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Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 23:28:51 -0700
From: John Moore <jmoore5@uswest.net>
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Subject: Re: Upgrading
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Well I too suggest an Abit bh6 and celeron 300a combo and overclck it to
450. It will be cheap and fast and do just fine for the sims you listed
providing you also add a good video card. FYI some other posts are just a
touch short on info. The celeron 300a just dropped in price and is available
for under $100. The celeron is a slot one but intel is moving away from slot
1 to socket 37 for the next gen of chips. You can use most of your old
components but the ram may not be able to run at the 100 bus speed, there
are ways around that however. This would be good until the next gen of sims
come out, wild guess is 2-3 years minimum.
Celeron 300a                                  $76
Abit bh6 mobo                               $94
Inwin Q500a case                          $66
Soundblaster Awe 64                     $34
Banshee 3dfx video card 16 meg    $89
128 meg pc 100 ram                      $160
A totally kick ass system for just over $500, to avoid a variety of hassles
you may consider seeing how much a local computer shop would do it for, my
local shop was within $45 of the component prices and I didn't have to
hassle with shipping or returns or any of that crap, and since I didn't have
the time to deal with it they put it together for $50.
For more info on overclocking check
http://www.tomshardware.com/releases/98q4/981215/index.html
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=overclocker
For shopping try
http://www.a-pro.com/
http://www.pricewatch.com/
http://www.computernerd.com/upgrspec.htm#CPUS
Good Luck
JM

Scott B. Husted wrote:

> Happy New Year to all.
>
> This is going to be a slightly long post but Ive been going back and
> forth about upgrading my PC for about 6 months now and I will probably
> (finally!) do something in the next 90 days or so.
>
> Here is my current PC:
>
> Gateway P166MMX
> Windows95b
> 64mb of SDRAM
> Diamond Stealth II S220
> Telepath 33,600/14,400 Fax/modem
> Ensoniq  sb compatible sound on the motherboard
> 3.2 Quantum Fireball HD
> 1.26 Maxtor HD
> 1.44 Floppy
> CD-Rom (16X maybe?)
> 15 inch Compaq Monitor
> Intellimouse
> Thrustmaster NASCAR Pro wheel
> MS Sidewinder joystick
> HP 560 C printer
> Color Scanner
>
> OK.. where to start? LOL
>
> Ive been trying to decide whether or not to wait until I have $2,000 to
> "spare" or just do a partial upgrade now.  Well,  since my ol P166 is
> getting to be "ancient"... I decided I would spend about $500 to upgrade
>
> this PC with consideration taken into future upgrades.  A second PC in
> the future is not out of the question either.
>
> Here are my thoughts:
>
> Case:  I need a new ATX case.  My Gateway is only 145watts and the case
> is a real pain in the @ss to remove the cover regularly.   So I will get
>
> a new case.  Probably mid-tower with 235 or above watt power supply and
> removeable sides.
>
> Motherboard and CPU:   I have read so many arguments about going for AMD
>
> or Celery chip.   Im 95% sure I am going to go the Asus P5A route with
> an AMD K6-2 350 chip.  I can get this with 64mb of PC100 SDRAM for about
>
> $350.00     Too bad my current 64mb of sdram were not PC100.
> Anyways...  I was looking at this combo because with the P5A it is
> upgradeable for the K6-3s which will be coming out first and second
> quarter 1999.   I can then just purchase a CPU upgrade as prices on the
> K6-3 drop.   The K6-2 350 should be adequate for awhile and is still
> quite an upgrade from my 166MMX.
>
> Since my Gateway has the sound on the mb...  I will need to purchase a
> sound card.  Is the Creative 64 any good?   Again.. I know about the
> Live card but Im trying to stay around my $500 total upgrade price for
> right now.
>
> I will swap over my Diamond Stealth II video card that I paid $14.00 for
>
> (My rebate from Diamond has been mailed ;)  ).   In the future I would
> like to upgrade to a TNT card, maybe the Viper 550.    I understand the
> new bios for the P5A is working well with the TNT cards now.
>
> Windows98...   should I upgrade to it??    Is it worth wiping my hard
> drive clean and starting over with it??    I dread reloading ALL my
> software =(    I have CD-Rom for 90% of my software and the rest I can
> probably download again.  I will have an LS-120 Super Disk to back up
> most of my stuff like setups, Communicator, etc.
>
> If I do go to Windows98...  I will probably spend an extra few dollars
> on a large hard drive as well.
>
> As far as the modem goes...  I havent upgrade to 56K yet for 2 reasons.
> My modem is pretty much rock solid right now and I may be going ISDN,
> cable, or ADSL in the next 6 - 12 months.
>
> So....   what I am looking for is suggestions and/or opinions on the
> above.  I would also like any information and tips on upgrading to
> Windows98 or if you know of sites with alot of good info regarding
> that.  Also looking at upgradability as a huge factor.   I would like to
>
> be able to plug in $100 here or there to keep my system viable for N3,
> GPL, the new Trans-Am and Sports Car sims coming out.   Maybe next year
> I will splurge and buy a top of the line Intel system, etc... but for
> now Im trying to get the most bang for the buck.
>
> The primary thing to remember is I have never done anything this
> extensive before and I am not overly computer literate.  As I always
> tell people,  I dont know enough about computers to be very useful...
> but I know enough to cause all kinds of trouble <VBG>
> I have added hard drives, ram, video cards, overdrive processors, etc.
>
> Thanks for taking the time to respond.
>
> Scott
> PA-Scott on TEN
>
> --
> Scott B. Husted
> Marketing and Administrative Manager
> Riegel Federal Credit Union
> http://www.riegelfcu.org
> ICQ# 4395450



