Upgrading an old pc HOW ??? Which parts to add ?

andykolo

My computer died and a friend of mine gave me his old machine and said you should learn to upgrade so you can spread the cost of getting a new machine over a few years (dont know if this is true though)

anyway he gave me a basic machine its has

CPU - AMD Duron 800 mhz
RAM - 256mb (i had added another 256mb since)
HDD - 17GB Maxtor

Monitor, Keyboard, mouse, webcam, CD + DVD drives taken from my old machine

this is where i need your help i want a graphics card to play some games but how do i know what one to buy for a old machine

Can you recommend any or anything else i have forgotten about that i need to get back up and running

Blacksheep1979

it'll more than likely be an agp graphics card but depending on the motherboard it won't accept newer cards - you'll have to say what motherboard it is. Also depending on what games you are wanting to play you'll need more ram and a better cpu all in all it may be worth while getting a whole new system.

Toxteth_OGrady

A really difficult question to answer. It all depends on what games you want to play and how much you are willing to spend. Any ideas?

That is a very old machine so if you wanted to play the latest games you'd be looking at new motherboard, cpu, ram and graphics card.

:cool:

TOG

andykolo

Thanks guys not looking to buy any more games most of my games arent the latest anyway the really old games still work but some others dont

Blacksheep yes it is a agp card im looking for and from a program called cpu-z says its a gigabyte Technology motherboard model 72mm

Toxteth_OGrady

See if you can get more detail of the model of your mobo by downloading PC Wizard 2006 and Belarc Advisor.

:cool:

TOG

kat21

is this your motherboard?
GA-7ZMM
Socket A for AMD Duron/Athlon processor
VIA KM133/686B chipset
Support PC133 SDRAM
Creative CT5880 audio chip
Micro ATX form factor

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=1367

Expansion Slots 1 x AGP slot support 4X mode
3 x PCI slot supports 33MHz & PCI 2.2 compliant
1 x AMR slot (reverse
KAt21

andykolo

well done kat thats it

so how do i find out what graphics cards it can handle ?

kat21

*lol* I posted that up for you too

you need an agp 4x graphics card the rest is down to choice and budget, I like ATI video cards but their are nvidia out their too
do a search on your motherboard say in google gigabyte GA-7ZMM reviews
most reviews will post which graphics cards have been used but simply put its an agp 4x
I hope you have understood that GA-7ZMM comes with onboard video and audio and an AGP slot for further upgrades.
http://www.pchardware.ro/Reviews/review.php?id=22

ollyk

Don't loose all hope mate I have got an Abit KT7A motherboard which originaly had a Duran 800Mhz in it (sounds like a similar age to yours) with KT 133 chipset on too the max processor this board *should* handle is a Thunderbird 1400 but couple years ago got myself an XP2100+ running overclocked at 2Ghz
I only have 256Mb ram tho and this is standard ram (mobo doesn't support DDR). The graphics card is a Geforce Ti4200. which is ok. I also have a 160Gb hard drive chucked in too.

To cap all that off I can play Half Life 2 but I would still like a newer mobo and memory tho.

Just google and you might find more info!

andykolo

very interesting ollyk one question though how can you tell what cpu it can support up to ?

kat21

andy go to the gigabyte website I have provided all the links, please read the manufacturers frequently asked questions
Processor Socket A for AMD Athlon™ /Duron™ 200 MHz FSB processors
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=1367&ProductName=GA-7ZMM

the link above gives a list of processors or cpus that are supported by your motherboard
kat21
AMD AthlonXP 1500+(Palomino,.18u)
AMD Athlon 1.4G
AMD Athlon 950
AMD Athlon 900
AMD Athlon 850
AMD Athlon 800
AMD Duron 1.3G
AMD Duron 1.2G
AMD Duron 1.1G
AMD Duron 1.0G
AMD Duron 950
AMD Duron 900
AMD Duron 850