Although this had intel and amd involved, i dont think its worthy of that thread because they are sooooo old!!! My dad has two old computers at his house, about 5 years old. I had a look at them and this is what i gather they have. Computer number 1. - 64mb RAM - Pentium 2 (II)processor. - 15gb harddrive - Windows millenium edition. Computer number 2. - 128mb RAM. (two 64's) - AMD Duron processor. - 4 gb harddrive!!! - Windows Millenium edition. Im gonna use 1 of these as a project comp, for a bit of practice of getting to know the hardware of computers. Right now i have no idea what im on about, i can just about swap over a memory card/stick thingy (RAM thing) to the other. Do i have to install this on the comp when i swap it over\or anything? Now, processors!!!! I've already said im a rookie at this so please be patient lol! Which one is the better out of the two? I've never even heard of them. Also, can i buy a new processor like pentium 4, and put it in whichever computer i choose to keep as the main? How much is a p4? Do i have to change everything else aprt from RAM and hardrive? Is it really complicated to change the processor? If so can you give a diagram or anything, or try to explain how? So basically im looking to firstly get new memory (RAM) to put in whichever you lot choose is the bet comp at the moment, and a new harddrive. Then im gonna get a p4 or athalon processor for that comp, if i can afford it wen you tell me how much they are. Then im gonna install windows xp on it, cause i detest W2k!! Sorry this is a really unorganised and impossible post, please just try oyur best to help! EDIT: Crap i jsut saw the sticky called computer bulding, but still, i think this is a bit to complivated to put in one thread dedicated to alot of people. Billy.
First off. The Duron is more likely your better one there. Just a guess because I don't know the CPU speeds. Second, No you don't have to run an install program for RAM. Though it might not be compatible with the other system. I'm fairly sure that Durons use DDR SDRAM but the Pentium II uses 16-bit RAMBUS RAM(I Think) Either way it's extremely unlikely that either are compatible with the other. Third, NO! Do not buy a P4 chip because the processors use VERY different slots to plug into the motherboard. A Duron uses Socket A, AKA Socket 462 which means it has 462 pins on the bottom that plug into corresponding holes on the motherboard. It is AMD based instead of intel based so it rules out any compatibility right off the bat. The Pentium II uses Socket 7 (I think) I'm not sure how many pins it has but it's much more than 7. There are two kinds of Pentium 4's Socket 478 and 775. The numbers correspond to the pins on the processor and motherboard. 478's are older and usually more expensive because they are pretty much extinct. 775's are the new standard. You can find P4's for $90-$450. They have different speeds but I have a feeling that you are on a budget. So here is a cheapie but a goody: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116235 Though you would have to build a new computer to use that. The same with an AMD-based processor. I recommend it over intel any day. Here is a good AMD based one that I in fact use in my other computer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104220 It has higher performance than the Pentium 4 above but with a much lower price. Yeah it's 1.8GHz but trust me on this. AMD processors are much more efficient than intel processors and thus they can achieve much higher performance with lower clock speeds. Also, if you need help building a computer I can help you there as well. I'm very good at working with a budget If you're gonna build a new computer I also reccomend MUCH more RAM(512 MB atleast) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141436 Any less will make Win XP slow as a snail and ruin your life(imagine waiting 30-45 seconds to load up email or MS Word) And a WAY bigger hard drive. I recommend 40GB minimum. You can find an 80GB though on newegg for the same as their 40GB's: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144122 That should provide you with more than enough space. Win XP will barely fit on a 4GB and even with a 15GB you are hard pressed to do much more than solitare. I hope this helped broaden your understanding of computers. I remember when I was like you. I also had absolutely no idea what anything was. Even as smart as I am now I am still asking questions. Everyone on afterdawn can vouch for me on that!
Firstly thank you for your time to answer my queries and the effort put into your post. There are a few things i am unclear of though, before i can use any of your links. 1) So there is no way i can upgrade the duron to an athalon? What about if i by a new motherboard? 2) Following on from that, do you buy the chips seperately, or do you buy a new motherboard with a chip on it? My computer teach said that they chips are soldered onto the board?! 3) This is such a rookie question, but i need to know lol. How many mhz are there in a ghz(gh?)? My computer at home has a 2.8ghz processor, but i cant seem to find out how many mhz that is, or is that something totally different? Yeh amd use sd RAM i think, ill get about a gb in time, but ill have to wait til my budget goes up lol. So, is there any hope of upgrading this duron computer to a good modern one? Or will i end up having to change so many parts that i may aswell start from scratch? Like you said im just begginning, so i dont really have a clue. I had a look at some of that water cooling technology, ad that looks great! probably way above my league though lol. So yeh, about the motherboards and processors, im unclear about whether you can mix and match or you need to buy them together really. Also, the other questions i asked, about the mhz and ghz, at the moment mhz means nothing to me lol. Sorry to be such a rookie, you must be itching to shout at me all the answers lol. Looking forward to your reply, billy. p.s. And do i have to change everything else in the comp iff i buy a new processor or motherboard or both or whatever i do?lol
1) the duron is a type of athlon processor. however, with the one in there being so old, you really should purchase another motherboard that is compatible with a newer athlon processor and newer ram technology. 2) you *can* buy motherboards that come with a processor, but it's really better to buy them seperately when you're sure they're compatible. the processors are not soldered in, but held in place by a type of lever-held clamp on the motherboard, as well as the heatsink fan (the fan that cools the processors and is clamped on with mounts on the motherboard). the heatsink also need to be specifically compatible to the type of motherboard/processor combination you get. 3) there are 1000 MHz in a GHz. So,a computer at 1.8 GHz is running 1800 MHz. as for starting from scratch, you can still use your tower, but everything else should probably be modernized. power source, motherboard, hard drives, video card, ram, processor, optical disc drives, maybe even your floppy drive. if i were you, i'd do some minor upgrades on those old machines, maybe toss in some much bigger hard drives, more ram, but leave the processors, and install Linux. then you've got yourself two very customizable routers/servers that can act as firewalls, run your network, share printers...basically do anything you want. as as most linux versions tend to be very easy on computer resources, you won't notice the slowness near as much as with Windows. unless your building some kind of ultimate gaming rig, i'd stay away from water cooling. it tends to be way more of a pain in the neck than anything else. if you buy a new mobo/proc, you'll have to add new ram, as there will be compatibility issues, but you could keep your same drives and stuff. remember, though, to buy a video card if the new mobo doesn't have onboard video, as then you won't be seeing anything on your monitor. as said before, though, your hard drive space is near microscopic compared to what you need for a good daily-use computer. they could be used as spares, test drives, alternate OS drives, backups, etc, but they shouldn't be your main/only drives due to age and size.
hey, FIHSNERD: right here, buddy. he's asking questions. this is how we all learn. there was a time when we were all asking questions more basic than this. i mean, how else does one become computer literate without doing research and asking questions? so, be a good boy, bite a stick, and shove a pineapple up your ass. reported ;-)
I thought the purpose of having this forum was for asking/answering peoples questions...Have I been misled? Way to go Auslander!!!!
FISHNERD ? Elitist smacktard's more like it... Someone ought to give you a frontal lobotomy with a stick of dynamite.
hi all yes i second that, we all need help sometime or another and your comment FIHSNERD is very negative indeed, maybe you made your user for help? yes chap what goes round can sometimes come round... ------------------------------------------------ and a big NICE ONE Estuansis for all that info supplied...
FISHNERD is on 2nd break from AD; and i see the reason for the first was..... . what else can i add to that, not a lot. how about a newspaper upside the head.
yeah, good job, Estuansis...hope to see more of you around here. it seems the ratio of new people that are actually helpful around here compared to those like FIHSNERD has been dropping--you're a pleasant surprise.
Retard? At least i can spell fish, mate. EDIT: And obvious, thanks there boxwrench. Thanks for backup there peeps, ill post in 10 Ill reply to the previous on topic post in 10 minutes, i gotta eat. Thanks everyone, sorry if anyone shares that view then, i was just looking for help. Ill post anyway in 10 minutes.
most of us are good people, billy, and we're here to help each other out, like any good society...but like any good society, we have our pricks, to. thing is, it's a lot easier to get rid of them here, lol.
Ok firstly thanks everyone for brushing off that Elitist smacktard's assholic comments. I don't think i've ever came into contact with any of you apart from creay on aD before, but it just shows what great people you are. Thanks once again, sorry if anyone shares that guys opinions. About the mhz gigahurts thing, i was only unsure about it because the other day in a pcworld ad, they were selling a laptop for £600, with a 500mhz processor. I thought something must have been wrong lol! Obviously not. SO, after both of your brillinat input Estuansis and auslander, i am slightly closer to making my plan up. I think ill use the duron tower as my base, it doesnt really matter though as ill be replacing the processor + motherboard. I think ill buy a modern athalon compatable motherboard, and then the actualy modern athalon chip, and connect them, or ill just buy them together alredy connected. About this part, whats the latest version of athalon, or one of them that wont cost throught the roof! hee hee. Do you suggest buying the motherboard and chop together as one, or buying seperately. If its not too much to ask, would someone be able to post a link to a motherboard thats compatible with a late version of athalon, and give details of the late version. Im only asking that because i have no idea where to start, not being lazy or anything. About the RAM, i think that the new athalons use SDram, is this right? Is there many different types of sd RAM?? By the way, im a self confessed rookie at assembling computer parts, i can guess the motherboads the huge chip board! ha ha. Plural? You can fit 2 harddrives? I think im only going to need a 40gb, as its my dads computer and he wont be putting anything on it, that will be me. So theres no point in me putting more than one in, thats good though. Now...the big thing thats starting to scare me! Video card. Is that the same as the graphics card? I guess theres gonna be loads of different types of this, and of course will have to be compatible with the new processor lol. Again, any suggestions or links for this? I really didnt know it was going to be this complicated, and must be annoying the hell out of you guys lol. Connecting everything up though, if im just replacing things, it should be to hard to just put all the cable things in the same place in the new hardware as they were in in the old hardware should it? Sorry about all these stupid questions, please don't feel obliged to answer if you cant be bothered. Thank you, all help is greatly appreciated.
FIHSNERD is currently receiving advice from me about purchasing decisions, I might just think otherwise now. In the majority of cases, people aren't like that. Anyone who shares his opinion is also by definition an elitist smacktard. As people have pretty much been saying, You're looking at a start from scratch if you want some respectable performance. For a low budget, you can grab Socket 754 motherboards with Sempron64 processors, for a very low cost, and they should still fit in the old cases. Buy a cheap HDD, use the same IDE cable and away we go. Just check you haven't got very low rating power supplies, or you'll need to upgrade them too. Oh and it's Athlon, not Athalon. Lol as estuansis said, with a wee bit of exaggeration, 512MB is the recommended minimum for systems nowadays. Any less and things do take ages to load.
Just read that auslander and boxwrench. Thanks very much, i ahte a$$holes like that. ****added to buddy list*** EDIT: Again, i jsut read that sammorris, alot of simultaneous typing going on here lol. The challenge was to try and make this computers into good ones, just a thing for me to ponder at youknow, im not going to start from scratch until i ahve a little experience, i.e., this project lol. The cases, is there noo way that i can get a new case or anything, and swap with the current one? Or does that mean too much hassle and work. I remember one of our old computers came home form repair with a new case, or could have just been a new front face thing, if you can do that. By the way peeps, my dad and mother split up, thus we dont live together anymore, so when i talk about my dads ancient antiques i dont mean mine lol, if that was the case id be too embarassed to make this thread lol.
there are many, many, many amd processors in production right now. roughly 80, actually,i believe. anyway, don't just limit yourself to the athlon series. try to get the best for your money. here's a good example of an excellent proc at a good price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535 and a compatible motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530 now, this mobo use PCI-E (pci express) graphics cards, so you have to be sure to not get an AGP card with it. don't buy them as a unit together from anywhere; you'll find yourself getting the short end of the stick. once your sure all your parts are compatible, assembly is a breeze. don't fret. there are many threads you might want to read through, like the Official Computer Building Thread. google some stuff. learn how the computer goes together, what terms mean, and how performance is affected. with an ATA system, you can normally use 4 hard drives at most, as that leaves you with no optical disk drives. with a S-ATA system, there's an unlimited amount, and many RAID configurations to get them all working together. for most people, the best configuration is either having one small drive to store windows on and a large drive to keep all your games/media/documents on (this is for speed), or having two large drives, one of which is a directly copied backup of the other (for keeping stuff safe in case of system failure). yes, the video card and graphics card are the same thing. the video card isn't compatible with the proc, it's compatible with the mobo. a decent one compatible with the parts i listed above would be: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140064 as for hardware, i'm not sure what you mean. as long as the motherboard and everything else will fit in your case (with little to no modification), you shouldn't have to hard a time. for first-timers, though, i really recommend, getting a big server tower, as little cases are a pain. with a big tower,you have plenty of room to install and clean and don't have to worry about air-flow. infact, i'm on a server tower on my first build right now, lol. well, first build, pt. 2, as i've re-upgraded. here's the new version of my case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129159 don't worry about asking questions. that's what we're all about.
