Re: The Weakest Link

Thanks Leythos,

By the time I get a case, motherboard, CPU, memory, graphics card - I am
close to a new PC. I think I have reached the stage where simple one-off
upgrades are no longer cost effective. A new PC is probably the way to go. I
might get a flat screen monitor I can carry over to the new PC - in effect
anything I get now should work on the new PC.

Cheers...Tony

"Leythos" <void@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:MPG.1da8cff73709049e98a17c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> In article <Omm7PAtxFHA.3892@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> tosime@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
>> CPU
>> 1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
>> 8 kilobyte primary memory cache
>> 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
>>
>> Memory
>> 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
>>
>> Slot 'DIMM_A' has 256 MB
>> Slot 'DIMM_B' has 256 MB
>> (Max memory 1 gigabyte)
>>
>> Drives
>> 220.06 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
>> 181.45 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
>>
>> HP CD-Writer+ 9900j [CD-ROM drive]
>> HP DVD Writer 300n USB Device [CD-ROM drive]
>> Lite-On LTN486 48x Max [CD-ROM drive]
>> 3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
>>
>> OTi Ultra Floppy USB Device [Hard drive] (131 MB) -- drive 2
>> ST3200822A [Hard drive] (200.05 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 5LJ1M08A, rev 3.01,
>> SMART Status: Healthy
>> ST320413A [Hard drive] (20.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 6ED3L4E4, rev 3.39,
>> SMART
>> Status: Healthy
>>
>> Video Card
>> 16MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra [Display adapter]
>> DELL M781s [Monitor] (15.7"vis, s/n 58VYR18UA1UT, August 2001)
>>
>> What I do
>> 1) PowerPoint Slides
>> 2) Microsoft Word - text documents
>> 3) Internet - lots of downloads
>> 4) Graphics - Page layout
>> 5) Excel spreadsheets
>> 6) Print photographs downloaded from my camera
>> 7) Email - Outlook lots of daily email
>>
>> Better Performance
>> Systems slows down when I have lots of apps open at the same time
>> Want to be able to switch quickly between applications
>> Want to do searches in the background without degrading foregorund
>> applications
>> System locks up from time to time
>>
>> Note - all drivers current, Windows downloads current.
>>
>> I hope this helps...Tony
>>
>> PS - can you recommend a hardware newsgroup?
>
> Your weakest links are two: CPU and Video. If you want a new CPU then
> you need a new motherboard, the motherboard you have will not support
> the newest of the P4 series, so you need a new CPU + Motherboard. You
> also need a dedicated Video card with at least 64MB RAM, but 128MB of
> ram would be better, 256 might be a waste for what you do.
>
> A board with AGP would be fine, something in a ASUS motherboard, like
> the P4P-800 Deluxe (about $129) and then a P4/3ghz CPU, but you will
> want to have ram that supports that faster CPU - so count on getting
> RAM, CPU, Board, Video card.
>
> One last thing - you may need a new case as most of the Dell cases are
> not standard - so add another $70 for a case with a 500W PSU.
>
> --
>
> spam999free@xxxxxxxxxx
> remove 999 in order to email me


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