Upgrading an old computer.

I really need some help here. Basically I want to use my computer for newish games (nothing like Oblivion or whatever), but mainly for graphic design and my music production. At the moment I get a lot of memory and CPU errors when loading instruments and recording, due to my low specs:

P4 2.4GHZ
512MB+256MB RAM (I think at two different speeds as well)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
250GB WesternDigital HDD

So basically, I don't want to spend a huge amount on parts, but enough to get it back into shape. Otherwise I'd just continue to save up for a whole new system.

-Would it be wise to upgrade the CPU to a P4 3.4GHZ? The newer CPU's like Duo 2 Core are way too expensive, but I don't know if there might be something better for a desktop.

-Also, I am going to get these sticks of RAM that we had figured out in an old thread not long ago.

-Last of all, I was thinking of just getting this as I only have AGP and not PCIe slots, for my graphics card.

By the way, I have no idea how to install a CPU, but I know how to install video card, ram, HDD's, and optical drives. However, I did download CPU-Z to get information on my CPU and motherboard. CPU is Socket 478 mPGA, L2 512KB cache, 800Mhz FSB 200Mhz Buss speed. Motherboard is IBM, Intel Chipset i865P/PE/G/i848P, Southbridge is 82801EB (ICH5), Sensor SMSC 6B81, Version 2AKT32AUS, AGP Version 3.0 8x.

Sorry this is a long post. >.<;

Your specs don't seem that low to me, but maybe that's because mine on my desktop are far lower 8)

2.4ghz processor should be pretty good for you still yet right now. I wouldn't upgrade to another p4; you'd be better off waiting for a core 2 duo (or even a 4 core or 8 core >;D) to become a viable option.

Ram would be the crucial thing to upgrade, I think. Most people seem to be recommending 1gb ram these days, and it would be a good idea that if you had them in two different sets that they were a matched pair. The ones that you listed should do well for this.

and of course a disclaimer; i am pretty unknowledgable about parts stuff, so wait for yams or samuraid or someone to come by and verify or discount any of that.

Note that if you have RAM chips running at two different speeds, both of them will probably be using the speed of the slowest chip. I rarely find that CPU power is a limiting factor when I work with graphic design, but RAM most definitely is. I can get by with 512 in my laptop these days, but i really wish I had 1024 just for everyday stuff, and even more when I'm having heavy photoshopping sessions.

Well, when running virtual instruments on a stand-alone program with my midi keyboard, or in a sequencer program, the CPU pretty much gets abused (I'm talking around 60% used alone in that, which causes some problems). And Core Duo is way too expensive (I think the best one is around 1,000AUD and the lowest one is around 500AUD, whereas the P4 is only 130AUD).

RAM is a pretty big factor in a lot of things that I do, mainly among music production and gaming. Whenever loading instruments or samples, I always get RAM error saying I don't have enough. So I think I might just chuck out my two sticks of different speed RAM and may as well get 2GB for the hell of it.

Plus, I have to run most games in 1680x1050 just so I can utilize my new 21" screen. :cool:

Edit: Just saying in general, that I don't really feel like upgrading this computer to duo 2 core or anything like that, seeing as I can't even use PCIe and would probably need a better power supply or something.

Well, if you can upgrade your CPU quite a bit without having to change motherboard, I'd say go for it :p. That is, if the CPU usage of those instruments slows down your PC. It's no problem that they eat 60% of the CPU if you don't need more than the remaining 40% at the time anyway.

Is it easy to upgrade the CPU? And how do I know which one will go with my motherboard? (There seems to be only two versions of the same P4 3.4GHZ that are the same price) Anyways, if you can just slot the CPU in and be done with, that will be alright -- but if I have to upgrade firmware and solder the chip in, then it could be a bit of a problem to do it myself.

Also, is that graphics card alright? It seems to be the only one I can find in AGP.

That's because there are two different sockets for P4. You need to find out which your uses. After that, changing the actual CPU isn't hard, but you've got to know what you're doing.

There's no soldering at all, you just pull a lever-like thing and remove the old, put in the new, and push the lever back in its original position. Then you need to apply cooling paste between the cpu and the heat sink. You also need to make sure your existing heatsink and fan is good enough for your more powerful CPU, else you might run into problems with overheating.

Overheating won't usually harm the computer though, unless the heatsink is completely removed or something like that. The PC will shut itself down when the temperature gets too high, unless someone for some reason disabled that feature.

There's usually no need to upgrade the firmware. If your motherboard supports Pentium 4s at x GHz, those processors will work.

I'm not really up to date when it comes to hardware these days, but I guess if that's the only one you can find, you don't have much of a choice :p. It'll let you run games from last year pretty decently, I would say. Games such as Oblivion can be played at 6600 GTs with low, maybe average settings.

Here's a .html file of the results I got with CPU-Z. I'm not exactly sure if my motherboard supports LGA 775, but I can't find any other version of a 3.4GHZ P4...

Edit: Bah! My friend said it is not compatible with my motherboard. And it looks like I have 2.6GHZ, not 2.4GHZ. Thanks for all your help Mirage. ^^

Btw, I'm still thinking of getting 2GB RAM (replacing my old RAM) and the 7600GT AGP. Will all that be bottlenecked by the 2.6GHZ? Will 3.4GHZ even matter that much?

I don't think RAM is likely to be bottlenecked by anything. Too little RAM means the PC needs to use the hard disk for virtual memory, and that's retardedly slow.

You are likely to benefit more from over a GB more RAM than from 800 MHz more CPU power anyway.

With Socket 478 you can only go up to a P4 3.4GHz (yes there's a 3.4GHz Prescott that will fit in the socket). Core Duo is out of the question on your current setup. Higher processor speed is not really a relevant issue especially in the old NetBurst processors. So instead invest in more RAM at higher speeds (DDR400). I know having a lot of VSTs open takes up memory very quickly.

As far as video card, the best AGP card on the market right now is the 7800GS. You can get it for under $180 at newegg.

Thanks Mirage and Yams.

I can't even find a Prescott 3.4Ghz around Australia. Also, I think my RAM is DDR 3400, does that mean I can get DDR400? I know the 3400 2GB Corsair is around $230 so if the DDR400 is faster and cheaper that'd be awesome.

And I'll have a look around for the 7800GS, is it a lot better than the 7600GT? It certainly seems cheaper.

Edit: Damn it's like $500 here... Well I can get it for $400AUD, which is $327USD. Which is pretty much what I'd be paying for if I bought it for $200USD and tried to ship it here.

Keep in mind that 180 USD for an American might be more expensive than 180 USD for an Australian :p. I know that's the case in Norway. Average American prices seem like they are on a constant sale for us.

According to the cpu-z output both your RAM modules are PC2700 running at 166MHz (333MHz DDR).

Yeah, this is the part that sucks about being in Australia; the price on technology and video games. >.<; Not to mention the fact that we are slightly behind on the times.

I may as well buy the 2GB RAM and 7800GS if it's going to keep my computer going for a long while. In an old thread I made, it said to go for the RAM I linked above, now is that a decent set of RAM or is it too slow?

Edit: Here you go, this is the RAM that was suggested for my motherboard, that a website scanned.

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/786/untitledit0.gif

Edit: Yeah I'm not willing to pay $500AUD for a P4 3.4GHZ Socket 478 CPU. -_-;