Upgrade Paths?

[DennisJWeber]

I'm running a Dell 8100 512mb ram, 1.7 ghz, 60 gig hd, Win Me, THX cetfd speakers....a great machine. 1 year old now.
I'm looking to upgrade in order to stave off obsolescence, and am trying to decide what direction to go in.
some options I've considered..........
2nd 60 gig HD
upgrade to 2.0 USB
Win XP Pro Ed
Firewire cards(for Mp3's)
I use my machine for music, photo and internet pursuits. Some WP etc.
Little gaming except for NHL 2003.
Which of the options should I complete first?.....and ANY other reccs would be appreciated. Thank you!:rolleyes:

[Steve]

Other than trying to "stave off obsolescence", is there anything that you would like to do that your computer wont do?

I agree. It sounds like a great machine. All I would suggest is upgrading to W2k or XP if you have the money.

[Budfred]

I agree with Steve.... Your computer was obsolete on the day you got it, if you look at what has evolved since then. However, if it does everything you need, it may be years before it is functionally obsolete. A more stable OS would probably be one of the nicest things you could do for yourself, although I would go with Win2K to avoid the XP hassles. If you have an actual use for firewire or USB 2.0, they are cheap upgrades, so go for it. On the other hand, if you don't have a use, why bother?

That said, I upgrade because I have fun tinkering. I don't pursue state of the art, because it will be different tomorrow and I don't have the money. If you want to tinker, then all of those upgrades sound like fun......

Budfred:) ;)

[BigBlue66]

You would have to go buy computer parts every day to stay ahead of the game.

Most newer motherboards have built-in USB 2.0 and some even have built-in Firewire. However, the cheaper route would be to just buy adapter cards for them.

Your 1.7 should last you a long time yet and 512mb of RAM is still an optimal amount to have.

[saphalline]

Why not look into upgrading your case fans? :D Sorry, but even the Dells I've seen are almost scorching compared to what I can build! They're much quieter, true, but how long will all that hardware last at such temps?

Case fans are cheap - about $8-12 per fan. Depending on your case, you may be able to get the standard 80mm fans, or the smaller 60mm fans.

But whatever you do, don't upgrade your power supply! Dell apparently doesn't use a standard ATX pin configuration...

[gusmahler]

Originally posted by DennisJWeber
I'm running a Dell 8100 512mb ram, 1.7 ghz, 60 gig hd, Win Me, THX cetfd speakers....a great machine. 1 year old now.
I'm looking to upgrade in order to stave off obsolescence, and am trying to decide what direction to go in.
some options I've considered..........
2nd 60 gig HD
upgrade to 2.0 USB
Win XP Pro Ed
Firewire cards(for Mp3's)
I use my machine for music, photo and internet pursuits. Some WP etc.
Little gaming except for NHL 2003.
Which of the options should I complete first?.....and ANY other reccs would be appreciated. Thank you!:rolleyes:

It all depends on what you need. As an initial matter, 1.7 GHz is pretty decent speed, so you're not that far in the red.

Personally, I wouldn't add another hard drive unless I needed one. If you have a bunch of free space on your hd, don't get a new one.

USB 2.0 is very cheap and will give you a great way to transfer photos and MP3s

1394 is really unnecessary unless you do video editing or have an iPod.

You didn't mention graphics. If you are a serious first person shooter gamer, upgrading to a GeForce 4 or a Radeon 9500 or 9700 will probably have the best effect for you.