Spec okay for a basic PC upgrade?

FunkyT · 6 Aug 2006 at 08:36

I'm just looking to build a "general" home PC (no gaming). Just surfing, emailage etc

Here's the spec I'm looking at:

AMD Sempron 2800+ socket 754 CPU
MSI K8T NEO-V, KBT800 socket 754 mobo
DDR400 PC3200 512MB RAM

I can upgrade an existing base unit for about £100 with the above...

MorningView · 6 Aug 2006 at 08:53

It'd help to see what you're running at the moment to see if the performance increase warrents the £100.

Certainly so long as you're not planning on multitasking too much that system should serve you well. If you could stretch to 1GB RAM that would be ideal (XP really benefits in performance from 1GB over 512).

M

FunkyT · 6 Aug 2006 at 09:08

Thanks dude. Fortunately it's not my PC but one I've been given to add a "performance boost"

Typically people never want to spend much money...

Anyway, here's the existing spec:

Athlon 1GHz CPU
ECS K7S5A VER 3.1 mobo
2 x 256MB SDRAM (board will take either SD or DDR but not a mix)
32MB AGP card
20GB HDD
1 x CDRW
1 x DVD-ROM
400W value PSU

What do you think dude?

Makavelli · 7 Aug 2006 at 11:10

Would agree with Matt - if this pc is only for email & surfing then the cheapest thing to do would just be put more memory in. IIRC that board has 2 dimm & 2DDR slots so you'll probably have to replace the memory rather than add on although to be honest i don't think i noticed much difference in general usage when i upgraded my pc from 512mb to 1024mb. The other option to look at is upgrading the processer, highest that board will take is an XP2600+ 266fsb am sure you could pick one up on the bay cheap enough

FunkyT · 7 Aug 2006 at 11:13

Makavelli said:
Would agree with Matt - if this pc is only for email & surfing then the cheapest thing to do would just be put more memory in. IIRC that board has 2 dimm & 2DDR slots so you'll probably have to replace the memory rather than add on although to be honest i don't think i noticed much difference in general usage when i upgraded my pc from 512mb to 1024mb. The other option to look at is upgrading the processer, highest that board will take is an XP2600+ 266fsb am sure you could pick one up on the bay cheap enough

Thanks dude.

I've bought 2 x 512MB DDR off a lad on OcUK and will use that instead of 2 x 256MB SD... not sure how significant the performance boost will be.

Your suggestion to get an XP2600+ 266fsb is a good one!