PC Upgrade Help

[iinfi]

i currently own a PIII, 733 MHz , 256 MB SD RAM, 2HDD (40+20)GB, 15"
Color monitor with 810E motherboard, 52 samsung combo drive. (no
graphics card or any such add on cards.)
i use winXP pro..

i mainly use it to practise my Java, C++ and VB.NET etc. as i have it
in my course. And my brother uses it to play games (some older games
which run in this config. ) .... and of course to surf the net.

now i m thinking of upgrading my PC.

my biggest query is, should i got for a 32bit PC or a 64bit PC. if
microsoft launches Longhorn next year then will my PC be rendered
useless coz it would be a 32-bit one. If that would be the case then i
dont want to invest on such a 32-bit one which wud become useless in
8-10 months.plz advise on this.

Also i m unable to decide as to whether to keep my old PC as i dont
think it wud fetch a good price.(my plan is to exchange it with the
dealer who provides the new PC.) what price do u think my old PC wud
fetch??

the new PC configuration i wish to buy is as follows

PIV (recommend how many GHz.)
recommend some good motherboard (which will support all HDD... one
friend told me that all motherboards dont support 160 and 500 GB SATA
HDD)
512MB / 1GB RAM (sud i buy DDR or SD and is 512 enough??)
160GB or 500GB HDD
15"/17" monitor
optical mouse

some one had told me that there is a motherboard which has built-in
graphics card and a seperate graphics card is not necessary. which
motherboard is that? and will it support all HDDs like 160 and 500 GB

is it the right time to buy/upgrade a PC or is there any new technology
or price reduction etc possible in the next 1-2 months?

after reading this far u wud have come to know that my knowledge of PC
hardware like motherboards RAMs, SATA/PATA HDDs etc. is nil.

so plz help.

 

[drvarunmehta]

First you say that you want to consider 64-bit systems and then you say that you want a P4. That's just not possible. Currently only AMD has 64-bit systems for the mainstream market.

If you want Intel 32-bit, then go for a 3 GHz proccy. If you want AMD, go for a Athlon64 3000+.

For Intel, go for 915 chipset mobo with integrated graphics and for athlon you can try some chipset by ATI. I forgot the name, but it has a pretty decent graphics solution.

512 MB RAM is perfect. You can always add more if you need it later. SD RAM is dead. No new mobo even supports it, so go for DDR400.

15" monitor is just too small. Go for 17". There's not much price difference.

Mobo's based on the latest chipsets will support SATA and maybe even SATA2 right upto 500GB.

Use your old combo drive. Kbd, mouse, cabinet are all very cheap so no probs there.

You won't get much for your old PC. Since it's so old the best you can expect is 7-8 grand.

 

[iinfi]

@drvarunmehta thanks a lot for ur help ....

if i buy a 64 bit system (Athlon), will all programs which run on 32 bit computers run on that 64bit PC also??

whats the price difference of a 32 and 644 bit PC??

can u tell me the approx. cost of the following (preferably in mumbai market)
915 chipset mobo and Athlon64 3000+
17" monitor
512MB DDR400 RAM
160GB and 500GB HDD

thanks

 

[iinfi]

and i wud like to know if 915 chipset can hold both Athlon64 3000+ and PIV processors ...... i mean not at the same time ... but is it compatible with both ??

 

[godsownman]

You have not answered whetehr one should go in for 64 or 32 bit .Please do so as 2 people are having the same doubt.

 

[bharathbala2003]

@infii how can the 915 mobo hold both procce. its not possible.. @varun is the 915 comapatible with AMD 64 3000+ in the first place.. if u goin in for AMD 3000+ go in for asus K8N deluxe mobo.. and if u want onboard then try differnt one... better get a entery level gfx atleast like 5200 or 5500 which costs bout 3.3 and 4.2 respectively.. then yes 512 should do and not SD.. go in for DDR only..

well the price of ya rig current can b max about 8K if sum1 who has nil knowledge u can sell it for 10 K

for prices.. try the site *techtree.com there search for the price.. i remember the price of 3000+ being about 7or8K and the ram bout 3.5.. HDD of 160 GB about 3900...

 

[icecoolz]

First of all, all 32 bit applications will work with 64 bit processors. AMD has native support for 32 applications where in Intel has software support. Hence your existing applications will work fine.

Second. I think there is just one motherboard out there which supports both Pentium and AMD chips. I saw it somewhere in the H/W section a while back. But then its not mainstream and also it lacks a lot of features. Wouldnt reccomend it. Just think abt it dude. How can one mobo support both 32 bit and 64 bit processors which have completely different architectures ?

The 912 chipset it from intel and hence Pentium compatible only. So the 915 for AMD doesnt exist.

As far as 64 or 32 is concerned, well that really depends on your budget. 64 bit has not become main stream yet. It will take another year or two. By that time PCI-E, DDR3 and SATA will also become mainstream. Also dual core chipsets will be in full flow then. Hence there are plenty of things to consider. I would suggest to go for a 64bit based system. As it would require lesser upgrades in the future.

 

[drvarunmehta]

For Intel, go for 915 chipset mobo with integrated graphics and for athlon you can try some chipset by ATI. I forgot the name, but it has a pretty decent graphics solution.

@infii how can the 915 mobo hold both procce. its not possible.. @varun is the 915 comapatible with AMD 64 3000+ in the first place.. if u goin in for AMD 3000+ go in for asus K8N deluxe mobo.. and if u want onboard then try differnt one...

I never said that the 915 can be used with both P4 and AMD. I've clearly said 915 for Intel and for athlon there is some chipset by ATI with a good graphics solution whose name i forgot.

Now i remember. For AMD, go for ATI RS480

 

[iinfi]

ATI RS480 motherboard
Athlon64 3000+
512MB DDR400 RAM
160GB SATA HDD
17" monitor


is this gud??
has the above motherboard have a built-in graphics card or do i need and external one?
but r u sure that the above 64-bit system will run all the s/w s which currently run on my 32-bit system?
will java,j2ee,VS.NET 2003 etc all run in the 64bit system ....

 

[144]

infii, It will run all the 32 bit softwares that you have been running previously.
And yes it does have intergrated Graphics, You wont need an external G-Card!
512MB Ram is more than enough. But do you really need 160GB of space- I think 80GB is alot.
17" monitor - Make sure its a flatscreen. And a good-brand.
Go for a DVD-RW if you can.

 

[mohit]

@iinfi
go for the following

amd athlon 64 bit 3000+ (939 pin)
msi rs480 m2 board
2*256 400 mhz ram (corsair/kingston/zion)
any good cabinet with 350w smps min. (vip,antec,etc)
17" monitor (samsung)
80 gb sata hdd (80 gb is more than enough)
logitech value combo (o.mouse+mm kb)

keep the old combo drive for now if u r on a tight budget. just make sure u have a good UPS and a well ventilated cabinet.

 

[144]

infii, Have you considered DDR2 ; That would be tomorrow's technology.
Plus, I think you should go for board with PCIe slots, so that in future, if you want more upgrades, you would be able to do so without throwing the whole m-board.
If you have enough on budget for a 160GB HDD SATA, why dont you go for 2x80GB HDD SATA instead and create a RAID.
Also, better go for a 19 inch flat screen ( Sometimes, it gives more space to view more of your code without having to scroll ).
remember - DDR2,PCIe, SATA compatability is essential for future-proofing.

 

[drvarunmehta]

ATI RS480 motherboard
Athlon64 3000+
512MB DDR400 RAM
160GB SATA HDD
17" monitor


is this gud??
has the above motherboard have a built-in graphics card or do i need and external one?
but r u sure that the above 64-bit system will run all the s/w s which currently run on my 32-bit system?
will java,j2ee,VS.NET 2003 etc all run in the 64bit system ....

Perfect for your use.
All 32-bit software will DEFINITELY run in your 64-bit system. You can use all the software's you mentioned.

@144- currently DDR2 has only reached PC667 and has higher latencies than DDR RAM. So it makes no sense to spend more money on DDR2 when it won't give a justifiable increse in performance.

 

[iinfi]

thanks everyone for ur valuable inputs

well whats the difference betn.

ATI RS480 motherboard
Athlon64 3000+

and

amd athlon 64 bit 3000+ (939 pin)
msi rs480 m2 board

and i wanna have slots in the motherboard so that i can increase the RAM to 1GB if i want to later. do both motherboards have those extra slots??
and do both the motherboards have built in graphics cards?

144 has said that the ATI RS480 motherboard has a built in graphics card .... but what abt the other ??

 

[mohit]

@ iinfi
hey dude stop getting confused .... i think 144 meant you shud go for a board based on the ATI RS480 chipset but he got it wrong ... as the chipset is called some express 200 chipset. ati doesnt make their own boards afaik. rs480 is the model no. of a msi board.

i recommended the same chipset based msi rs480 m2 board which is a very good board for integrated grafix solutions and dont worry about the 1gb ram support it definitely does support it. for complete specs , check the msi website www.msi.com.tw

if u have any more doubts dont hesitate to ask.

 

[pimpom]

The motherboard suggested by others is the RS480M2-IL by MSI. AFAIK, it's the only motherboard presently available for Athlon 64s with decent onboard graphics.

Of course, onboard graphics are never as good as separate mid or high-end graphics cards, but the onboard gfx of this mobo is good enough for the casual gamer or for those who cannot afford a good separate card. It comes with a PCI-Express slot so that you can add a card later on.

I've assembled several machines based on this board, and although I have not run benchmarks yet, gaming performance with the onboard video seems to be approximately in the same class as with an FX5200.

Re RAM, it has 4 RAM slots. It supports dual-channel mode, so you can start with, say, 2x256MB sticks = 512MB. That will still leave 2 RAM slots free for future upgrades. Don't worry about the max amount that can be fitted - this mobo supports upto 1GB per slot to give a total of 4GB.

 

[expertno.1]

do a benchmark to test the speed and any good computer benchmark (compare)

mark the lacking things and post here

 

[iinfi]

does the winXP pro which runs on 32 bit PCs run on 64 bit systems also or do i have to use another version of windowsXP pro??

Does linux also have any 64 bit OS

and whats the basic difference betn a 32bit system and a 64bit system??
is a 64bit system twice faster in processing than the 32bit one??
will programs load more faster and OS start more faster??