Upgrade or Overclock?

[Jrokk]

Well for awhile now I've been thinking about getting a better comp. But the thing is I am allways short on money. In other words I can't dish out even like 500$ for another computer. Right now I have an AMD Athalon 808 MHZ,384MB RAM. I don't know my mother board type but if I saw a buncha pictures I could tell you. (it was custom built in california, im in oregon) And I can't just go out and buy an AMD XP 1700 because it wouldn't be compatible with my motherboard. I'm just so confused about this stuff and I don't want t buy something I don't need. If you kinda understand my question either post a reply, or ask more questions.

[Urban_Squrill]

depends on really on does this computer run what you need?
Overclocking usualy does not increase your preformance much or sometiems noticably.
Use a program like aida32 to find what you mobo is.

[Jrokk]

It's for gaming purposes. I'm either about to purchase a FX 5200 or a Ti4200 video card. Where can I find aida32?

[edit] I found aida32 [/edit]

I would say its better to upgrade ...
An ECS K7S5A MoBo with an AMD XP combo can be found for cheap in the US (as far as i know), this combo could be less than $100 ..
You can use your current memory and the other parts as well ..

OCing this system will not get you the results you`re expecting, and you might get yourself into heat trouble and instability in general ...

If you can save a little buck, get the above combo

BTW, welcome to TechIMO
Regards

[Jrokk]

Here's what is says for my motherboard (not quite sure what it means):

[win2kuser]

I have the exact same mobo and cpu in one of my pc's (This one funnily enough).

As you can emagine, it hasn't got the balls to play the latest games. A few years ago when I built it, it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but sadly, now almost obsolete.

I have never managed to successfully over clock this combo, and even if I had, it would gain only a couple of hundred meg at best.

I would go along with KenKun and upgrade if poss. Even a 1.2 Duron would be faster if money is that tight.

See if you can get a 1.7XP thoroughbred cpu as you can get some pretty nifty speeds out of them if you are interested in overclocking.

HTH...

Doh!! Almost forgot - Welcome to TechIMO

[Jrokk]

KenKun & win2kuser - how do I find out what processors are compatible with what motherboard? where are these deal's you guys are talking about? also all I would have ot do is rebuild the comp. annd everything should work? (in a certain sense)

[win2kuser]

If you decide to go with an AMD chip (which most people do), get a Socket 'A' mobo, something like the K7S5A this will take a duron, or XP. Some boards only go up to say a 2.4 XP, but bios updates will allow them to go higher. If you go for a lower spec board with SD ram, you will be able to use your current ram in it. If you go for a board with DDR, you will need to replace it. Some boards have SD and DDR sockets, in which case you can replace your SD for DDR when you get some more money.

As for the deals, I am in the UK, so can't really comment. I get my stuff from EBuyer which I believe is also based in the US.

The board you have BTW is a Slot 'A', the cpu is a sideways mount with fan built in. The newer boards are socket which are flat mount, you will need to get a HSF as they do not normally come with the chip, unless you get an AMD retail kit (cpu and hsf), or a complete package (mobo, cpu, and hsf).

As your current spec is ATX, all you will need to do is swap the mobo. When you switch on, Windows will probably detect new hardware from the board and will attempt to install it, in which case I would recommend backing up important software before doing this incase it go's tit's up

HTH...

ECS K7S5A PRO for $47.00
AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred /266 for $44.00
Total $91 shipped from newegg.

PS. you can use SDR or DDR RAM with board.
PS. you will need a heat sink for the above mentioned OEM CPU (your current one should work fine IMO).

If you get this combo, all you have to do is format your HDD and reinstall your operating system which will give you a fresh powerful gaming machine.

Of course you can do as win2kuser suggested, but you *might* get instability freezes and crashes in your system. Avoid all that by a fresh install.

how do I find out what processors are compatible with what motherboard?

You have to check the MoBo's manufacture page to get the specs, they will mention the supported CPUs.

[Bruneau]

Those ECS boards are good lil board (got one in my backup rig). But, they are gettin antiquated.

Just pop that new TI4200 in your existing rig. You can try to Overclock it a little. You'll be fine for now. Prices will be dropping fast on stuff sooner than we think. Socket A is on it's last leg w/ the Athlon64 just around the corner.