Need a new cpu thing

[tanukisutsu]

I need to get a new processor. I'm thinking a pentium 4 2.4 or a 3.0 ghz or something in that range-- and along the lines of $170-200. I'll probably get it from newegg.com.

I'm wondering if my motherboard will even be able to handle it y'know? I'm not even sure what makes a motherboard able to handle what cpu or anything like that.

The motherboard I have now is from a HP from around 2000, and it has a pentium 3 900mhz.

I need a new one in order to get rid of a nasty delay on midi devices and on recording.

But yea, a new motherboard=bad because mine has slots only for the old kind of ram, so I'd have to buy new ram for the new one =\.

[Moe_Rahn]

Yeah, you're gonna need a new mobo if you want to go anywhere with that thing.

[tanukisutsu]

shucks

[spartan]

Heh, yeah, you're going to need a new mobo if you're jumping from a P3 to a P4. If you have a Fry's Electronics near you, you can probably find a good deal on mobo+CPU combos that are within your price range. If you want to buy things seperately off NewEgg, you'll have to get a CPU that isn't as good.

The absolute best you can do, I imagine, is a P4 2.8-ish with a low end mobo, if you're lucky.

[tanukisutsu]

What kinda mobo should I get?

[tanukisutsu]

Heh, yeah, you're going to need a new mobo if you're jumping from a P3 to a P4. If you have a Fry's Electronics near you, you can probably find a good deal on mobo+CPU combos that are within your price range. If you want to buy things seperately off NewEgg, you'll have to get a CPU that isn't as good.

The absolute best you can do, I imagine, is a P4 2.8-ish with a low end mobo, if you're lucky.

Son of a bitch. I went to fry's yesterday night! I've had my fill of that place for another 6 months at least lol. Is it actually possible to get a better deal there for this kind of thing though?

[tanukisutsu]

What are the different options to look out for on a mobo?

[phide]

EDIT: Jesus...you guys post fast.

You're better off buying an entirely new computer, as you probably won't be able to swap the motherboard from your HP case, and you'll need new RAM as well.

[tanukisutsu]

I can bite the bullet and get a new mobo/cpu as long as it's a good price and it's not to big of a hastle... I'm going to need like 5-6 pci slots

[phide]

Like I said, you probably won't be able to swap a motherboard into your HP case. HP/Compaq manufacture their own motherboards which, for a while now, don't conform to any particular form factor. You may be able to put in a mATX motherboard, but you'll still need the CPU and RAM, so you're looking at (at least) a $300 investment.

You'll likely find a better deal on a Celeron-equipped machine from Dell considering that you'll be getting fairly up-to-date components (and free flat panels and things).

[Moe_Rahn]

You'll likely find a better deal on a Celeron-equipped machine from Dell considering that you'll be getting fairly up-to-date components (and free flat panels and things).
Just a side note relating to this, if you do end up getting an el cheapo Dell, make sure to get one with a Prescott core Celeron D, since they're a pile of times better than the old Northwood core Celerons.

[lucky644]

I'm going to need like 5-6 pci slots

What the hell for?

Most new motherboards have ethernet....wifi..video..sound....all that stuff built in. I can't think of many other pci devices you'd need to add on.

[tanukisutsu]

Naa, I don't want to do dell... they seem to crap out earlier than the other kind (at least in my experience)

[tanukisutsu]

What the hell for?

Most new motherboards have ethernet....wifi..video..sound....all that stuff built in. I can't think of many other pci devices you'd need to add on.

Lol my motherboard has video built in, but I put a new vidcard in it. I also added a firewire thing-- as far as the soundcard is concerned- I don't really need one anymore considering I just bought an external soundcard which runs through the firewire thing... so I guess I wouldn't need as many as I first thought. So after logicing through it thanks to what you brought up, I guess I don't need as many slots.

How much would a cpu/mobo combo cost from fries anyways?

[tanukisutsu]

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4532287?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

hows about that one?

[tanukisutsu]

the video card that I have is a cheaper one by nvidia that's 128 mb... I don't know if that makes a difference when choosing a mobo.

[siddy]

A while ago, i got a Semperon 2500+ (clocked at 1.4 ghz) and an Asus s754 mobo for about 150 CAD.

If you want to go cheapest route possible, look for a s754 mobo with a semperon.

however, if you do want to spend a bit of money and get something futureproof, the Athlon 64 processors have dropped in price, and get an Asrock ULI mobo. For a 3000 and that mobo, you're looking at 250 CAD.

[tanukisutsu]

It's not that I wanna get the cheapest one possible. It's just that I wanna get a cheaper futureproof one-- as you said. Right now this one: http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4532287?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG looks perfect to me, but I'm sure there's some reason why it's cheap, I just don't know if that reason would stop me from buying it, cause I don't know the reason.

[siddy]

It's not that I wanna get the cheapest one possible. It's just that I wanna get a cheaper futureproof one-- as you said. Right now this one: http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4532287?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG looks perfect to me, but I'm sure there's some reason why it's cheap, I just don't know if that reason would stop me from buying it, cause I don't know the reason.

don't know much about intels nowadays. truth be told, if you're gaming, go with AMD. they run cooler, quieter, and faster than similar intel chips.


here's an attempt at buliding you something

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530
$109

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
$152

250 USD for a futureproof mobo/processor with PCI-E slot.

[spartan]

Tanukisutsu, if you need a new computer you're going to need to buy a lot more then just a new mobo/cpu. Your PSU will need to be upgraded, for one, and with that your case will likely need a change. Likely the RAM, as well.

Now, Fry's... normally I just pick up my newspaper on Friday morning and take a look at what they have listed in it. I wouldn't shop from the online store, Outpost.com, as it doesn't have the same weekend specials Fry's has. I would be paticularly aware Thanksgiving weekend. They normally do blowout sales on holidays.

I think you need to do a little bit of research, first. You can't spend just $200 and expect to get a fast and smooth computer that will be "futureproof". I would suggest a processor with 64-bit capabilities. Pretty much any AMD Athlon64 or Intel chip that's numbered 6xx or greater. And with PCI-E. That means you need a motherboard. If you want dual core, I'm guessing you don't... you'll need to spend more.

You need to do a little more research.

[siddy]

Tanukisutsu, if you need a new computer you're going to need to buy a lot more then just a new mobo/cpu. Your PSU will need to be upgraded, for one, and with that your case will likely need a change. Likely the RAM, as well.

Now, Fry's... normally I just pick up my newspaper on Friday morning and take a look at what they have listed in it. I wouldn't shop from the online store, Outpost.com, as it doesn't have the same weekend specials Fry's has. I would be paticularly aware Thanksgiving weekend. They normally do blowout sales on holidays.

I think you need to do a little bit of research, first. You can't spend just $200 and expect to get a fast and smooth computer that will be "futureproof". I would suggest a processor with 64-bit capabilities. Pretty much any AMD Athlon64 or Intel chip that's numbered 6xx or greater. And with PCI-E. That means you need a motherboard. If you want dual core, I'm guessing you don't... you'll need to spend more.

You need to do a little more research.

I agree. I was just showing you a launching point, and didn't want that to be your actual/final choice.

[Mirsky]

Pretty much the only thing you'll be able to keep would be the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Now assuming that HP used Intel stuff it's pretty likely your motherboard is an i815 or i820 chipset. The i815 uses SDRAM and the i820 uses RDRAM (rambus), neither of which would function with your new motherboard for a P4.

I believe that that chipset also only supports AGP 4X at a max, therefore you'll need a new graphics card (PCI-e would be needed for futureproofing, and TBH AGP cards are getting to be more expensive than their PCI-e bretherin) - however, if you bought a motherboard with onboard graphics it would probably be better than what you have now.

PSU/Case - The newer CPUs/MBs need a different power connection that the ones for the p3s. Ontop of that (as was pointed out earlier) the case you have might not even support the installation of a standard ATX board.

Drives (FD/HDD/CD) - you should be able to keep these, but TBH storage is so cheap now would be a great time to upgrade to a DVD burner + 1 bajillion Gb of HDD space.

http://www.edealinfo.com/dell/ lists a page of specials that Dell have. I know you've said you don't want one but they make decent machines at rock bottom prices and their customer service was really good back when I used it on my old machine (also a p3 800mhz :) )

[siddy]

and if you do decide to buy new, here's a suggestion. RESEARCH EVERYTHING. Read all that you can before you buy. I bought a computer a year ago, and most of it is now in a beater box, because I now have the components I should have got in the beginning in a new box.

[tanukisutsu]

i already have a new hard drive, it's 80gb. And I also bought a new powersupply so I'm guessing that I won't need a new one of those-- it's 300w for all that's worth.

I'd like to be able to keep my cd/burner drive and my dvd/cd drive and my video card (which is also pretty new)... and considering I bought my firewire thing two days ago I'd like to keep that too. I don't care if I lose the floppy drive or the ram though. I guess I'll probably needa new case too huh. Ugh.

I just need to upgrade the speed/ram in order to record better, because right now there is a delay when I record things. (delay as in it takes a fraction of a second for the computer to recognize that something happened, which is a lot when you're recording).

[siddy]

i already have a new hard drive, it's 80gb. And I also bought a new powersupply so I'm guessing that I won't need a new one of those-- it's 300w for all that's worth.

I'd like to be able to keep my cd/burner drive and my dvd/cd drive and my video card (which is also pretty new)... and considering I bought my firewire thing two days ago I'd like to keep that too. I don't care if I lose the floppy drive or the ram though. I guess I'll probably needa new case too huh. Ugh.

I just need to upgrade the speed/ram in order to record better, because right now there is a delay when I record things. (delay as in it takes a fraction of a second for the computer to recognize that something happened, which is a lot when you're recording).

300 watt is usually the bare minimum for a PSU by today's standards with a newer system. Wattage however, doesn't matter much. Look on the rails on the PSU, you should make sure you have at least 18 amps on the 12v rail, otherwise, you might run into stability issues.

[tanukisutsu]

I still don't see what is wrong with that combo that I picked out from outpost.com. Is there anything missing on that one that I might need? I can't even tell how many pci slots it has from that pic, maybe it says it somewhere but I couldn't find it =\. I heard the hyper threading technology is good and cheap too.

[siddy]

I still don't see what is wrong with that combo that I picked out from outpost.com. Is there anything missing on that one that I might need? I can't even tell how many pci slots it has from that pic, maybe it says it somewhere but I couldn't find it =\. I heard the hyper threading technology is good and cheap too.

there's nothing WRONG with it, but you can do better. If you're happy with that, get it. However, I would suggest that you research you decision. ECS is known as a low-quality mobo manufacturer, and has capacitors that tend to burst and leak (they might have stopped the use of cheap capacitors now, but it certainly doesn't show as very good).

Remember, in the computer world (unless you're getting ripped off) you get what you pay for, and the more money you put into your computer, the less you'll have to spend to upgrade later down the line.

One more suggestion, is if you want to game, the best choice is AMD hands down, look at benchmarks, AMD always comes out on top.

[tanukisutsu]

I don't want to game on my computer.

I looked in the fry's add for today and I saw another ECS mobo/cpu combo and it's 109.99 and it says:
-LGA775 2.6ghz CPU with heatsink/fan
-Intel 848P chipset
-DDR400; AGP 8x
-6-Ch Audio; LAN

There are a few others in the ad but I don't know about those.

[siddy]

well, if it fits your budget and does what you want it to do, then get it, but i'm not going to be the judge of if the computer is right for you or not. this is your buy.

[tanukisutsu]

What other brands of motherboards should I look out for? If I'm there and I see other kinds that are within my price range then I'll probably get one of those.

[siddy]

Asus is a good manufacturer. Also keep an eye out of MSI, DFI, Asrock is ok...the low-end Asus stuff. Abit is ok, as is Gigabyte, Chaintek, etc.

[tanukisutsu]

almost got a gigabyte one w/ a p4 ht 3ghz and 1gb of ram but it was going to be like $420 after tax... that's way too much money. Hopefully i'll be able to get that same stuff after christmas for cheaper.

[siddy]

almost got a gigabyte one w/ a p4 ht 3ghz and 1gb of ram but it was going to be like $420 after tax... that's way too much money. Hopefully i'll be able to get that same stuff after christmas for cheaper.

that's not a bad price, but yea, some things might drop after x-mas. if you do want to get yourself something futureproofish make sure your board supports PCI-E, but obviously you'll have to get a gfx card that fits that.