Mobo's & upgrades in Win XP

[welshboy]

First my current setup

Abit KT7A Mobo with 1.2Ghz Athlon & 512Mb SDRAM
40Gb IBM GXP120 HD (3 partitions)
40x CD-ROM + LG 32x10x40x CDRW
32Mb Geforce 2 GTS Gfx card
Sound Blaster 4.1 Digital Snd Card
ADSL PCI Modem
and last but not least Win98SE

I've been running this setup for about a year now, and I am beginning to feel I could do with a bit more power for the games that I play. I have also noticed that Windows is becoming increasingly unstable - my programs dont crash but the computer has a tendency to lockup when I am on the net or running programs on the desktop....a phenomenon I have yet to pin down.

My first thought was "why dont I build a new PC!", I think I could scrape together £500 in a few months which would get me a very respectable base unit.

I am now beginning to think "why build a new PC when you can change the GFX card and upgrade to WinXP now for less than £200 and upgrade the rest when you have the money.

I remember reading on more than one occaision that WinXP doesnt react well to multiple changes to the spec of a PC, my primary concern being that If I fit a new gfx card now and I go to upgrade the Mobo, CPU, RAM, CD (change to DVD....might do that now actually....) will XP happily accept it or will I encounter some major hurdles. Thats not to say I dont mind having to overcome any probs, but I'd rather get it right first time.

Which leads me onto the issue of which Mobo to buy. I currently have my heart set on an Abit KD7 (supports USB2 and AGP 8x and it is currently a few pence short of £80 at www.komplett.co.uk) but I would consider an alternative if the cost was comparable and the specs better.

Its payday on Friday (woohoo!!:D) so if I am going to buy any parts it will be this weekend with the rest of the upgrades planned for around february 2003.

[HeadachesAbound]

Due to the M$ Activation Requirements you should expect trouble when upgrading your components after installing WinXP. I haven't made any mods to my machine since I put XP on it but I would expect to run into them. If it turns out that M$ refuses to re-activate my software after an upgrade then I might just have to pursue some sort of legal action but that's a whole other matter.

If you are planning to perform the upgrades within 3 to 6 months I wouldn't expect there would be many issues. You might have to call someone to get the activation code but I doubt you would have a major issue if you explained the upgrades.

[gwallen4]

Your system would definitely benefit from a faster graphics card - like a GeForce4 - Ti4200 or better or even a GeForce4-MX440. This would probably allow you to play most of the current games pretty well.

The system lockups could be from anything. Check for viruses. Also make sure your cpu heat sink/fan isn;t clogged with dust and overheating. Probably though you just need to reinstall Win98 since you've had it for awhile.

For $80 to $140 US and a little time spent reinstalling you could have a pretty fast rig.

[welshboy]

Thanks for that Headaches, I'll bear that in mind when I do the upgrades next year.

I am leaning slightly towards the Radeon 9000 Pro as it is cheaper for a 128Mb 9000Pro than it is for a 64Mb Ti4200. I know its not quite as powerful (correct me if I am wrong please:)) but cost is everything!
Also if I was to upgrade to XP at the same time I doubt I could afford the two together at the mo, I am trying to spend less than £200 this time around. Dont forget, I am in the UK ao components are a little more expensive over here.

As for Win98SE crashing, overheating had crossed my mind and I have been monitoring the system temp from time to time. When it has crashed I have checked the temp on immediate restart and it is around 45 - 50C

I very much doubt there is a virus involved as I am using Norton Internet Security 2002, which updates itself almost every day, scans my incomming and outgoing email for viruses and even blocks trojan horse activity! The reason why I have IS2002 is because I had a broadband internet connection setup for the house in June. Within 2 weeks my machine was crippled by the Klez virus - I couldnt get online and it stopped my Norton AV2000's exe file from working. As a result I got IS2002, completely reformatted the C partition and reinstalled windows. (touch wood) I havent had any trouble since and IS2002 has picked out a couple of viruses from my email that could have caused trouble.

Anybody got any other suggestions??

[welshboy]

Here is an example of the kind of prices I will have to pay for gfx cards here in the UK

http://www.dabs.com/value/value.asp?s=374

and

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/kl.asp?AvdID=1&CatID=24&GrpID=1&t=278&l=2

The dabs.com page is their "low price" stuff. I bought my ADSL modem from them and it works perfectly so I have no real concerns about buying from their value section. The komplett page is quite good for brands like gainward, creative, sapphire etc with prices (usually) a couple of pounds cheaper than the majority of other online stores.

[gwallen4]

If money's a problem, either the Radeon 9000 Pro or the GeForce4-MX440 or 460 would be your best bets. Both are less than $100 US.

I haven't bought an ATI card since I spent about 100 hours diddling with bad drivers with no help from ATI.

[Budfred]

The biggest problem with WinXP is that you do have to contact them to reregister if you change hardware significantly, but many people have said this is easily done. On the other hand, it doesn't really run any faster than Win98 and probably runs slower unless you do a lot of tweaking. The big advantage is that it is more stable. You can get much the same stability with Win2000Pro and not have to worry about checking in with MS when you change things. However, you have to tweak 2000Pro to get it faster too.

Budfred

[saphalline]

I like that Komplett link you gave, a lot of good deals on there. At least, I think, as I'm not real knowledgable about the whole pound vs dollar rate. :D

Anyways, the best video card value on the Komplett page would have to be the Creative 3D Blaster GeForce3 Ti200 for £67.30. Often overlooked these days is the GF3 Ti cards, which is why they're so cheap! ;) More powerful than a Radeon 9000 Pro or a GF4 MX video card, the GF3 Ti 200 is cheap, runs cool, and is highly overclockable. The GF4 Ti cards have captured the high-end limelight, and NV30 still a few months away, so if you want to upgrade on a budget, now is the time to snag a cheap GF3 Ti 200 before the supply runs out.

On the ATI side, Saphire makes nice cheap Radeon cards, but the big name in ATI's corner is... *drum roll* Hercules! Hercules had a falling-out with NVidia last year, so now they only deal with ATI. BAM on you, NVidia! You shoulda kept them happy! Most reviews I've seen place Hercules' Radeon cards at the top of the pack, even ahead of ATI themselves! The drawback is that, for the top-speed Radeon video cards, you gotta pay a little extra coin. You get what you pay for in the end - cheaper & slower from Saphire, higher performance & price from Hercules (I think they also bundle games with their cards). I do agree that the best ATI deals right now are the Radeon 9000 Pro and the Radeon 9500 Pro.

[welshboy]

I had considered the GF3 Ti200, I just wasnt sure how it compared to the current range. I dont mind buying an older card if it is capable of kicking serious ass! I bought my GF2 GTS last October for about £65. OK it had already been available for over a year but this was originally £250+.

How would the GF3 compare to a GF4 ti4200. I dont mind paying a bit more if the 4200 is a sufficiently superior card.

[gwallen4]

For a Benchmark comparison of VGA cards check out Tom's Hardware:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020418/index.html

This article compares 30 cards, leaving out only the Radeon 9700 Pro which beat out the Ti4600 at the top of the list.