Processor help for newbie

[bmoster]

I recently received my fathers computer and I am wondering which is my best option. It is a gateway 2000, 333mhz,96mb ram,7.2gb h.d.,Ati32m.b. rage fury video card,Creative labs mp3live sound card, That said would I be better off ditching this p.c. and opting for a newer one? or upgrading this one. My biggest question is the processor what shoud i opt for? and hpow hard is it to install. any help would be appreciated Thanx.

 

[Garyrom]

Open it up and see what mother board it is using. Is the processor an intel Pent. 2? You may be able to just up grade the processor, or you may have to get a new mother board. Don't know if you can put a Pent. 3 on that board. Also, why not call Gateway and ask about getting it upgraded. You can easily do it yourself, but they can tell you how far you can go.

Some of the new AMD chips are so cheap that you may be able to upgrade to a much nicer machine for less money if you just build a new one in a cheap case . You can use a lot of what you already have in the Gateway.

Hope this helps.

 

[interchange]

That's either a PII 333 w/ 66Mhz FSB or a Celeron w/ 66Mhz FSB. Based off of your previous stats, I'd guess it's an older PII which is really irrelevant for upgrades. You could either dig out your user's manual and figure out which motherboard it is or call up gateway themselves. Chances are, to get a decent processor in there, you'd have to get a mega BIOS update.

Something tells me the fury is soldered to the mobo, which leaves you room for either a Voodoo2, Voodoo3, or Voodoo4 4500(?) PCI. That's not much for options.

Anyway, your best bet is to salvage the sound card, sell the old system to someone in the paper, and build a new one. There's not much to upgrade from that machine. (Your Ware? )

 

[ltk007]

I don't think the Fury would be built into the mobo. You could probably flash the Bios and get a slot 1 PIII if you currently have a PII (and a BX mobo). If you have an LX mobo, then you might as well ditch it. Definately get a new HD, a new video card, and more ram if you have a BX.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well, what do you want to do with that system? are you a hardcore gamer, playing 3D shooters, or are you an internet/mp3 junkie? Unless you are running the latest 3D games, that system will do you just fine. Don't waste your money if you don't need to!
If the motherboard is a 440BX based board, you will likely have no problem upgrading the cpu to a newer PIII. If the mobo doesn't support 100mhz bus, then you can always upgrade to a relatively cheap celeron2 600. Either way would be much much cheaper than a new system, and there is nothing wrong with the rest of your components!

 

[Shockwave]

All praise to JabberWocky!!! He finally asked the most important question regarding this entire industry!! Whats the use of the product? Dont sell a Ferrari to a handicapped person (ok, maybe thats kinda a bad example...) Seriously, if you want to play games, I mean 3D games...gimme fps...gonna frag your ass....you'd be very well suited to just getting a new pc. But, if your just doin homeowrk, maybe play the *occasional* game, I would just upgrade what you have. Also, what kinda budget are you on? If your on a kinda tight budget, I would start to build a new system but keep your old one until the next one was ready. If your like me (way broke college student who drinks more in a week then I make in a month... ) then I would upgrade what you have.....