I'd like to replace my Abit BH6 with one of the now, relatively
inexpensive, Socket 478, 400 or 533MHZ FSB, P4 motherboards people
are currently selling new on Ebay for under $50. But I'd like to
continue using the two, 80 GIG, ATA, Maxtor HD's I'm currently running
(WIN 98) in a RAID 0 array on a Promise controller.
I currently have a PIII 850, but since I only do web surfing and word
processing, I don't really need anything more than, say, a 2GHz, or
even less, P4.
Are you looking to buy a new processor or a used one? If you're
looking for a new one, there really isn't too much of a price
difference between about a 1.8GHz P4 and a 2.6GHz P4. In fact, if we
were to go by the priced on
www.newegg.com (a pretty reliable vendor
according to some of our US readers), the cheapest P4 they have for
sale is the 2.26GHz for $115. The 2.6C P4 with an 800MHz bus speed,
on the other hand, sold for $165.
Another option to consider would be the new Celeron D series of chips.
The above-mentioned Newegg has the Celeron D 320 processor (running at
2.4GHz and roughly comparable to a 2.0GHz P4) for only $72. Just be
absolutely sure that you stay WELL away from the older Celeron
processors (the non 'D' models), as the performance of those chips is
absolutely abysmal (a 2.4GHz Celeron D will be MUCH faster than
older-style 2.8GHz Celeron).
Now, if you're buying the P4 used, it could be a different story. I'm
not quite sure what the going rate for them is on eBay, though you
might be able to find some deals. Just be VERY careful, often prices
for used processors on eBay are *HIGHER* than prices for new
processors. The same is likely true for motherboards.
Can you guys tell me which of these P4 boards were the most reliable
over the last few years, and whether I can just move my HD's and
controller over to one of them. (Someone told me I'd have less
problems doing this on boards that have Intel chipsets, since that's
what my Abit uses?).
If you're sticking with Intel processors I would recommend sticking
with an Intel chipset regardless. But be warned that you WILL almost
certainly run into some sort of drive issues in Windows if you just
drop the new board in on the old operating system. Windows is just
very poorly designed in this regard (eg. as compared to Linux at
least).
Now, for just what board to get, that's a tough call. The first thing
you should watch out for are the real no-name off-brand stuff that is
BY FAR the most common crap sold on eBay. There are millions upon
millions of boards being manufactured by PCChips and ECS that are sold
under dozens of different names, and the quality on these boards is
VERY hit-and-miss (with perhaps an emphasis on the 'miss' side of
things).
Again, as above, you'll also want to compare prices to what they are
selling for new, as more often than not you end up paying MORE by
buying crap through eBay than you would pay to get a board through a
decent reseller. Newegg has a couple of off-brand boards from ASRock
and ECS listed for $30-$50.
I don't know of a specific board for a P4 because I've mostly stuck
with AMD-based systems (AMD processors almost always give you much
better bang for your buck when compared to Intel processors), but I do
have some general pointers. First off, stick to a decent name brand.
My personal choice for low cost but good quality is usually MSI. Asus
and Gigabyte seem to do ok as well. Abit, Soyo and Soltek should be
reasonably safe as well these days. One good thing about buying an
older board is that usually even the mid-level quality companies have
had a chance to get the bugs worked out of their system.
Second thing to look for is a board that uses the Intel i865P, i865PE
or i865G chipset (watch out for the i865GV though, there is no AGP
slot on that one). This chipset is nearly as fast as the top-end
chipsets in Intel's arsenal, but the cost is significantly lower. You
can sometimes save a few bucks here and there by getting an older i845
chipset, but the difference in price is usually small and the
difference in performance is noticeable.
As, since I'd also like to upgrade my Win 98 to XP Home, what would be
the best way to go about this? Before or after I transfer my HD's?
If at all possible I would highly recommend upgrading Windows at the
same time that you put your new motherboard in. ie the first thing
you should do after putting the new system in place is to install a
fresh copy of WinXP rather than trying to boot into Win98 (which is
likely to just cause all kinds of problems anyway). You don't need to
format the hard drive, just install WinXP into a different directory
(ie c:\winnt). Once you get WinXP installed, than you can re-install
your applications and transfer data around as needed.
Of course, the ideal is always to backup your data and do complete
format of the drive in this situation. This is especially true given
that you're upgrading from an old Win9x based OS to a proper WinNT
based one. If you do a complete wipe of the drive and a fresh
partitioning and formatting of the drive then you will be able to make
use of the NTFS file system (FAR superior to the old FAT file system
used in Win98).
IMPORTANT NOTE: You are going to need to upgrade more than just your
motherboard and processor here! At the very least you'll also need
new memory, and most likely you'll also be looking at a new power
supply as well! Keep this in mind before you buy! Also, if you do
not get a "retail box" processor than you will also need to purchase a
new heatsink and fan to go along with your new chip.
And finally, it is quite possible that your old video card will not
work on the newer motherboards. Even if it's an AGP video card and
you get a motherboard with an AGP slot, the two might not be
compatible. Many video cards sold in the timeframe of the Abit BH6
motherboard were AGP 2x 3.3v cards. These cards will NOT work on a
new i865/AGP 8x/1.5v motherboard (with the voltage actually being the
important part). Have a quick look at the following page for a bit
more info:
http://www.ati.com/support/faq/agpchart.html
Ohh, and be warned, 'JK' will almost certainly bombard you with his
standard "You'd be stupid to buy Intel, buy AMD instead" messages.
Despite his rather off-putting manner, he is actually correct in that
you will get better value for your money with an AMD processor, though
the difference likely isn't too huge. For example, you could pick up
an AMD Sempron 2400+ for $65 and an MSI K7N2-Delta2-LSR (whoa MSI
needs to work on their names!) motherboard to put it in for another
$67. This would perform roughly the same as the Celeron D 320
(2.4GHz) for $72 and an MSI i865PE Neo2-V for $68. As you can see,
the AMD solution is a bit cheaper, though you are looking at only an
$8 difference.
Ppp