Possible upgrade paths involving a K7VZA-based system

[joea64]

Now that I've gotten my power/heat problems fixed (see the appropriate threads in the "System Troubleshooting" forum), I'm turning my attention back to potential upgrades for my system. The current components that I'm looking at _possibly_ upgrading (not immediately, because I'm more or less satisfied with most of the below components at the moment) include:

CPU: currently AMD Duron 800 (just upgraded to 300W power supply)
Video: currently nVidia TNT2 Riva M64, 32MB AGP
Monitor: currently 15"
Secondary hard drive: currently 13GB Seagate (primary is 20GB Maxtor)
CD-RW: currently Sony CRX-140E 8x4x32
DVD (doubling as CD player): currently MT1316B BDV212B 12x DVD/40x CD-ROM

The first priority, as far as I can see, is upgrading to a 17" monitor; 15" monitors are obsolete. I am on a limited income, though, so I am probably going to have to look for good-condition refurbished units from a reputable dealer. That being borne in mind, which models are the best to get?

After that is the CPU. My motherboard is the ECS K7VZA, which can handle AMD Athlons and Durons up to 1.4GHz. What is the most powerful CPU that I can reasonably use with a 300W PS on a system that also includes 2 IDE hard drives, 2 CD-type devices, and a video capture card? (I don't want to have to repeat last week's power problems.)

-Joe-

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Alternate email: joea64@yahoo.com

[mjc]

The 1.4 should work ok with 300W and that is what you should shoot for...there is not really much benefit when upgrading unless doubling the processor speed, most of the gains would only be visible in benchmarking programs. There are also other things to consider...like cache size like if you went from a Duron to an Athlon you would see more than just going to a faster Duron.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[saphalline]

I like Viewsonic monitors for those on a budget, but you can generally get a higher quality monitor when looking at refurbished models. Anything Sony should be good. Besides that, check the specs. I know it's possible to get a bad monitor with good specs, but generally speaking a 17" monitor with a viewing size of 16" is better than one with a viewing size of 15.8". The reason is simple, the one with a bigger viewing size likely had more time put into it during R&D. And it's less likely to be an OEM pass-off.

You may be on a tight budget, but a good monitor that cost more will please you much more than a bad monitor that you got for "such a great bargain". I think less eyestrain and better image quality is worth a month's coffee money, don't you?

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"No, we do not gnaw on our kitty." - Dr. Evil

[joea64]

That's why I'm considering upgrading the monitor first, as the effects on usability would be immediate and obvious. Also, the Duron 800 can handle just about anything currently on the market, and whatever it might have difficulty with is mostly stuff I'm not really interested in anyway (e.g., first-person shooters). As far as benchmarking goes, Sandra reports that my CPU beats a PIII 700, but that's probably also helped along by things like the large amount of RAM I have in the system.

-Joe-

Originally posted by mjc:
The 1.4 should work ok with 300W and that is what you should shoot for...there is not really much benefit when upgrading unless doubling the processor speed, most of the gains would only be visible in benchmarking programs. There are also other things to consider...like cache size like if you went from a Duron to an Athlon you would see more than just going to a faster Duron.





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Alternate email: joea64@yahoo.com