I currently Have a
-----Abit BH6 MB----------
-----Celeron 300A (It ran overclocked to 450Mhz for 20 months, and now its back to 300, cause my system just started to crash to often, starting late summer, to keep it at 450 .)-------------
----128MB Cas2 SDRAM PC100------
----6.4 Gig Ata66 HD (With about 2gig free. But I use Napster a lot, and if I let my self; that HD would be filled up by tomorrow:- )---------
----Creative Labs RivaTNT graphics with 16meg ram (the original one). (No real need to upgrade this, I used to be really big into games, but I rarely play games now. I can still use this, unless W2K Pro forces me to buy something new, read on...)----------
-----SB Live audio with the external, real audio riser 'card' on the rear of the PC. No complaints.
-----A standard 56X CD-ROM and my 'new' Sony CD-R/W drive at 8X. Man I paid $270 for this back in February 2000. My friend bought the same model 2 weeks ago for $150 delivered.---------
----A nice tower case with an Athlon T'Bird Compatible 300Watt Power supply.
----A MAG MXP-17F That I have been using since my first ever PC system. I got this back in Feb. 1996 and back then it cost $800 for a 17" 1600X1200 .26dp. The brightness has decreased after 5 years of continuous use, but it is still acceptable.
----And the love of my system is my SDSL connection that is 920Kup/780Kdown. This price will soon go up to $50 a month.
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Okay, so I have budgeted $400-$500 to upgrade what I have. At first I really had my heart set on getting the Abit KT7-Raid MB and a 1Ghz A'bird Processor and also spend less than $50 for some silver thermal compound, and a Alpha Heat sink/Fan Combo (looks like I will still do this). All of this will cost me around $400, and will certainly speed up my system, at least 3X or even 4X from a puny Celeron 300A.
After some thinking, I decided on some other possible upgrades. I really, really want to use Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, and since I'm a student I can buy it for about $100. BUT, to do this I will probably need to use 256MB Ram to get the comfort room I have now with my 128MB Ram in WIN98. So buying another stick of 128MB PC100 CAS2 will cost me about $80.
Another thing that worries me is that my HD of 6.4 Gig I have had since April 1997, and I am starting to realize that it might be at the end of its life span. Since this is my only HD, I am screwed if it fails in the next 12 months. (My first, HD before this was a 1.6 Gig WD Caviar HD and it died 3 months AFTER its 36-month warranty, loosing all of my back up stuff.) Since my current HD is approaching its 36 Month B’Day, I’m getting worried. If I was gonna buy A new HD, I would Spend no more than $200 that is ATA100 capable (hopefully).
[The least viable upgrade option is to get a new 19” Monitor. But this isn’t too realistic on my Max budget of $500, as to get a nice 19” that I want, would cost me $300-500. I probably wont do this at all, but just wanted to let you folks know.]
I really, really want to get W2K Pro, but this will possibly put a crimp on my budget. FYI, I can probably get my friend to permanently give me his licensed copy of W2K Pro for a big favor he owes me, so that will save me $100
PLUS, I can probably get $100-150 on eBay if I sell my current MB, CPU and 128MB PC100 Ram.
___________________________________________________
I’M FINALLY DONE. Just hopping that some of you Hardware junkies out their can offer their opinion on the biggest bang for the buck WHAT WOULD YOU DO??? PLEASE HELP ME OUT, I really need some valued advice. Thanks a lot
-----Abit BH6 MB----------
-----Celeron 300A (It ran overclocked to 450Mhz for 20 months, and now its back to 300, cause my system just started to crash to often, starting late summer, to keep it at 450 .)-------------
----128MB Cas2 SDRAM PC100------
----6.4 Gig Ata66 HD (With about 2gig free. But I use Napster a lot, and if I let my self; that HD would be filled up by tomorrow:- )---------
----Creative Labs RivaTNT graphics with 16meg ram (the original one). (No real need to upgrade this, I used to be really big into games, but I rarely play games now. I can still use this, unless W2K Pro forces me to buy something new, read on...)----------
-----SB Live audio with the external, real audio riser 'card' on the rear of the PC. No complaints.
-----A standard 56X CD-ROM and my 'new' Sony CD-R/W drive at 8X. Man I paid $270 for this back in February 2000. My friend bought the same model 2 weeks ago for $150 delivered.---------
----A nice tower case with an Athlon T'Bird Compatible 300Watt Power supply.
----A MAG MXP-17F That I have been using since my first ever PC system. I got this back in Feb. 1996 and back then it cost $800 for a 17" 1600X1200 .26dp. The brightness has decreased after 5 years of continuous use, but it is still acceptable.
----And the love of my system is my SDSL connection that is 920Kup/780Kdown. This price will soon go up to $50 a month.
_
_________________________________________________
Okay, so I have budgeted $400-$500 to upgrade what I have. At first I really had my heart set on getting the Abit KT7-Raid MB and a 1Ghz A'bird Processor and also spend less than $50 for some silver thermal compound, and a Alpha Heat sink/Fan Combo (looks like I will still do this). All of this will cost me around $400, and will certainly speed up my system, at least 3X or even 4X from a puny Celeron 300A.
After some thinking, I decided on some other possible upgrades. I really, really want to use Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, and since I'm a student I can buy it for about $100. BUT, to do this I will probably need to use 256MB Ram to get the comfort room I have now with my 128MB Ram in WIN98. So buying another stick of 128MB PC100 CAS2 will cost me about $80.
Another thing that worries me is that my HD of 6.4 Gig I have had since April 1997, and I am starting to realize that it might be at the end of its life span. Since this is my only HD, I am screwed if it fails in the next 12 months. (My first, HD before this was a 1.6 Gig WD Caviar HD and it died 3 months AFTER its 36-month warranty, loosing all of my back up stuff.) Since my current HD is approaching its 36 Month B’Day, I’m getting worried. If I was gonna buy A new HD, I would Spend no more than $200 that is ATA100 capable (hopefully).
[The least viable upgrade option is to get a new 19” Monitor. But this isn’t too realistic on my Max budget of $500, as to get a nice 19” that I want, would cost me $300-500. I probably wont do this at all, but just wanted to let you folks know.]
I really, really want to get W2K Pro, but this will possibly put a crimp on my budget. FYI, I can probably get my friend to permanently give me his licensed copy of W2K Pro for a big favor he owes me, so that will save me $100
PLUS, I can probably get $100-150 on eBay if I sell my current MB, CPU and 128MB PC100 Ram.
___________________________________________________
I’M FINALLY DONE. Just hopping that some of you Hardware junkies out their can offer their opinion on the biggest bang for the buck WHAT WOULD YOU DO??? PLEASE HELP ME OUT, I really need some valued advice. Thanks a lot