My old system specs

this is a list i got somwhere of my old dell PIII T600r (600Mhz) (and over 4 years old) computer running windows 98se.
if some could please translate the important parts of this list and possibly tell me which i would be best off in upgrading to improve system performance and speed (besides a new computer ), it would be much appreciated. thanks in advance


PROCESSOR MODULE, 80526, 600, 256K, 100FSB, SLT1

CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), W/O-AUD, TXXXr, COPPERMINE

CORD, POWER, 125V, 6FT, SPT2, UNSHIELDED

DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 128, 100M, 16X64, 4K, 168

CABLE, AUDIO, MOLEX TO MOLEX

CARD (CIRCUIT), MULTI-MEDIA, AUDIO, 128VOICE

KIT, SPEAKER, 110V60H, HK595

DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, 680M, 8X, I, 5.25" FORM FACTOR, SAMSUNG CABLE, DORADO/ATHENS/TUALATIN/ALMODOR, COMPACT DISK DRIVE, ENHANCED INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS, DUAL, KLINGER

DISPLAY, MULTISCAN, COLOR, 19, DUAL, M990, NON-GSA

CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, 16M, ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC, RAGE128, DIMENSION

HARD DRIVE, 20GB, 7.2K, I, 1IN, NO CONTROLLER/NO CABLES, QUANTUM OLYMPUS

ASSEMBLY, CABLE, ATA66, 2DROP, KLINGER


and now for my other random questions... i bought an ati radeon 9200 128mb video card because my agp is only 2x..is this card still ahead of my motherboard? and if so, should i bother getting a different card, and suggestions? next, how do i find the speed of my hard drive, like in rpm? how much does that actually affect loading times as far as a program like ie6? i've noticed that after a fresh reboot and then loading any program, it still seems to load pretty slowly on subsequent loadings, shouldn't it be much faster, or does this mean i need more ram? cuz i was also thinking of buying a 256mb pc100 module, but i dont know if it's worth the risk buying Generic either? and if it is, is it worth paying a few bucks extra for aluminum or copper heat sinks? or gold layered stuff? and for my cpu, can anyone suggest speeds i might try overclocking to, if i should at all, or any other parts i could/should overclock? and how much power can my power supply...supply? i do know that my fan rarely blows out hot air, maybe cuz my comp is by an A/C vent, is that good or bad? and lastly, if u could throw out some names and speeds of essential computer hardware that should be available/ or i should be on the lookout for in about .5-1 year? i know it's a stretch but im just curious as to what might be available then

and about that front side bus or any bus speeds for that matter, how come they are never as fast as a processor? is it just a hardware limitation or what? how important is a bus speed compared to processor speed? and the same thing for caches? or do i just need to think of them as like VIP rooms for important people that never get deleted... or pushed aside? and what if bus speeds were as fast as the processors...?

dude. ok here i go.

if i was you i would upgrade motherboard. processor. and ram.

for a mobo make sure you get something with an agp slot for your video card

for processor i recomment an amd athlon xp maybe 3200+
they run hotter than intel cpu's but are alot cheaper

if you go this route with the amd make sure the motherboard is a socket a type mobo. also make sure its compatible with everything you want to get. make sure you use the correct ram that is compatible with the mobo.

if you want maybe me or somebody else on here can send you a list of suggested parts.

also i use a 7200rpm hard drive and my games load pretty fast. but i also have 768mb of ddr pc2100 ram. i would atleast have 512mb of ram anymore.

i would tell you what is gonne be out but i dont pay attention to that even though i probably should. i do believe there is a new video coming out soon (ati or nVidia)

[haha, that's my msn name and i see ur new to these forums as well ] okay thanks, i know i threw a lot out there, hehe. i was originally planning just to get a new processor, but then worried about old motherboard conflicts and incompatibilties which would no doubt arise if i got a relatively new processor, right? so then i thought of a mobo/processor combo pack, but then i would have to re-install my os, no? the actual hardware installation i wouldn't mind as i have patience for that. and also i told my friend i was thinking about a mobo/processor combo and he just said i might as well get a new computer, which makes sense...but i'm still unsure as to which route i want to/should take.

what i was hoping for was just a decent processor(up to $150) and that new stick of ram which would only cost my $34. would that suffice for the next year perhaps? and if i did get a new, yet compatible amd processor, how much product potential would i be losing?

You could get a "slocket" adapter to allow your current slot 1 mobo to accept socket 370 cpus, which would breathe a small gasp of life into your computer, allowing you to get up to 1.4ghz, but at a cost of over $200. You would also need new ram. Even with the cpu upgrade, its still going to be very slow and obsolete compared to anything newer, and $200 is too much to spend on such old hardware.

Honestly though, everything in there is very obsolete (except maybe the hdd). Its not worth spending anything on, in my opinion. Just save and build something new.
What are you currently/planning to use it for?

some multiplayer gaming... could i at least o'c my cpu and add the $34 block of memory? and what is slightly better about my hard drive than anything else, just that it has lasted me this long with no problems :P could you tell how fast it is in rpm by what i gave you or no?

Hmmm... no offense but I think you should get a whole new kit!!! I would keep the old computer to screw around making a web server (or trying Linux if you haven't), using it as a secondary computer and building a network.

The reason why is because pretty much everything is outdated... (the HDD isn't bad if you're not a downloader...)

And it would be less trouble to own 2 computers (incase one crashes) and also less trouble than updating everything one by one.... (If you upgrade everything one by one you'll end up with the same stack of "junk" in your closet than what you started with... so why not buy a new kit?!?! lol!)

well i want to..but i thought this one would be okay for some gaming as long as i got a new video (which works and looks awesome in single player games) and i dont download a lot. i've not even used a third of my HD and i just got a cable connection i know the specs are really old but it doesn't feel that old except when i'm loading programs. rarely crashes and i keep it in tip-top shape, i defrag and run scandisk at least once a month and it even worked fine with my old ati 16mb rage 128 card. i also barely run more programs than the bare minimum(usually no more than 6 programs at once). i got my two fav upgrades in my internet and video card was hoping for just more ram hopefully and maybe a little o'cing. oh well, a new computer doesn't sound bad either

With a 16mb graphics card thats as old as what you have, and such an old cpu I'm surprised you can run modern games at all. If you have an agp slot (probably...) you could put in a "newer" card that supports agp 2.0, such as a Radeon 9200 (~$50-60). You could get the adapter and newer P3 cpu (~$200), and the ram ($35). After spending $300 doing that, you would still be left with an obsolete computer, but a better one than you currently have.

If you are on a tight budget, look into that option. You could also look on ebay, $350 would get you several steps up from where you are currently.

I would look at building your own, using an amd cpu (good performance, low price). Spending $500-600 would be enough for a good computer that will take whatever you throw at it (though probably not at the highest graphics settings on the newest games. Of course, you can't even install such games on your current rig, so it would be a huge step up, if you were lookingn forward to HL2 or something.)

well i did say i bought a newer radeon 9200 128mb but my old one worked fine with the settings low. i guess i'll just go for a newer computer, didn't realize you could get such a better computer for under a grand. what do you think of an amd xp 2800-3200+ (OEM better) with either 333 or 400 fsb, 512MB of PC3200 memory, and a compatible MSI, Abit, Asus, or any other suggested motherboards and suggestions for a 40-80GB 7,200 rmp hard drive and a decent case and psu for under $130 are welcome. btw, which was the one i heard where running two speeds of certain hardware asynchronous actually decreased performance, is this even true?

faster hd, max out the ram

Yeah, its amazing how prices drop. Any of the AMD's you listed are good, if you get oem be sure you remember to buy a heatsink, since they don't come with one. Get the faster fsb if you can. If you end up with the 333 fsb and don't plan to OC, get pc2700 ram since that matches your fsb speed. If you get the 400 fsb or plan to OC, get the pc3200.

I like Abit and Asus boards, get the nForce2 chipset if you can for similar price to the VIA chipsets.

I like Western Digital and Seagate HDD's. The chenbro Xpider is a good inexpensive case.

Antec and Thermaltake are my picks for a psu, get a 350+watt model.

Running the CPU and RAM asynchronous reduces performance, which is why you match the speeds (333fsb=pc2700 etc). You may run asynchronous if you OC the fsb faster than the ram can handle. If not OC'ing, don't worry about it, get teh right ram, the bios sets everything up

okay so i will prolly get the 2800 and clock it to 400 along with pc3200, right? if i'll need to buy a heatsink anyways then an o'c would be ideal if i get a good heatsink. or is that too much o'c? and does a Sata HD perform any better than a regular if i only have one of each or would i get the Sata just for the sake of the cables anyways?

If you get the 2800+ I think there is only the 333mhz fsb (166x2). You can probably get it up to 400 (200x2), though its not a certainty. A good heatsink is a must in that case.
SATA should perform slightly better than ide, but the biggest advantage, I think, is the cables. There isn't really a price difference between IDE and SATA, so I would definitely get SATA drives.

thanks exactly what i was hoping for

yea im gonna get the 333 and try to get it up to (200x2) with a good heatsink. for the motherboard, if i'm lookin at a nforce2 that supports up to 600 fsb should i bother with that? i mean like would i be able to buy another amd processor in a year to use that extra bandwidth or did amd just go from a 400 fsb to 800? in which case, i'll just get a board that supports only 400 fsb and save a few bucks

btw this is all for my first computer build so i dont wanna get an A64 quite yet or an expensive 800 fsb until they've been out a while longer, the prices go down, and i get this first build out of the way.
PS - should i get a T-bred or barton? what's the major differences?

dude get a t-bred. NEVER EVER get a barton. lol. my granpa bought one for his computer and it failed in i think like 2 months. my t-bred AMD ATHLON XP 2400+ is acturally faster than you would think. my friend has a p4 and mine out did his in benchmark and everything. so yeah a lil off topic but shh