I Need Help Upgrading An Old AGP PC

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by dougal79, Oct 19, 2011.

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  1. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    Ok, my fiancee has an old computer which she uses for internet, watching films & email.
    I wanted to upgrade it a bit so that i can play games on it, but unfortunately it has an AGP motherboard, onboard GFX & 256MB ram.

    Ive just bought a BFG Geforce 7600GS 512MB AGP GFX card & am looking at 2GB DDR 400 PC3200 ram as well.
    I got the BFG 7600GS for £23, is this a good card & is that a good price ?
    Im not looking to run the latest games on highest resolutions, just games like PES, Company Of Heroes, Half Life 2 etc.

    Im unsure what this motherboard goes down as when trying to look it up on google, because when i use Everest it says :-
    Motherboard Name - Biostar P4M80-M4/P4M800-M7A/P4M800Pro-D1/P4M800 Pro-M7/P4M800 Pro-M7 Combo.
    Whereas, On the motherboard it says P4M800 775.

    Can anyone recommend decent memory for this set up at a half decent price ?
    Preferably off ebay or Scan.

    Below is a summary off Everest:-
    Thanks

    Field Value
    Computer
    Computer Type ACPI Uniprocessor PC
    Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
    OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
    Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18702 (IE 8.0)
    DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
    Computer Name NELLYANDPAMMYS
    User Name Administrator
    Logon Domain NELLYANDPAMMYS
    Date / Time 2011-10-19 / 17:46

    Motherboard
    CPU Type Intel Celeron D 331, 2666 MHz (20 x 133)
    Motherboard Name Biostar P4M80-M4 / P4M800-M7A / P4M800Pro-D1 / P4M800 Pro-M7 / P4M800 Pro-M7 Combo
    Motherboard Chipset VIA CN700 / P4M800 CE / P4M800 Pro / VN800
    System Memory 192 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
    DIMM1: Nanya M2U25664DS88C3G-5T 256 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (3.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz) (2.5-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz)
    BIOS Type Award (08/17/05)
    Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
    Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

    Display
    Video Adapter VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP (64 MB)
    3D Accelerator VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro
    Monitor Compaq V570 [15" CRT] (215BM24GC121)

    Multimedia
    Audio Adapter Realtek ALC655 @ VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

    Storage
    IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
    IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
    Disk Drive ST320011A (20 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
    Disk Drive WDC WD800BB-00JHC0 (74 GB, IDE)
    Optical Drive PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-111D (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:8x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:40x/32x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
    SMART Hard Disks Status OK

    Partitions
    C: (NTFS) 76308 MB (39269 MB free)
    E: (NTFS) 19084 MB (4936 MB free)
    Total Size 93.2 GB (43.2 GB free)

    Input
    Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse HID-compliant mouse

    Network
    Primary IP Address 192.168.0.2
    Primary MAC Address 00-E0-4C-E9-94-D6
    Network Adapter Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) #2
    Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC (192.168.0.2)
    Modem Standard Modem over Bluetooth link

    Peripherals
    USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
    USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
    USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
    USB1 Controller VIA VT8237 USB Universal Host Controller
    USB2 Controller VIA VT8237 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
    USB Device Generic Bluetooth Radio
    USB Device USB Human Interface Device

    DMI
    DMI BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
    DMI BIOS Version 6.00 PG
    DMI System Manufacturer
    DMI System Product
    DMI System Version
    DMI System Serial Number
    DMI System UUID 00000000-00000000-00E00000-4CE994D6
    DMI Motherboard Manufacturer
    DMI Motherboard Product P4M800CE-8237
    DMI Motherboard Version
    DMI Motherboard Serial Number
    DMI Chassis Manufacturer
    DMI Chassis Version
    DMI Chassis Serial Number
    DMI Chassis Asset Tag
    DMI Chassis Type Desktop Case
    DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets 2 / 0
     
    dougal79, Oct 19, 2011
    #1
  2. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    ddp, Oct 19, 2011
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  3. DXR88

    DXR88 Regular member

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    never post your mac address, lest the cops drag you off for being the worlds notorious software pirate.
     
    DXR88, Dec 1, 2011
    #3
  4. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    dougal79, Mar 10, 2013
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  5. aldan

    aldan Active member

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    that setup is pretty much exactly what my first computer had and unless solitaire is your game it aint getting much better.i upgraded to 2gigs of ram,windows 7 and an invidia 7600gtx with igig memory and it still was a slug.im my opinion i would save my money and buy something else.btw my old rig is sitting at my front door.im trying to give it away but no takers yet.lol.
     
    aldan, Mar 10, 2013
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  6. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    dougal79, that ebay card is not an agp card but is a pci\e 16 videocard so is not compatible with your motherboard.
     
    ddp, Mar 10, 2013
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  7. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    Ok cheers for the input guys :)
    I was thinking of bidding on this PC on ebay :-



    XASER 3 case from Thermal take

    Asus P4P-800VM Mother board with a pentium 4 3 ghz processor,

    Soundblaster audigy 2 zs soundcard,

    HD103SJ 1TB SAMUSUNG HARDDRIVE

    HIS ICE Q TURBO HD2600XT graphics card with HDMI out,

    Dlink aero plus G wireless card.

    Logitech MX518 gaming mouse

    Logitech USB headset

    Logitech G11 Glow in the dark keyboard

    Logitech Rightlight webcam and Mic



    Just wondering what you guys thought.
    Only need it for gaming & maybe hook it up to my HD tv.
    Don't really want to spend too much just now on a top end rig,
    would rather wait until the end of the year.

    Would this play most games that are out just now ?

    Cheers
     
    dougal79, Mar 20, 2013
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  8. aldan

    aldan Active member

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    im sure others more competent than i will chime in here,but in my opinion,its really no different than what you have.being a p4 its an older processor than your celeron and, if i am correct is still only a single core processor.you can add the best video card in the world but if your processor isnt up to par it will do no good.your rig is only as good as the weakest link.i dont game but i would advise a quad core processor here with a decent video card and ram.how much was the bid up to on this rig? something like that where i live would be getting hard to give away.i dont mean to be harsh by the way,just giving mho.cheers.i will add too that that video card is 6 years since release and was never touted as a gaming card.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2013
    aldan, Mar 20, 2013
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  9. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    Ok thanks Aldan.
    I'll just leave this rig then, the bid was upto £50.
    I can spend upto £400 & was looking on ebay when i spotted these :-

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/abit-mobo...8?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item3380a33a80


    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Asus-P5N7...2?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item5654537d04


    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-Q66...9?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item4d0a6017a3


    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/asus-p5k-...5?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item2a2a812631




    Any suggestion on which would be the best buy ?

    Thanks
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2013
    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
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  10. aldan

    aldan Active member

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    wow electronics are expensive over there.i like the q6600,but keep in mind it looks like its only a board and processor,albeit with ram.you will still need a video card.over here in canada,the equivalent of 400 pounds would buy not a bad tower complete.cheers.
     
    aldan, Mar 21, 2013
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  11. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
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  12. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    seems to be alright.
     
    ddp, Mar 21, 2013
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  13. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
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  14. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    what video connector(s) does your monitor have as both the 1st & 3rd card does not have vga & 2nd card doesn't say what it has?
     
    ddp, Mar 21, 2013
    #14
  15. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    It's just a standard monitor :/
    I could always buy a new monitor that supports mini HDMI.
    I have an HD TV with 4 HDMI connectors, but doesn't support Mini HDMI.
    Can i get something to connect Mini HDMI to an HDMI slot ?

    Cheers
     
    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
    #15
  16. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    cards 1 & 3 use dvi connectors so if your monitor only has vga then can get a vga to dvi connector as i have 1 in my hand right now.
     
    ddp, Mar 21, 2013
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  17. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    Last edited: Mar 21, 2013
    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
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  18. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    that monitor does not have hdmi just vga & dvi. vga to dvi adapter if buying 1 of those cards when using your current monitor. both of my 24" HD 1080 acer monitors has vga, dvi & hdmi as does my radeon hd6450 1gig video cards.
     
    ddp, Mar 21, 2013
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  19. dougal79

    dougal79 Regular member

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    Last edited: Mar 21, 2013
    dougal79, Mar 21, 2013
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  20. aldan

    aldan Active member

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    that is a good card.i have an old hd4870 with no complaints and this one is head and shoulders above that.
     
    aldan, Mar 21, 2013
    #20
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