Need help upgrading computer

MasterSprtn117 · 07-17-2008, 06:11 PM

Alright, I think we're planning to upgrade this computer. I'd rather upgrade one of the other ones since those don't work currently, but this one needs some stuff first. I'm not sure what to upgrade, but I'm trying to keep it as low costing as possible.

Here's the specs, tell me if you need more
Pentium 4 2.26 GHz
191MB RAM
40GB hard drive (SAMSUNG SP0411N)

I used a program to see what my motherboard was and it came up with no (empty) manufacturer(?) but model P4VM800.

ShotgunSnipist · 07-17-2008, 06:13 PM

GET SOME RAM MAN!
Nothing slows down a computer like only 191mb of ram!
I'm assuming you have a 64mb and a 128mb right?
One sec I'll get you a link to a good site.
=D

Okay go here:
http://www.crucial.com/
And click 'Scan My System'
Then you can choose how much ram you want.
I suggest you just get a much as possible. Don't bother getting more then a gig though... Unless you have vista.

MasterSprtn117 · 07-17-2008, 06:15 PM

I think there's two 128mb sticks. But I only have 3-4GBs of harddrive spaceleft and the windows is messed up. I think I might have 3 copies of windows on one partition.

ShotgunSnipist · 07-17-2008, 06:20 PM

Is it xp or vista?
What system do you have?
Manufacturer?
Model?

MasterSprtn117 · 07-17-2008, 06:21 PM

XP
System? It was 'custom' built by some computer shop around here.

Cloud Strife · 07-17-2008, 06:24 PM

You'd need to get a new hard drive and maybe 3 GB of ram

Is this your motherboard? ASRock Motherboard - Product - P4VM800 - Overview

Get maybe as Seagate or western digital hard drive Maybe 250 to 320 GB

(Wow, It is weird typing with my voice)

ShotgunSnipist · 07-17-2008, 06:28 PM

Out of curiosity how old is your system?
If it only came with 128 it must be pretty old.
This computer came with 256 and it's almost 6 years old...

MasterSprtn117 · 07-17-2008, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren

You'd need to get a new hard drive and maybe 3 GB of ram

Is this your motherboard? ASRock Motherboard - Product - P4VM800 - Overview

Get maybe as Seagate or western digital hard drive Maybe 250 to 320 GB

(Wow, It is weird typing with my voice)

I think thats the motherboard.

What would the price of those hard drives be?

Around 6 years old but it was really cheap.

Cloud Strife · 07-17-2008, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterSprtn117

I think thats the motherboard.

What would the price of those hard drives be?

Seagate 320GB HD -$79.99
Newegg.com - Seagate ST303204N1A1AS-RK 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Samsung 1TB HD - $174.49
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Seagate 250GB HD - $59.49
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

MasterSprtn117 · 07-18-2008, 05:42 AM

US $36.99
1GB
DDR PC2700
CT12864Z335

Is that a good price for ram? I got it from that crucial website..

Also, this is what crucial says about my motherboard:
USB Support: 2.x Compliant
Chipset: VIA P4M800
Supported DRAM Types: DDR SDRAM only
184-pin DIMM Banking: 2 (2 banks of 1)
Module Types Supported: Unbuffered only
Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM: 2048MB
Error Detection Support: Non-ECC only
Graphics Support: AGP 8X
Max Component Density: 512Mb

Does the max component density mean I can't get a 1gb stick of ram?

ShotgunSnipist · 07-18-2008, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterSprtn117

US $36.99
1GB
DDR PC2700
CT12864Z335

Is that a good price for ram? I got it from that crucial website..

Also, this is what crucial says about my motherboard:
USB Support: 2.x Compliant
Chipset: VIA P4M800
Supported DRAM Types: DDR SDRAM only
184-pin DIMM Banking: 2 (2 banks of 1)
Module Types Supported: Unbuffered only
Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM: 2048MB
Error Detection Support: Non-ECC only
Graphics Support: AGP 8X
Max Component Density: 512Mb

Does the max component density mean I can't get a 1gb stick of ram?

Crucible should ONLY list the rams sticks that will work with your computer.
Looks like your computer is as old as mine. 512mb. But if you got two 512mb sticks your computer should be on FIRE compared to what it is right now.

3�G�R · 07-18-2008, 08:57 AM

since the mother board supports ddr the the ram would be good

Justananomaly · 07-18-2008, 09:03 AM

PC2700/3200 are usually interchangeable but you never want to use two different types.

MasterSprtn117 · 07-18-2008, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShotgunSnipist

Crucible should ONLY list the rams sticks that will work with your computer.
Looks like your computer is as old as mine. 512mb. But if you got two 512mb sticks your computer should be on FIRE compared to what it is right now.

So is the most ram I can get 1GB since it only has two slots and it says the 'max component density' is 512?

Also, does crucible have pretty decent prices for their ram? Or should I just look somewhere else?

lacrosse_man16 · 07-18-2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShotgunSnipist

Is it xp or vista?
What system do you have?
Manufacturer?
Model?

lol Was that a serious question? look at his specs bwahahahaha. I would just say Memory, and a new HD as everyone else is saying. However it sounds like you could just do a fresh install of XP (meaning you wipe everything on your HD so back up your stuff to like cds or an external HD) and reinstall XP. If you really want to get a new HD you will have to do this anyway. You could clone your HD but that is extra work and on a screwed up OS that is just stupid. As for the ram just make sure its compatible. If your willing to spend a little more just buy a new computer sounds like yours is overdue.

Gow616 · 07-19-2008, 09:39 AM

If reinstalling XP I would go with MicroXP in lieu of standard XP. Uses less system resources.

You could also use litestep instead of the normal Explorer, not Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, i.e. what you see when you pop open a folder. It uses less resources than Explorer and can be made to look quite spiffy.

Justananomaly · 07-19-2008, 09:50 AM

Vista Home Basic SP1 vs. XP SP2/SP3
Vista of course takes up a bit more HD space and uses a tad bit more memory for the graphical GUI but its about 20-30mb more, not really much of a difference with 1gb+ RAM. And you also have DX10 if you ever upgrade mobos/video cards to support it later on down the road. Most likely you won't have to reformat after a mobo switch either with Vista like you do with XP. Also Vista Home Basic SP1 has advanced memory management which makes great use of slower machines like yours and makes them preform slightly better then XP.

XPSP2/XPSP3 you use less RAM and HD space, but no DX10 or Vista advantages (like using a thumb drive for your virtual memory swap), no advanced memory management, and if you upgrade mobos you'll most likly need to reformat. But you'll have the old XP interface, the old user profile directory positions, and a familiar GUI.

Either one would be good but I would go with Vista HBSP1 or Home Premium SP1 for this machine. It would run just fine either way though.

MasterSprtn117 · 07-19-2008, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacrosse_man16

If your willing to spend a little more just buy a new computer sounds like yours is overdue.

Like many of you recommended for a cheap upgrade, I'm going to get a new hard drive, put a clean install of XP on it, and copy over files from my current (soon to be 2nd) hard drive. Then I think I'll wipe the 40gb hard drive and make it into an external...that is if it isn't dying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gow616

If reinstalling XP I would go with MicroXP in lieu of standard XP. Uses less system resources.

You could also use litestep instead of the normal Explorer, not Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, i.e. what you see when you pop open a folder. It uses less resources than Explorer and can be made to look quite spiffy.

Could you tell me a little more about this? Is it the same basic layout of XP? My parents would have too much trouble if it changed too much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justananomaly

XPSP2/XPSP3 you use less RAM and HD space, but no DX10 or Vista advantages (like using a thumb drive for your virtual memory swap), no advanced memory management, and if you upgrade mobos you'll most likly need to reformat. But you'll have the old XP interface, the old user profile directory positions, and a familiar GUI.

Either one would be good but I would go with Vista HBSP1 or Home Premium SP1 for this machine. It would run just fine either way though.

I'd like Vista, but I'm have to keep this little upgrade as cheap as possible, and if I changed to Vista, I'd have to buy it, and my parents would probably be lost when they turn it on.

On another note, how does this hard drive compare to the Seagate one? I found it while looking around at the local BestBuy.

07-17-2008, 06:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 657 Reputation: 27	Need help upgrading computer Alright, I think we're planning to upgrade this computer. I'd rather upgrade one of the other ones since those don't work currently, but this one needs some stuff first. I'm not sure what to upgrade, but I'm trying to keep it as low costing as possible. Here's the specs, tell me if you need more Pentium 4 2.26 GHz 191MB RAM 40GB hard drive (SAMSUNG SP0411N) I used a program to see what my motherboard was and it came up with no (empty) manufacturer(?) but model P4VM800. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-17-2008, 06:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
ShotgunSnipist Zune Guardian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 738 Reputation: 74	GET SOME RAM MAN! Nothing slows down a computer like only 191mb of ram! I'm assuming you have a 64mb and a 128mb right? One sec I'll get you a link to a good site. =D Okay go here: http://www.crucial.com/ And click 'Scan My System' Then you can choose how much ram you want. I suggest you just get a much as possible. Don't bother getting more then a gig though... Unless you have vista. __________________ Invisible Text. =P To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by ShotgunSnipist : 07-17-2008 at 06:17 PM.

07-17-2008, 06:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 657 Reputation: 27	I think there's two 128mb sticks. But I only have 3-4GBs of harddrive spaceleft and the windows is messed up. I think I might have 3 copies of windows on one partition. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by MasterSprtn117 : 07-17-2008 at 06:21 PM.

07-17-2008, 06:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
ShotgunSnipist Zune Guardian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 738 Reputation: 74	Is it xp or vista? What system do you have? Manufacturer? Model? __________________ Invisible Text. =P To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-17-2008, 06:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 657 Reputation: 27	XP System? It was 'custom' built by some computer shop around here. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-17-2008, 06:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
Cloud Strife Windows 7 Tech Support Team GFX Crew Section Staff Elite Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 2,371 Reputation: 560 Awards Showcase Total Awards: 1	You'd need to get a new hard drive and maybe 3 GB of ram Is this your motherboard? ASRock Motherboard - Product - P4VM800 - Overview Get maybe as Seagate or western digital hard drive Maybe 250 to 320 GB (Wow, It is weird typing with my voice) __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-17-2008, 06:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
ShotgunSnipist Zune Guardian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 738 Reputation: 74	Out of curiosity how old is your system? If it only came with 128 it must be pretty old. This computer came with 256 and it's almost 6 years old... __________________ Invisible Text. =P To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-18-2008, 05:42 AM	#10 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 657 Reputation: 27	US $36.99 1GB DDR PC2700 CT12864Z335 Is that a good price for ram? I got it from that crucial website.. Also, this is what crucial says about my motherboard: USB Support: 2.x Compliant Chipset: VIA P4M800 Supported DRAM Types: DDR SDRAM only 184-pin DIMM Banking: 2 (2 banks of 1) Module Types Supported: Unbuffered only Max Unbuffered DDR SDRAM: 2048MB Error Detection Support: Non-ECC only Graphics Support: AGP 8X Max Component Density: 512Mb Does the max component density mean I can't get a 1gb stick of ram? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-18-2008, 08:57 AM	#12 (permalink)
3�G�R Experienced Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Location: Omaha, Nebraska Posts: 123 Reputation: 16	since the mother board supports ddr the the ram would be good __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-18-2008, 09:03 AM	#13 (permalink)
Justananomaly zB Nightshift Support Team Premium Member Section Staff Super Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,752 Reputation: 468	PC2700/3200 are usually interchangeable but you never want to use two different types. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "Anomalys exist, for without struggle there is no progress." This post may or may not contain accurate information. This post is that of my own opinion, knowledge, and reasoning, and does not nessessarily reflect that of CroudGather or Zuneboards and their affiliates, period.

07-19-2008, 09:39 AM	#16 (permalink)
Gow616 <Genre Unbound> Support Team Premium Member Section Staff Elite Zuner Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA Posts: 2,120 Reputation: 581 Awards Showcase Total Awards: 1	If reinstalling XP I would go with MicroXP in lieu of standard XP. Uses less system resources. You could also use litestep instead of the normal Explorer, not Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, i.e. what you see when you pop open a folder. It uses less resources than Explorer and can be made to look quite spiffy. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Gow now ships with Trogdor created profile picture and Munke, STKR, Volpe sig. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

07-19-2008, 09:50 AM	#17 (permalink)
Justananomaly zB Nightshift Support Team Premium Member Section Staff Super Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 1,752 Reputation: 468	Vista Home Basic SP1 vs. XP SP2/SP3 Vista of course takes up a bit more HD space and uses a tad bit more memory for the graphical GUI but its about 20-30mb more, not really much of a difference with 1gb+ RAM. And you also have DX10 if you ever upgrade mobos/video cards to support it later on down the road. Most likely you won't have to reformat after a mobo switch either with Vista like you do with XP. Also Vista Home Basic SP1 has advanced memory management which makes great use of slower machines like yours and makes them preform slightly better then XP. XPSP2/XPSP3 you use less RAM and HD space, but no DX10 or Vista advantages (like using a thumb drive for your virtual memory swap), no advanced memory management, and if you upgrade mobos you'll most likly need to reformat. But you'll have the old XP interface, the old user profile directory positions, and a familiar GUI. Either one would be good but I would go with Vista HBSP1 or Home Premium SP1 for this machine. It would run just fine either way though. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. \| To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "Anomalys exist, for without struggle there is no progress." This post may or may not contain accurate information. This post is that of my own opinion, knowledge, and reasoning, and does not nessessarily reflect that of CroudGather or Zuneboards and their affiliates, period.

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