 fps. Now with ALL graphics turned on and a full field, I never drop below 30 fps at the start of the race and 36fps is the norm right after the start. I couldn't be more pleased and it is cheaper than the Asus/AMD combo that you are talking about. Todd Walker On Thu, 31 Dec 1998 15:11:20 GMT, "Scott B. Husted"

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>Happy New Year to all. >This is going to be a slightly long post but Ive been going back and >forth about upgrading my PC for about 6 months now and I will probably >(finally!) do something in the next 90 days or so. >Here is my current PC: >Gateway P166MMX >Windows95b >64mb of SDRAM >Diamond Stealth II S220 >Telepath 33,600/14,400 Fax/modem >Ensoniq sb compatible sound on the motherboard >3.2 Quantum Fireball HD >1.26 Maxtor HD >1.44 Floppy >CD-Rom (16X maybe?) >15 inch Compaq Monitor >Intellimouse >Thrustmaster NASCAR Pro wheel >MS Sidewinder joystick >HP 560 C printer >Color Scanner >OK.. where to start? LOL >Ive been trying to decide whether or not to wait until I have $2,000 to >"spare" or just do a partial upgrade now. Well, since my ol P166 is >getting to be "ancient"... I decided I would spend about $500 to upgrade >this PC with consideration taken into future upgrades. A second PC in >the future is not out of the question either. >Here are my thoughts: >Case: I need a new ATX case. My Gateway is only 145watts and the case >a new case. Probably mid-tower with 235 or above watt power supply and >removeable sides. >Motherboard and CPU: I have read so many arguments about going for AMD >or Celery chip. Im 95% sure I am going to go the Asus P5A route with >an AMD K6-2 350 chip. I can get this with 64mb of PC100 SDRAM for about >$350.00 Too bad my current 64mb of sdram were not PC100. >Anyways... I was looking at this combo because with the P5A it is >upgradeable for the K6-3s which will be coming out first and second >quarter 1999. I can then just purchase a CPU upgrade as prices on the >K6-3 drop. The K6-2 350 should be adequate for awhile and is still >quite an upgrade from my 166MMX. >Since my Gateway has the sound on the mb... I will need to purchase a >sound card. Is the Creative 64 any good? Again.. I know about the >Live card but Im trying to stay around my $500 total upgrade price for >right now. >I will swap over my Diamond Stealth II video card that I paid $14.00 for >(My rebate from Diamond has been mailed ;) ). In the future I would >like to upgrade to a TNT card, maybe the Viper 550. I understand the >new bios for the P5A is working well with the TNT cards now. >Windows98... should I upgrade to it?? Is it worth wiping my hard >drive clean and starting over with it?? I dread reloading ALL my >software =( I have CD-Rom for 90% of my software and the rest I can >probably download again. I will have an LS-120 Super Disk to back up >most of my stuff like setups, Communicator, etc. >If I do go to Windows98... I will probably spend an extra few dollars >on a large hard drive as well. >As far as the modem goes... I havent upgrade to 56K yet for 2 reasons. >My modem is pretty much rock solid right now and I may be going ISDN, >cable, or ADSL in the next 6 - 12 months. >So.... what I am looking for is suggestions and/or opinions on the >above. I would also like any information and tips on upgrading to >Windows98 or if you know of sites with alot of good info regarding >that. Also looking at upgradability as a huge factor. I would like to >be able to plug in $100 here or there to keep my system viable for N3, >GPL, the new Trans-Am and Sports Car sims coming out. Maybe next year >I will splurge and buy a top of the line Intel system, etc... but for >now Im trying to get the most bang for the buck. >The primary thing to remember is I have never done anything this >extensive before and I am not overly computer literate. As I always >tell people, I dont know enough about computers to be very useful... >but I know enough to cause all kinds of trouble <VBG> >I have added hard drives, ram, video cards, overdrive processors, etc. >Thanks for taking the time to respond. >Scott >PA-Scott on TEN

Where would that leave me as far as future upgrading goes?? Scott -- Scott B. Husted Marketing and Administrative Manager Riegel Federal Credit Union http://www.riegelfcu.org ICQ# 4395450

On Thu, 31 Dec 1998 16:29:35 GMT, "Scott B. Husted" >Where would that leave me as far as future upgrading goes?? >Scott Since you 'essentially' will be running close to a P2-400 for pretty cheap, you will be good for next year. Plus you'll be very upgradeable... You just need a bare-bones configuration. You can find one on the Internet for around 350 bucks. Move all your other components off your old PC. -Rich

It would leave you with more options for the future than the AMD route would. The AMD is still a socket 7 chip, whereas the Celeron is a socket 1, which is the same as the P2. With the Abit BH6, you will be getting the most advanced P2/Celeron motherboard available. If you are going to go this route, do it FAST. The greedy bastards at Intel are getting ready to change the Celeron so that people will no longer be able to overclock them. On Thu, 31 Dec 1998 16:29:35 GMT, "Scott B. Husted" >Where would that leave me as far as future upgrading goes?? >Scott

> If you are going to go this route, do it FAST. The greedy bastards at > Intel are getting ready to change the Celeron so that people will no > longer be able to overclock them. Good... it should help AMD get more market share ;) Im not Pro AMD/INTEL... I just like competition because it gives us options. Competition usually results in better products and lower prices. Scott > On Thu, 31 Dec 1998 16:29:35 GMT, "Scott B. Husted" > >Where would that leave me as far as future upgrading goes?? > >Scott -- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Scott B. Husted http://home.earthlink.net/~sbhusted ICQ# 4395450 PA-Scott on TEN *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

If your handy enough to build your own system you may want to check out some of the computer shows in your area. The prices are reasonable and for the money you want to spend you could build a new system and keep you old one around for odds and ends. I recently purchaced the parts to build a new system.... Abit BH6 m/b....$99 Celeron boxed retail....$123 64 meg PC100 ram....$85 Soundblaster pci128....$50 Teac 1.44 floppy drive...$18 36x CD drive.....$45 ATX case w/250watt.....$45 3.2 gig WD hd......$120 i740 video w/8meg.....$35 ----total-----------------$620 +tax If you want to canibalize your system the price drops even further. So you don't need to really upgrade, just rebuild..... Dave

Well I too suggest an Abit bh6 and celeron 300a combo and overclck it to 450. It will be cheap and fast and do just fine for the sims you listed providing you also add a good video card. FYI some other posts are just a touch short on info. The celeron 300a just dropped in price and is available for under $100. The celeron is a slot one but intel is moving away from slot 1 to socket 37 for the next gen of chips. You can use most of your old components but the ram may not be able to run at the 100 bus speed, there are ways around that however. This would be good until the next gen of sims come out, wild guess is 2-3 years minimum. Celeron 300a $76 Abit bh6 mobo $94 Inwin Q500a case $66 Soundblaster Awe 64 $34 Banshee 3dfx video card 16 meg $89 128 meg pc 100 ram $160 A totally kick ass system for just over $500, to avoid a variety of hassles you may consider seeing how much a local computer shop would do it for, my local shop was within $45 of the component prices and I didn't have to hassle with shipping or returns or any of that crap, and since I didn't have the time to deal with it they put it together for $50. For more info on overclocking check http://www.tomshardware.com/releases/98q4/981215/index.html http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=overclocker For shopping try http://www.a-pro.com/ http://www.pricewatch.com/ http://www.computernerd.com/upgrspec.htm#CPUS Good Luck JM

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> Happy New Year to all. > This is going to be a slightly long post but Ive been going back and > forth about upgrading my PC for about 6 months now and I will probably > (finally!) do something in the next 90 days or so. > Here is my current PC: > Gateway P166MMX > Windows95b > 64mb of SDRAM > Diamond Stealth II S220 > Telepath 33,600/14,400 Fax/modem > Ensoniq sb compatible sound on the motherboard > 3.2 Quantum Fireball HD > 1.26 Maxtor HD > 1.44 Floppy > CD-Rom (16X maybe?) > 15 inch Compaq Monitor > Intellimouse > Thrustmaster NASCAR Pro wheel > MS Sidewinder joystick > HP 560 C printer > Color Scanner > OK.. where to start? LOL > Ive been trying to decide whether or not to wait until I have $2,000 to > "spare" or just do a partial upgrade now. Well, since my ol P166 is > getting to be "ancient"... I decided I would spend about $500 to upgrade > this PC with consideration taken into future upgrades. A second PC in > the future is not out of the question either. > Here are my thoughts: > Case: I need a new ATX case. My Gateway is only 145watts and the case > a new case. Probably mid-tower with 235 or above watt power supply and > removeable sides. > Motherboard and CPU: I have read so many arguments about going for AMD > or Celery chip. Im 95% sure I am going to go the Asus P5A route with > an AMD K6-2 350 chip. I can get this with 64mb of PC100 SDRAM for about > $350.00 Too bad my current 64mb of sdram were not PC100. > Anyways... I was looking at this combo because with the P5A it is > upgradeable for the K6-3s which will be coming out first and second > quarter 1999. I can then just purchase a CPU upgrade as prices on the > K6-3 drop. The K6-2 350 should be adequate for awhile and is still > quite an upgrade from my 166MMX. > Since my Gateway has the sound on the mb... I will need to purchase a > sound card. Is the Creative 64 any good? Again.. I know about the > Live card but Im trying to stay around my $500 total upgrade price for > right now. > I will swap over my Diamond Stealth II video card that I paid $14.00 for > (My rebate from Diamond has been mailed ;) ). In the future I would > like to upgrade to a TNT card, maybe the Viper 550. I understand the > new bios for the P5A is working well with the TNT cards now. > Windows98... should I upgrade to it?? Is it worth wiping my hard > drive clean and starting over with it?? I dread reloading ALL my > software =( I have CD-Rom for 90% of my software and the rest I can > probably download again. I will have an LS-120 Super Disk to back up > most of my stuff like setups, Communicator, etc. > If I do go to Windows98... I will probably spend an extra few dollars > on a large hard drive as well. > As far as the modem goes... I havent upgrade to 56K yet for 2 reasons. > My modem is pretty much rock solid right now and I may be going ISDN, > cable, or ADSL in the next 6 - 12 months. > So.... what I am looking for is suggestions and/or opinions on the > above. I would also like any information and tips on upgrading to > Windows98 or if you know of sites with alot of good info regarding > that. Also looking at upgradability as a huge factor. I would like to > be able to plug in $100 here or there to keep my system viable for N3, > GPL, the new Trans-Am and Sports Car sims coming out. Maybe next year > I will splurge and buy a top of the line Intel system, etc... but for > now Im trying to get the most bang for the buck. > The primary thing to remember is I have never done anything this > extensive before and I am not overly computer literate. As I always > tell people, I dont know enough about computers to be very useful... > but I know enough to cause all kinds of trouble <VBG> > I have added hard drives, ram, video cards, overdrive processors, etc. > Thanks for taking the time to respond. > Scott > PA-Scott on TEN > -- > Scott B. Husted > Marketing and Administrative Manager > Riegel Federal Credit Union > http://www.riegelfcu.org > ICQ# 4395450