Thinking of upgrading an old P4 rig

stuppy

stuppy

stuppy

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Hi,

I am considering upgrading my old P4 rig that has sat dormant and unused for the past 18 months as my Dell notebook is really starting to bug me for certain
things.

The spec of the rig currently is :-
Coolermaster 201SXT Case
Abit IT7-Max2 Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 2.4Ghz 533mhz CPU
2 x 512mb Memory (can't remember speed or manufacturer)
ATi Radeon 9500Pro 128mb AGP
Sound Blaster Audigy
430w Enermax PSU


Now, I use a Mac for everything - except gaming which I normally use my Dell Inspiron 9300 - but im starting to think its not cutting it for games. So I was thinking of selling it and selling the parts I can rip out of the P4 rig and buying some new parts.

I know the only thing I can keep is the case pretty much? So i'm basically asking for some ideas on what price and parts im looking at. Ive not spec'd computers for a couple of years so I am way out of the loop.

Remember the funds I have would be from the sale of the notebook which I would hope to get around 700-800 for (i think!). But as cheap as possible butsomething that is going to give decent gamage performance.

Thanks
 
Sorry I should say,

My Dell is :-
Intel Pentium M 1.7Ghz
1GB Memory
Geforce 6800 Go 256Mem
80gig HDD

Obviously I would like it to be more nippy than that, at least in the GFX department.

Oh and I would like it pretty much silent if possible
 
For 800 quid you could get a pretty high-spec rig with an E6300 and an X1950 Pro with a ton of storage space in a high quality case. Would you like to go that route?

You probably could upgrade the P4 rig but it probably wouldn't be worth it as AGP stuff costs a bunch these days.

EDIT: Here's an idea of what you could get:
semi-pro waster said:
Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £36.49
(£42.88) £36.49
(£42.88)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £93.99
(£110.44) £93.99
(£110.44)
OcUK GeForce 7900 GS 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £99.99
(£117.49) £99.99
(£117.49)
NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
(£19.96) £16.99
(£19.96)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) £13.99
(£16.44) £13.99
(£16.44)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £84.99
(£99.86) £84.99
(£99.86)
Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £48.99
(£57.56) £48.99
(£57.56)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £154.99
(£182.11) £154.99
(£182.11)
Sub Total : £610.41
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.95
Vat : £108.74
Total : £730.10
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Well. My Budget completely depends on what I could flog my Dell notebook for.
My Dell is pretty well spec'd for its model, but I am unsure of what It would fetch.

Like I said I do not use PC's much at all these days as I am a Mac man. I just like to have a PC next to me ready so I can just switch to it straight away and start gaming. The only other thing I can think of that I actually go anywhere near my Dell now for is making music in Fruityloops - and my PCI Audigy handles that nicely.

So I just need sommet to game on. Ive just had another think - I wouldn't mind something small - like a Shuttle. Something that has a small footprint. My main thing is that It needs to be as quiet as possible. Do new computer bits have fans that speed up when components get hot? Like Laptops? I would'nt mind something like that.

Hard drive doesn't need to be massive - just enough for Windows and to install a few games - so like 200GB tops. Already got a DVD Writer (PATA though), Sound card im sorted for.

So yeh :) Hope that all makes sense
 
spec.jpg


Shot in the dark - its similar to what you posted - cept the cooler is differnent and power supply not as powerful? What bout that.
 
I reckon that would do just fine. Personally I'd stay with a tower-style, heatpipe equipped CPU HSF. If not the AC Freezer then something along the lines of a Tuniq Tower or a Scythe Ninja.
 
Rarh I ordered my system.

Didn't order it from OCUK though as I needed a financing option. This is what I ordered

LN13080 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Ready £12.89 £15.15
LN15047 Intel Core 2 Duo E6300, Socket 775, 1.86 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, Allendale Core, 2MB Cache, Retail £98.95 £116.27
LN16079 512MB Gainward 7900GS Bliss, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1320MHz, GPU 450MHz, 20 Pipes, Dual DVI/HDTV £139.49 £163.90
LN15742 200 Gb Seagate ST3200820AS Barracuda 7200.10, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, NCQ £41.49 £48.75
LN15170 ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX £104.95 £123.32
LN12075 620W Enermax Liberty Modular Series SLi - ELT620AWT aPFC ATX2.2 2xPCI-E 12cm Quiet Fan £84.79 £99.63
LN11596 2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-1 £158.64 £186.40

What you think?
 
Thats true, but (and I'm not being fan boyish here) I do think that if you are going to go for a 512mb model, the x1950 wins, however, if you are going for a 256, the 7900gs bang for buck cannot be beaten.
 
In the real world though, theres not going to be any noticable difference between the 7900GS i've ordered and the 1950 you speak of? Maybe other than an extra few FPS?

I am going from a Geforce 6800 Go 256mb in my Dell Notebook - am I likely to see a big performance boost in games?
 
You will see a huge difference in performance from what you have now. I only mentioned the x1950 pro as it has slightly better image quality, but to be honest, you are unlikely to notice it.
 
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