Upgrade

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Upgrade help plz

Its time to upgrade my computer but i'm lost in the mass of information that has far pasted me, and there is no way to keep up with it. I'm looking to first upgrade my motherboard and processor.

Pretty much I'm looking to turn my computer into a gaming machine...
I'm also going to do some video editing, and photo editing (adobe programs)

So i need to know what will get me the best bang for my buck. Right now i'm running an HP Pavillion 6738, its about 5 years old and the only upgrades i have on it are the extra ram 256 (i think) and a 200 gig hardrive, and its running a pentium celleron.

If i could get some suggestions, right now i'm just looking to move up to DDR ram, and i'll worry about the video card later.

Any info about how mother boards work will be greatly appriciated, and if you have anything that your willing to sell, i'll possibly take it up, but only if the rest of the board agrees that it is a good deal

Thanks
Dek_Neow

Its thai man puke:
 
If you give me the specs on the HP, and your
buget range, I can suggest some hardware to upgrade your PC with.
 
I'm actually looking to go for a whole upgrade eventually. The computer now is 5 years old and it and i honestly can't remember the specs and i just got back from out of country so i forget how to get into the specs on the computer so if you could please lead me that would be great.
 
right now i'm looking from free- to about 350, for a motherboard (i'm not sure if that is where i should start or not, if you have a better idea please by all means let me know)
 
here are the full specs of this pos computer

Base processor and speed
Intel (R) Celeron (TM) 700 MHz processor (socket 370)
Maximum HP supported upgrade: Intel Celeron 800 MHz
Chipset
Intel 810
Memory
Component Attributes
RAM (standard) 64 megabytes (MB) RAM PC 100
Maximum 512 MB (2 x 256 MB DIMM)
Speed 100 MHz synchronous
Sockets Two 168-pin DIMMs
Size 16, 32, 64, and 128 MB DIMMs
Free DIMM socket 1
Pairs Required No
Type Supported SDRAM, Intel PC SDRAM unbuffered DIMM specification, revision 1.0 compliant


Cache
Level Quantity
Level 1 (Primary) 32 kilobytes (KB) (on processor)
Upgrade Sockets None
Level 2 128 KB (on processor)

Hard drive
20 gigabytes (GB) (3.5-inch form factor)
CD-ROM drive
Attribute Properties
Speed 48x (maximum)
Access Speed 75 - 85 ms
Transfer Rate (MB/sec) 2.0 - 4.8

Diskette drive
1.44 MB (3.5-inch form factor)
Fax/data modem
Attribute Properties
Modem V.90 K56 (Cheetah)
Data Speed 56 Kbps
Fax Speed Up to 14.4 Kbps
Plug and Play Yes
Hayes Compatible Yes
Data Compression v 42 bis
Error Correction v 42
COM Port (default) 2
IRQ (default) Variable
EIA Fax Commands Class 1

Video
Attribute Properties
Video Graphics PCI Local Bus
Controller Intel 810
Video Memory 11 MB shared memory, integrated graphics, not upgradable
Feature Connector (game/joystick) Yes
Resolutions: 640 x 480: 16/256/32 K/64 K/16.7 M colors

800 x 600: 16/256/32 K/64 K colors

1024 x 768: 16/256/32 K/64 K colors

1280 x 1024: 256 colors

MPEG-1/2
MPEG-1 for full-screen, full-motion digital video
Sound/audio
Attribute Properties
Compatibility 3-D Stereo, PCI, 16-bit Sound
Controller AMC97 codec (on motherboard)
Location Crystal sound chip
Noise Cancellation Yes
Line Out Yes
3-D Spatializer Yes
Wavetable Yes
Tone Control No
Microphone With HP Pavilion Multimedia Display
Speakers HP/Polk Audio "F" stereo speakers (left and right)

External ports
Port Type Quantity
USB 2
Serial 1
Parallel 1
Game 1

Expansion slots
Total expansion slots
Port Type Quantity
PCI 3

Available expansion slots
Port Type Quantity
PCI 2

Drive bays
Total drive bays
Bay Type Quantity
3.5-inch, external 2
5.25-inch, external 1
3.5-inch, internal 1

Free drive bays
Bay Type Quantity
3.5-inch, external 1

Power supply information
AC input
90 Watts
Input Frequency: 50/60 Hz
Voltage: 120V (100-120V) ~ 3A / 0
Voltage: 230V (200 - 240V) ~ 1.5A
Power supply output
DC Voltage Current
+12V 1.5 A
+5V 10 A
+3.3V 6 A
-12V 0.2 A
+5VSB 0.72 A

I've upgraded the HD to 200 gig, and the ram is at 128
 
If the mobo can't get above 800MHz and you're after a gaming machine, then you are definitely looking at replacing the lot.

If you tell us where you are located, someone from the area can give you some idea of prices for parts.

also, if you have a budget that you're working too for EVERYTHING then there's certain mixes of stuff that will be balanced and we can help you find a good overall system.. ie. don't but an A6 X2 4600+ if you're pairing it with a Geforce2 MX and 256MB RAM..

hope that helps you out.
 
I would say right off the batt that you are looking at getting a new machine. I wouldn't even attempt an upgrade. For these reasons:

1) New motherboard and CPU will likely NOT fit into the HP case.
2) Even if you find parts that DO fit, the power supply will be underpowered for 64bit.
3) This means you need a new case, PS, mobo, CPU.
4) If you get a new mobo, you will need RAM as your PC100 is bye bye.
5) Along with a full ATX mobo you will NEED a video card, good or bad, because decent mobos don't have onboard video.
6) This covers just about every part. Minus your 200gb hard drive which you can reuse.
7) Then comes the optical drive and floppy. And if this HP has some off-brown looking old CD-ROM, its days are numbered. A floppy and CD-ROM don't cost much.

And wahlah! A new PC!

You can save all you can, you will need at least $800-$900(us) to put together a system. If you go for some higher quality/speed parts, especially video, tack on another $300 perhaps.

At least I would say do NOT blow a perfectly good $350 trying to upgrade a 5 year old HP. Just see if you can double or triple that amount, then we'll talk about new PC parts.

good luck
 
a whole machine should be the choice. is 350 for the whole setup or just the mobo and cpu?

a general suggestion:

mobo: nforce4 chipset (ultra or sli) ~100ish
cpu: amd64 socket 939 venice core
3000+(~100)
3200+ (150)
memory: 2x512mb (or 2x1gig if you need and have the budget.

graphic card: maybe 6800GS if you are on a budget or 7800GT for more money.
 
Start again. As hopefully Vigilante's post convinced you. Also 350 what? I'm thinking pounds sterling am I'm sure lots of people are thinking in their local currency too.
 
I Know i'm looking at a whole new PC, I've got a person that is going to give me his old case so size really isn't a problem at the moment. I was thinking about $350 at most for the motherboard but would i just be better off buying a new machine from new egg or tigerdirect? or could i just get the parts needed and build it for cheaper. I was always told if it is self built it is cheaper is that still holding true?

I'm just confused at the moment, I've built pc's, but i didn't buy the hardware, so there is no doubt i can put it together, i'm just having trouble finding the hardware that would work good with what i need. (gameing, and editing).

I'm lost....so pretty much what i'm told i'll go with, it would be nice though to have this stuff explained why it's better than the rest, or why it is more bang for the buck, and if that is what you are trying to do, the best idea might be to just e-mail me just to save space on the board.
 
my personal exprience with building a system is that you will genereally spending more money as you choose a better parts then the generic pre-build system. I prefer building it because it's fun and also I get to change things if I don't like it. Having prebuild system can sometimes limited the upgradability (specially if the PSU is not that good).

when you said 350 for the motherboard, you do mean that 350 for the cpu,mobo, memory, etc, right, not just the mobo alone.
 
I'd agree with that. When you build it yourself there's a tendancy to say that a slightly better part is only a couple of bob more and yuo go for it. All these bobs add up at the end.
 
If you want a low end PC then you can't beat the big box guys but as you move up to the better parts you can actually save a bunch of bucks over what you can buy OEM.

This is actually a great time to build a PC for the two things you are interested in doing since dual core CPU's are now available at reasonable prices.

I'd suggest the following with links to descriptions at Newegg (for comparison and info) so you'll have an idea of where the latest technology is at:

AMD 3800X2 Dual Core $352 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562

Abit KN8 ATX motherboard $82 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127221

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 DDR400 RAM $208
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145575

XFX 7800GT Video Card $309
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150124

2 x Western Digital 250GB 16MB cache Hard Drives 2 x $115 ($230)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150124

Fortron Blue Storm 500W PSU $91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104934

Thermaltake Tsunami case $115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133132

Now that's a really nice system at under $1400. Of course you can cut back on a few parts and shave a few hundred but the above will do everything you want very well.
 
Cheap (NOT LOW END) Intel LGA775 system:
mobo Asus i945, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp? item=N82E16813131545 Nice!:)
cpu Celly, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819112207 Slow, low on cache:(
Mem(2), http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820211135 OK
DVD-RW, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152058 OK
case Antec w/PSU, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129150 Nice :)

Onboard video works. It will run some games okay. Power supply will work, but upgrade it with a video card and cpu later. Needs your hard drive and Windows XP. Microsoft may need more of your money. Running 98 wont work with this or much any new mobo. Skimp on a cheapo mobo and it could be less than $350, this one will run the new 65nm chips. This one will get you in under $350: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157082 (Not recomended and needs DDR400 and AGP video card upgrade, but also runs Pentium D and 65nm cpus.)

$382.59 shiped. Great deal.

Thats how Dell does it. Onbord video, at least this has a PCI-e 16x slot.
If you like this could make that celeron screem, maybe at 4ghz.
NEWS FLASH: 65nm Celly at 5ghz on STOCK COOLER! http://www.matbe.com/actualites/11983/intel-celeron-cedar-mill/
(I think?)
Presler and Cedar Mill 65mn CPUs are out next month; cooler faster and cheaper. Thay may give the X2's a run for the money.
 
You can get a decent case for around 60 bucks. The mobo that merc 14 mentioned is the one I have and for 82 bucks you cant beat that. For a hard drive you really dont need a ton to start off at. Look at some website and you can get a good western digital or seagate for 60 some after rebates. Start off with a gig of ddr for less than 100 and eventually go to 2 gigs. Don't go cheap on the power supply. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931
This is a good one for 100 bucks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533
AMD processor for 200 bucks. About the best you can get on a limited budget.
I would definitely keep monitor keyboard and mouse till you get some more money. Honestly trying to upgrade that hp would be a pain. What Windows do you have on it? You could keep the 20gig hard drive and set the new one to slave, save you some money on buying a OS right away.
 
Cheap AMD 939,
modo Asus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131570 Good :)
cpu 3200+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103602 Good :)
Memory 512mb DDR400(2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820141164 OK
DVD-RW http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152058 OK
Case Antec http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811129150 Nice :)

$469.12 shiped

Beter CPU, but $100? I dont know. Another $100 or so on the Intel rig would get a 630 or 640 , and be much better video editor and real close in games. Both still need a better video card and PSU, but save over jumping in with a new biuld with a GeForce 7800gt.

That Celeron can out fold this anyway. :haha:
Try OCing this, you may see 2.6-2.7ghz, if lucky. A new video card and it may be a good system.


Another 939 rig;
Asus A8N5X
Corsair XMS 2x512mb kit
Awsome Opetron 148
evga Geforce 6800 gs
NEC DVD-RW, Silver
Lian Li case
Antec TP2 550w PSU
Western Digatal 250gb Hard Drive
XP Pro, OEM
Logitech Wireless Keyboard/Mouse
Samsung 8ms 700:1 LCD monitor
Logitech 2.1 Speaker Systm
TOTAL $1642.11 - Whole system
I like that one best NICE:)
 
The best thing about biulding a system is once you have a nice case, and powerfull PSU upgrades a cheap. You don't start over, you just add on or replace. Some parts can last many system biulds. Keep old parts for backups, or ebay them.

With a OEM system there are real problems trying to upgrade.
 
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