Shuttle SN41G2 upgrades?

[tom_hill2k]

I have had a shuttle SN41G2 for a while now and feel its getting a little sluggish! I carnt afford to replace it as im going to buy a laptop and possibly a tft soon but would like to know if their are any short term cheapish upgrades that will give it a boost!

current system specs:
Shuttle XPC SN41G2
AMD ATHLON XP2700+ 333MHZ FSB 256Cache - Thoroughbred
Crucial 512mb DDR 333MHz PC2700 *2
Seagate ST3160023A 160GB 7200rpm 8mb Cache Barracuda 7200.7
XFX GeForce 6600GT AGP 128MB
NEC ND-3500 Double Layer Dual 16x DVD R/RW

I guess theirs nothing I could add, I would have to replace a part, perhaps a replacement processor could help? i think this might be a bottle neck but im unsure and dont want to waste money. I use the computer for both gaming and office tasks.

I also wasnt so happy with the 6600GT, it didnt seem a huge improvment over my onboard graphics!!

Thanks in advance,

Tom Hill

 

[dunklegend]

The 6600GT should be a big improvement over the onboard graphics, maybe you have the bottleneck somewhere else.

How much are you willing to spend on the upgrades?

<b><font color=green>Celibacy is not hereditary<font color=green></b>

 

[tom_hill2k]

That depends on the performance gain and wether it would be more worth while saving the money for a new computer instead if ya see wot I mean? But for ball park figures for a reasonable return in performance £100 wudnt break the bank

I'm also interested in making it quieter, I have upgraded the psu to the 250 watt silentx version and use expertool to reduce the 6600GT's fan in 2D mode

 

[tom_hill2k]

would upgrading the cpu to:
AMD Athlon XP3200+ SKTA 400mhz FSB 512 L2 Cache Barton
have a large effect on performance? I can get one for £70 but will the differing fsb speeds of this and my ram cause any problems?

 

[dunklegend]

If your motherboard supports that CPU, you should see some improvement from the higher FSB and the larger cache alone.


<b><font color=blue>If you try to please everybody, nobody will like you<font color=blue></b>

 

[endyen]

The difference in chips would be small compared to going onboard to 6600 in graphics. Check in the graphics forum, they will help get more out of that upgrade.
Other than fixing the graphics, a little more ram may help with newer games.

 

[tom_hill2k]

more ram? I currently have 1 gig would more make much of a difference?

2 x Crucial 512mb DDR 333MHz PC2700

 

[P4Man]

remove spyware, run registry cleaner, possibly install up to date drivers.. that setup shouldnt be sluggish, and a 6600 GT barely faster than nforce IGP ? not bloody likely if you setup the rig correctly, unless your playing 2D games or packman or something .

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

 

[dunklegend]

Pac Man lol

<b><font color=blue>If you try to please everybody, nobody will like you<font color=blue></b>

 

[tom_hill2k]

I do all that regularly like, could you guys point me in the direction of a good benchmarking program? I mean the setup is not so much sluggish but say not as fast as I would like it or expect it to be

(No 2D games! GTA San Andreas and BF2 at the mo)

 

[Rugger]

<A HREF="http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4376.html" target="_new">3DMark05</A>
<A HREF="http://www.majorgeeks.com/download1712.html" target="_new">3DMark03</A>
<A HREF="http://majorgeeks.com/download92.html" target="_new">SiSoft Sandra</A>

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[tom_hill2k]

3600 in 3DMARK05, with the card oc'd (clock 537MHz, Memory 1132MHz)

is that about right??

 

[Rugger]

Not bad for that rig

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>