Upgrade or buy new?

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mr_wizard

I have an old PC which has an Intel Pentium 3 processor, 128MB SDRAM,
13 GB HD and a 3Dfx Voodoo 3000 AGP card. Also I am running XP Pro.

The system does struggle at times and Im sure I could upgrade the RAM.
The mobo has two spare DIMM slots.

However, Im looking to get broadband and set up a wiresless network.
Also, my sister wishes to play some of the latest games, most notably
SIMS 2 which from checking the specs looks like it would struggle
immensely!

What options are open to me based on what I have said. Should I try
upgrade or just buy new?

I have seen some Sony VAIO base systems for £700 that come with P4 and
ATI Radeon 9600.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Buy a new system. Get one with an Athlon 64. The Athlon 64 is superb
for games.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2149&p=7

Make sure to also get a high quality video card. You should avoid
computers that have a 32 bit processor(which includes the vast
majority of Pentium 4s), as 64 bit software will be very popular next
year.
an Athlon 64 does a great job of running 32 bit software as well as
64 bit software(even both at the same time).
 
message
" What options are open to me based on what I have said. Should I try
upgrade or just buy new? "


Given that you have Windows XP Pro running on some meagre hardware, perhaps
an upgrade would be best. As you'll see from the minimum system
requirements for Sims 2, you'll need at least an 800Mhz CPU, 256MB RAM,
3.5GB HDD space and a 32MB T&L capable graphics card.
http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=21

You only stated that you had a Pentium 3. You didn't say the speed, and you
didn't state your motherboard. Your motherboard is either a slot-A or
socket-370. If it is a slot-A, you may be able to use a Tualatin adaptor to
upgrade to as much as a 1.4Ghz socket-370 Pentium 3.

I expect that your motherboard will be able to take 2x 256MB SDRAM, but as
you didn't state it, I can't confirm its potential.

The Voodoo 3000 won't cut it for Sims 2. It's an AGP2x card, and your
motherboard probably runs at that speed too. You will probably be able to
run an AGP4x card in it, so significant upgrade potential is there.

My advice would be to get a 1Ghz+ Pentium 3 (and a Tualatin adaptor if
needed), another 128MB or 256MB SDRAM, and a 128MB GeForce4 Ti card from
www.ebay.co.uk or from 'uk.adverts.computers'. Sell your old CPU and Voodoo
3000 on eBay, and you could have a significant upgrade for around £40 - £70.
 
I have an old PC which has an Intel Pentium 3 processor, 128MB SDRAM,
13 GB HD and a 3Dfx Voodoo 3000 AGP card. Also I am running XP Pro.

The system does struggle at times and Im sure I could upgrade the RAM.
The mobo has two spare DIMM slots.

However, Im looking to get broadband and set up a wiresless network.
Also, my sister wishes to play some of the latest games, most notably
SIMS 2 which from checking the specs looks like it would struggle
immensely!

What options are open to me based on what I have said. Should I try
upgrade or just buy new?

I have seen some Sony VAIO base systems for £700 that come with P4 and
ATI Radeon 9600.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

You could upgrade, but it'd be better to buy new, at this
point the max upgrades possible seem slow and not THAT much
cheaper than a more modern low-end system.

It's not necessary to spend top dollar though, £700 towards
a gaming box might better buy an Athlon XP or cheaper P4,
and more of the budget towards a faster video card, and at
least 1GB of memory (SIMS2 loves lots of fast memory).
 
Your components are too old and slow compared to today's to be worth
upgrading them. Get a new system.
 
Thank you for the replies. Yeah buying new I had considered. I just
dont know whether to build my own or buy from a shop/internet. Guess
thats down to personal choice. Cheers anyway.
 
I have found this base unit @ Mesh computers.

Case: ATX MidiTower with tool free access
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Motherboard Features: ASUS A8V Deluxe Athlon 64 Mainboard - 2000MHz
SB, Dual LAN, IEEE 1394, SATA
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (939PIN)
Memory: Upgrade to 1024Mb PC3200 DDR (400MHz) at £100
Hard Drives: 160GB Serial ATA (150Mb/s) Ultra Fast Hard Drive
Video Card: 128MB nVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 - TV Out + DVI
Optical Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive (40x CD-ROM)
Sound: Onboard Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Modem: 56kbps V92 Modem, featuring data and fax.
Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Internet Keyboard & Optical Mouse
(Black)

All for about £700 (w/o delivery)

There are options to upgrade most areas of the system.
 
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