[87lsmc]

I have a hewlett packard a350n pavillion with a p4 at 2.8. It has 512 mb of memory, and a 160 gb hd. I changed the video card to a ati x700 pro and also upped the power supply. I can upgrade the memory to 2gb. Is there anything else I should or could do to improve the performance? I'll probably end up getting a new computer at the beginning of next year but I want to improve this one while I still have it.

[Advertisements]

"I'll probably end up getting a new computer at the beginning of next year but I want to improve this one while I still have it"

what about this computer running 2gb of RAM, a P4, and an X700 does not suit your needs?? people are too quick to jump to a new PC.

okay, i would say the only thing left to do is a CPU upgrade. i did a bit of research and found that it apperantly runs on an 800mhz FSB. it is a socket 478 or LGA775? since they didnt make a lot of socket 478 CPUs for 800mhz FSB, it is probably a LGA775-based machine. either way, it has upgrade potential, but if it is LGA775, this is even better. the top LGA775 CPU you could get would be a 3.6ghz Intel Pentium 4 HT (Prescott core is better then Cedar Grove core). however, considering the expensive price of said 3.6ghz P4 HT, i would compromise and go for a 3.2ghz HT. the highest CPU you can get for it if it is a socket 478 is a 3.0E Pentium 4 HT (Prescott). i would go for that if it is socket 478.

bottom line, your CPU can be upgraded, and i would recommend a 3.0-3.2ghz P4 HT as a good balance of price and speed, but if it is a LGA775-based machine, you can go as far as a 3.6ghz P4 HT.

socket 478 3.0ghz Penitum 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116171

socket LGA775 3.2ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116197

socket LGA775 3.6ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116232

[Dragon306]

"I'll probably end up getting a new computer at the beginning of next year but I want to improve this one while I still have it"

what about this computer running 2gb of RAM, a P4, and an X700 does not suit your needs?? people are too quick to jump to a new PC.

okay, i would say the only thing left to do is a CPU upgrade. i did a bit of research and found that it apperantly runs on an 800mhz FSB. it is a socket 478 or LGA775? since they didnt make a lot of socket 478 CPUs for 800mhz FSB, it is probably a LGA775-based machine. either way, it has upgrade potential, but if it is LGA775, this is even better. the top LGA775 CPU you could get would be a 3.6ghz Intel Pentium 4 HT (Prescott core is better then Cedar Grove core). however, considering the expensive price of said 3.6ghz P4 HT, i would compromise and go for a 3.2ghz HT. the highest CPU you can get for it if it is a socket 478 is a 3.0E Pentium 4 HT (Prescott). i would go for that if it is socket 478.

bottom line, your CPU can be upgraded, and i would recommend a 3.0-3.2ghz P4 HT as a good balance of price and speed, but if it is a LGA775-based machine, you can go as far as a 3.6ghz P4 HT.

socket 478 3.0ghz Penitum 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116171

socket LGA775 3.2ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116197

socket LGA775 3.6ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116232

[87lsmc]

Thanks for the info. I had to upgrade this computer to be able to play FEAR, BF2, and Black and White 2. It still lags a little so I figured I'd try upgrading the memory. I probably will keep it until I'm unable to play any new games that come out.

[jrm20]

"I'll probably end up getting a new computer at the beginning of next year but I want to improve this one while I still have it"

what about this computer running 2gb of RAM, a P4, and an X700 does not suit your needs?? people are too quick to jump to a new PC.

okay, i would say the only thing left to do is a CPU upgrade. i did a bit of research and found that it apperantly runs on an 800mhz FSB. it is a socket 478 or LGA775? since they didnt make a lot of socket 478 CPUs for 800mhz FSB, it is probably a LGA775-based machine. either way, it has upgrade potential, but if it is LGA775, this is even better. the top LGA775 CPU you could get would be a 3.6ghz Intel Pentium 4 HT (Prescott core is better then Cedar Grove core). however, considering the expensive price of said 3.6ghz P4 HT, i would compromise and go for a 3.2ghz HT. the highest CPU you can get for it if it is a socket 478 is a 3.0E Pentium 4 HT (Prescott). i would go for that if it is socket 478.

bottom line, your CPU can be upgraded, and i would recommend a 3.0-3.2ghz P4 HT as a good balance of price and speed, but if it is a LGA775-based machine, you can go as far as a 3.6ghz P4 HT.

socket 478 3.0ghz Penitum 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116171

socket LGA775 3.2ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116197

socket LGA775 3.6ghz Pentium 4 HT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116232

The socket 478 and socket lga 775 intel pentium 4 cpu's run on 800mhz fsb more than any other fsb speed actually.... On the 478 they did make some 533mhz fsb for the older first released Northwoods. We arent talking about celeron here so we can leave them out. 800mhz fsb is actually the most produced fsb speed for the intel pentium 4 chip. They also have 1066Mhz fsb but that is the Extreme edition chips only..

So they did indeed make alot of the 800mhz fsb chips...


and actually you can still find 3.2ghz prescott socket 478 chips and 3.2ghz northwood socket 478 chips to buy..

[warriorscot]

More memory and a better gfx card is more important than the cpu at this stage for a gaming system.

[87lsmc]

I added another gig of memory yesterday. I was also looking at the video cards. It seems that the best card I can get is the ATI x1600 pro because I have to go AGP. I noticed there were other manufacturers which used the same chipset with their prices being about $135 to $159 and the ATI being about $250. Is there a difference?

[BlackPandemic]

*Puts the brakes on the impatient express*

Okay, from a personal standpoint, if you're going to get a new computer soon anyway. Save this money and put it towards a better new computer. It's a total waste to upgrade now only to get a new one in the near future.

That's what I'm doing in terms of video cards, the X800GTO is "teh suck" and I wanted to upgrade now, but I have gathered all my strength and decided to wait for DX10 which I suggest you do as well.

In a month or two your "new" GFX card will be outdated.

Edited by BlackPandemic, 15 May 2006 - 08:49 AM.

[Max-T]

if your going to buy a new computer soon then DONT spend money on a fancy AGP card. im sorry to say it but PCI-E is the way of the future,

if you are looking for a small rebuild, then id say memory definitly go for it, you might not want to spend money on an agp card as i have said earlier, best changing motherboard and keeping prosessor and get a PCI-E gfx card



if your looking for a major rebuild id say change mobo to one that supports PCI-E, (there are even some which support both AGP and PCI-E if you are desperate) i would try convert you to an AMD prosessor if you want to spend money. BUT if your getting a new comp id say, either keep the gfx card you bought for your old comp, or just up the ram for it depending on the specs

[Dragon306]

THERE IS NO POINT IN BUYING A NEW COMPUTER SOON! what is wrong with that config, once you get a new GFX card and CPU?? a new comp is a waste! check my signature, i am sick of people being greedy and indulgent and letting still-compitant hardware get scrapped! i pointed you to some very good priced CPUs for a significant performance boost, depending on your socket type...

[bleep], i am still running on a P3!

[jrm20]

THERE IS NO POINT IN BUYING A NEW COMPUTER SOON! what is wrong with that config, once you get a new GFX card and CPU?? a new comp is a waste! check my signature, i am sick of people being greedy and indulgent and letting still-compitant hardware get scrapped! i pointed you to some very good priced CPUs for a significant performance boost, depending on your socket type...

[bleep], i am still running on a P3!

P3's are slow man, and you are really missing out and have no idea how fast the newer cpu's are.

You cant play the newer 3d intensive games with a pentium 3 cpu either.

I wouldnt buy a new pc right now, but if you start saving up now you can get the newer technology which will be new cpu's, videocards and the new directx10 is coming out soon. Windows vista will be coming out later around 7 months though..

If you are a hardcore gamer Id wait out a few months.


HAHA Pentium 3 processors are not still-compitant hardware dragon306. If you played any of the new 3d intensive games it wouldnt even load the game or let you play it. LOL good luck playing Fear,hl2,fear,doom3 on a pentium 3. Fear would run like utter crap if you tried to play it on a pentium 3 I doubt it would even run..

You guys think if you keep upgrading your old outdated 4 generations behind pc's you will be saving money which its not true. You are better off building a new pc yourself off of a site like newegg. You can build a nice gaming system for $800 guys that would run circles around any p3.

Im not dogging your system, Im just explaining my opinnion and telling people that a pentium 3 pc is not a powerful enough pc for todays applications/games..

If you play "3d games" back from 2002 and below your fine with a pentium 3 pc.

I couldnt run any of my games or applications if I had a pentium 3 so its a fact im stating..



87lsmc your pc is actually a pretty good pc. Dont upgrade or get a new pc unless you actually need the power and performance. I dont see any need to upgrade your pc at all unless you are a gamer. If you are a hardcore gamer and want to be able to play the latest and greatest games on high settings smoothly then you will need to get a new pc I would suggest but not now. Wait a few months or so until this new technology comes out like the new cpu's, video cards and direct x10. Wait 3-7 months for a new pc with all the new technology I listed.

I would hold off on any upgrades on your current pc.

Edited by jrm20, 19 May 2006 - 08:33 AM.

[BlackPandemic]

*Sticks Dragon with a needle to calm him down* There we go.

But seriously, I would save up and buy a newer computer in the future considering if you stick with old hardware (such as P3's), they may work and be realiable, but sooner or later you will HAVE to upgrade to play the newest stuff. So that's how I made the compy in my sig, I thought about what will be outdated the fastest (video card, soundcard, possibly memory) and put not as much money into those, considering I knew I'd upgrade soon.

And I agree with whoever said you need a new computer/mobo just for the sake of getting PCI-E because AGP will slow you down in the long run.

[87lsmc]

I was going to try to find a better video card, but my choices are kind of limited because it has to be an AGP. I don't think there are going to be that much more available with dx10 either. I'll keep this computer until December or January. Than I'll look for a new one.

[BlackPandemic]

Even if you decide not to completely rebuild, look for new mobo's with PCI-E support because I have a feeling that AGP and PCI will be obsolete (not bad, I mean gone) in a couple years if not months (after DX10 and Crysis )

[warriorscot]

AGP is on its last legs the only cards they make for it are the cut down GS verison and such, these arent as good as the full fledged cards and in AGP they arent that cheap either. As far as i know they arent going to make dx10 in AGP becuase the cards are so fast they will hit the 8x barrier dx9 cards rarely bottlenecked PCI-e big advatage was more power but dx10 is over 6 times more powerful than 9 and the technology is also more advanced on the cards as well so x8 wont be enough.

@dragon: Sure ive got computers that still work, but i dont use them i use my nice new computer and ill build a new one and flog this one when it gets to slow and i get enough money, its always good to stay on the edge its often cheaper and some people like us gamers NEED up to date hardware old computers arent an option and if you are a heavy computer user like many of us more speed and latest hardware is an advantage, an old PC doesnt have alot of things like hadware firewalls, dual channel memory, latest gfx interface, power managment and auto overclocking and really good things like SATA forgive me but i want those things and ill buy a new computer when there is new stuff i want even though my current one is adequate ill build new system, and i dont think im the only one who thinks that way. If you want to scrounge with old P3s and free hardware and cant afford the good stuff go ahead but dont persecute us with the cash and desire to have something cutting edge that will do the things we want at reasonable speeds. I couldnt do even half of my routine computer tasks on any of my old p3 lappers i have lying around.

Edited by warriorscot, 19 May 2006 - 07:16 PM.

[Dragon306]

i am not pursecuting, im saying you are being wasteful. my laptop, which is still useful to me, is a P1 MMX 266mhz with 160mb running Windows 2K Pro. and Half-Life 2 runs on my desktop. when you upgrade to "newer, bigger, btter, faster, stronger" then perfectly working hardware gets canned and tossed out into the garbage. the majority of computer useres arent gamers, and anything Pentium or above will keep up with high-speed DSL connections and such, and run MS Office applications. my dedicated internet machine, seperate from my P3 and used just for web browsing, is an old NEC Ready with a 100mhz P1 and 64mb EDO running Windows 98SE and it KEEPS UP with my 768kb p/s DSL connection with as much ease as my P3 1.0ghz with 512mb PC133. just an example of what i am talking about. it is incredibly wasteful to think you need the best while hardware that works just fine gets tossed in the garbage along with bannanna peels, empty wrappers, and god knows what else, to get buried in a landfill somwhere and rust and rot away. it is the same kind of thing people seem to find pleasure in doing with cars. america and the rest of the world (though we americans are worst) has gotten very very wasteful and it has got to stop. so, you cant do without the biggest, most bad-a$$ computer there is so that you can have a couple more frames per second in Half Life 2. but do think everyone thinks that way? wouldnt some poor old lady be glad to have somthing she could send e-mail to her grandkids on? or the kid down the street, to do his homework? or a single person living alone in some crappy apartment, to browse the web?? those things dont require all this bleeding-edge hardware. and people who think they need to have it toss out computers that could still be quite useful into the trash. do what you want at "reasonable speeds"??? what did you and everyone else do five years ago? ten years ago? all that has come of this bleeding-edge hardware is that people have become more greedy and have raised their standards for "resonable speed". there isnt anything unreasonable about older computers' speeds, peoples standards have just been driven higher by greedy gamers and all this fancy and pointless hardware. for crying out loud, i read about a new MSI motherbaord that will support 16gb of RAM coming out next year sometime!! i mean when is this gonna end it has to stop somwhere there have to be limitations to what we can do. what will we have five years from now??? processors running at 10+ GHz with like eight cores, and above 8gb of RAM as the norm and standard??? 4gb graphics cards with some new fancy interface allowing the link of like up to twelve video cards??? i mean, doesnt it get to a point when we dont NEED anything better???? the human eyes can only detect so many frames per second...

does anyone see my point?? or am i the only one who deosnt beleive old computers are garbage?!?!?

Edited by Dragon306, 30 May 2006 - 12:52 PM.