Upgrading my HP iMedia PC

[Red1]

Hi there,
I bought my Hewlet Packard computer in 2001 and it needs a serious upgrade. I have Windows ME, Intel Pentium 256.0 MB RAM and 17.0 GB hard drive...Money is tight (circa 500 euros) but i need a good PC system for using Macromedia & Adobe software...any recommendations on what i should do?
Red1

[hockey man]

Welcome to the PC Guide. Could you give us the HP model number? That will let us find your MOBO specs. The MOBO is the heart of your pc. That will let us know what can and cannot be upgaded.

[saphalline]

Download and run Belarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) and let us know what it says. That will give us some crucial info that we need to help you.

[Red1]

Hi guys,
thanks for getting back so quickly...

The Model number is iMedia 5105
I got this info when i ran the Belarc Advisor...any ideas?

Processor a
1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board b
Board: Micro-Star Inc. MS-6506 1.0
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/2001

Operating System
Windows Millennium Edition (build 4.90.3000)

Drives
20.00 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
6.71 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SM-308B [CD-ROM drive]Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")

Generic IDE hard disk drive (20.00 GB) -- drive 0, No SMART Driver

Memory Modules c,d
256 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM1 ' has 128 MB
Slot 'DIMM2 ' has 128 MB

Controllers
Standard Floppy Disk Controller
Intel(r) 82801BA Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)

Bus Adapters
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host
Controller 1
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host
Controller 2

[deddard]

Hi
Here's a link for your motherboard:
http://support.packardbell-europe.com/scripts/rdr.asp?page=/support/pri/item/item_spec_discovery.asp&menu=MySupport&cat=PRI&lang=1&

If you are looking for anything which will match even medium range modern PCs you're going to be disappointed I'm afraid. It doesn't mean it can't be improved, just that you shouldn't expect monstrous results.
Your system supports a max of 1GB RAM, (not DDR) and has AGP1 which is a bit limiting.
Your maximum CPU can be 2.4Ghz, but I'm not sure whether there are many around today.

500 Euros is around £340 which would probably be better spent on building your own system. Older RAM and CPUs can often be harder to come by and therefore more expensive than their modern counterparts.

[saphalline]

Hmmm... interesting predicament. Well, you could upgrade what you have or you could buy a new core. I guess at that point it's up to you.

To upgrade what you have, you'll have to toss some RAM. Your mobo only has two slots and those are already filled, so upgrading your RAM at all means tossing at least one of those sticks. You could buy a 512MB stick of PC133 SDRAM and bring your total up to 640MB, but I'm thinking Macromedia would be more happy with the full 1GB that your mobo supports. Then again, 640MB is tons better than 256MB. :p Also, that mobo has no onboard video (from what I can see) so you must have a dedicated vid card, right? What vid card do you have? If it's AGP or any sort of modern 3D-capable PCI vid card, then it's probably good enough for Macromedia, even if not games. The CPU upgrade could get sticky. Finding an old Northwood A P4 could be difficult at this point, and a more modern P4 won't work in that mobo. The decision to upgrade what you have would depend largely on finding a CPU for that mobo.

For a core upgrade, things look much better. But then again it could also potentially be more expensive. You'll need a new mobo, CPU, RAM, and probably a new vid card. And at that point, you might need a new PSU, as well. Lots to upgrade!

My suggestion would be to search out an old Northwood A P4. If you can find one, it might be worth upgrading what you have. If not, save up some more money and do a total core upgrade.