Building new system?

[Cyric]

I'm building a new system and don't want to spend a lot, the less the better. I'm planning on using my old computers components. The system will be used for surfing the net and playing games like Age of Empires II. What the best bang for the buck? If I can I'll OC it to get more performance.

thanks Cyric

[Hiro]

AMD Duron 700 or 750 (both are cheap as hell right now).
MSI K7T Pro 2-A Motherboard.

[cruelpupet]

you really need to post what you currently have. Ages II runs pretty good on my friends P2 300

[Cheesypuff]

Just go all out in upgrading your system...go for 1 ghz and 256 megs of RAM to be sure.

[Cyric]

I'll probally used my old computers CD-ROM, Floppy, Sound card, hard drive. I think all I need is the CPU, MOBO, RAM and probally a new fan and power supply. I need the most bang for the buck. I don't do much except surf the net and play games.

Thanks

[cruelpupet]

Answer the following ?'s and I will help you.


Ok, what are the exact specs of your current system?

What games do you play?

[Cyric]

Right now I have a dinosaur of a system. My CPU is a 166 Pentium, MOBO ?, I do have 164 RAM not sure if its 100 or 133 gotta check. I run windows 98 on it. My HD's OK it's 13gigs, plenty big for me. Games I would like to play are Age of Empires II and other stratigy type games also playable over the net. What else do you need?

Thanks Cyric

[cruelpupet]

Well being that you have a p166 i highly doubt that you ram is even PC100, its probably PC133.

if your not looking to spend a lot, you could probably just get a AMD k6-2 350. It shouldnt cost you much more than $50 after shipping. Games that are like ages of the empire dont require that much. Like i said earlier, AOK (ages of the kings) runs fine on my friends p2 300.

[cruelpupet]

Actually here is a good link for pgrading your pc


http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/01q1/010212/index.html

[OvrrDrive]

I'd guess your p166 has 72 pin simms in it, total garbage! Get yourself a nice 256mb sdram dimm ( http://www.pricewatch.com ) and start from there. They are like mad cheap right now but I hear the prices might go up soon.

Bang for buck, bang for buck...

You really don't want to skimp on a motherboard... A cheapie will just lead to instability and negate the means to oc it. Start with a good base, then if you want, you can make your hot system a real screamer in a year or so. Personally, I am an Asus freak, but I would recommend you look at the abit kt7a. The abit gives you the much needed multiplier settings you will need to oc it to get some real speed out of the cpu. If I'm not mistaken, the duron to get if you want to oc is the 600. You'll have to pencil the bridges to unlock the multiplier, but I hear that is pretty easy if you're patient and have steady hands. You could get 900 or 1000 mhz out of it easily, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Watch the paper to go to the next computer show in your area and get you a new case with an amd approved 300 watt power supply, most likely you can't get an atx board in the case you have now and if you just get a new one (like $30-$40) it will fit and you'll get a new psu to go with it.

Here's how I see it right now: (all prices quoted are lowest from Pricewatch right now)

kt7a $123
pc100 256mc dimm $50
duron 600 $40
generic case $30 (guess)
cpu hsf $10
______________________
$253 to get started.

In reality, make it at least $300-$350 to account for shipping and not getting everything at the lowest possible prices. Once you get your feet wet, you can always upgrade the rest and improve it bit by bit. You can always use your old hard drive, keyboard, CD, monitor, vid etc... They won't really be up to todays standards, but they will get you up and going and there is no substitute for horsepower under the hood and a good swift fsb (front side bus).

Lastly, upgrading opinions are like *******s - everyone has one and the one presented above was mine and mine alone. I suggest hearing it from several people and then making an informed (key word) decision on your own. Hope this gets you started...