buying

I have a PIII and I have some problems with the motherboard. I need to replace it. Eventually, the technician/supplier suggested me to buy a new Asus motherboard, a PIV 2.4 processor and new case.

Actually, the pc I am talking about, I only use it for basic staff such as Word, Excel etc. Do you think I should make all that upgrade or shall i buy a motherboard for my PIII 500mhz processor. However, I also need to buy a new sound card and video card, since in my previous system, they were built in with the mainboard.

Also, I am planning to run the Win 98 SE OS.

Thanks for your ideas!!

 

For basic stuff like no video, Games, CAD programs what you have is fine.

I wouldn't invest in expensive PIV if you don't need it. You can get a MOBO that will do your stuff for a small price and use the PIII CPU and Ram you have. 128 Mb of ram is plenty.

Also sound card and video cards are pretty cheap if you aren't too demanding. The same goes for the case.

Don't buy hummingbird feather boots if you only need flip flops.

 

I'm running Win98SE on what was a pent. 166Mhz that was upgraded to an AMD K6-2 @ 400Mhz with 64Mb of EDO 72 pin SIMM's ram, a 1Mb video card, Creative ISA sound card, 15" monitor, 3 Gig harddrive, Woks 2000. Publisher 2000, Excell 97, IE 6, Outlook Express 6, Open Office ver 1.0.1, Winzip 8.2 the list goes on & on. As far as typing a letter, making a card every once in a while, checking E-Mail, Surfing the Web, all work fine for my purposes. Now the one problem I have had is with games Motorcross Madness, NHRA Drag Racing 2, Harley Davidson Race Across America wouldn't run on this box but Wheel of Fortune, Hoyle Solitare, Mahjong will work fine they aren't as graphic intensive. I built an AMD XP1800 system for games and CD burning i had the burner in the 400 Mhz system & it worked fine there also. So basiclly unless you are into extreme gaming such as Quake III or such then what you have should be fine, but just ask yourself these questions; Did my old computer do everything I desired it to? & Are you happy 100% with your old sytem (before it started giving you problems). I have picked up a few old boxes that people just got tired of & have made some decent systems out of them.

It's your choice if you got the money & want something faster go for it, if your like me & don't need all the bells & whistles then fix your old box.

Bubba169

 

actually, this is my situation.

my pc was working fine up to few weeks ago.. then all of a sudden it started giving me problems, and finally i discovered that i had a relatively cheap motherboard...therefore it's due to change. Now when the technician informed me about the matter and he was mentioning me all the bells and whistles as bubba169 said, i didn't know what to do. Now i went into his site to see the pricelists of his items (actually in my country, Malta parts are a bit expensive) i saw that i could go to something which is not the latest and i would avoid changing the processor becuase it is still in good condition.

However, I would like to ask you what specs shall i look at when buying the sound card and video card, since they were built-in in the motherboard, therefore the technician told me that i need to replace them. ( I am not interested in playing much games... all i need them for is to play some mp3's and burn some cd's)

Thanks

 

I don't recommend onboard video I like an AGP video card 2x probably will be fine for your needsget atleast 32Mb of ram on the video card.
As for onboard sound if you are only using Windows then the Motherboard manufacter should supply drivers for the version of Windows you use. I have used onboard sound & for basic computing it's ok but if you want a seperate sound card look at the SoundBlaster line from Creative Labs the 16 PCI is what I'm using now.
Onboard Modem or AMR Modem are software based they will rob some of the CPU cycles in turn slowing down the systembut they are cheap & work fairly well under Windows, Hardware or external modems cost alot more but do not load up the system resources.
Onboard NIC generally work fairly ok under Windows but if you only have 1 PC or do not use a cable modem connected through a NIC then you won't need to worry about this also PCI NIC's are fairly cheap now.
Be certain that the new Mobo will support you CPU & Memory also be sure that it will fit into your case also I like to get as many PCI slots as possible for future expansion such as an ATX form Factor.

Bubba169

 

Thanks for your suggestions ... Actually the following address is the site of the supplier/technician. Escodirect . If someone find some spare time and see the products available, I would very much appreciate that I will get feedback, so that I will have a more fair idea of what to buy.

I am planning to keep my PIII 500mhz as regards the cpu.

Thanks !

 

Here is where I bought all my computer gear this year. Sctoll down the page and look for Hardware with motherboards and video cards listed.

 

Qrempucu, I think you're at a crossroads: buy a PIII mobo or make the leap to a newer generation of hardware.
I recommend that you don't invest a single dime in old technology - in other words, I'd suggest that you don't buy a mobo for your PIII. Unless your budget is very tight. In most situations (not all) investing in older hardware is money wasted.

If you do decide to "move up ", and your budget is a big consideration, I'd also not recommend the "P4" route.

I just put together a fairly powerful rig for someone trying to save alot of $ and came up with this:

AMD Athlon XP1600+............$53
Biostar M7VIP mobo.............$63
Crucial PC2700 (256MB).......$85

The board has built-in audio, is easy to build and set up, and runs very stable with Win98SE. Just thought I'd throw you some food for thought. Good luck.

 

Try www.computergeeks.com for older motherboards and such. I have used them quite often. They have the older P111 boards. Just choose the cheaper shipping to save money.