[stettybet0]

I'm looking to spend $50-$150 upgrading an old Compaq 5000 5BW220. What would be the best way to spend this? I'm running Ubuntu 7.04 and I use the computer for web surfing and modest gaming.

Current specs:

CPU: 633Mhz Intel Celeron (PIII) processor.
Mobo: Socket 478 (came with the computer... that's all I know)
Memory: 256MB PC100 SDRAM
Hard drives: 80GB 7200RPM IDE hard drive, 15GB 4200RPM IDE hard drive
Video card: NVIDIA Geforce 440MX 64MB AGP 8x

Edited by stettybet0, 20 April 2007 - 09:56 PM.

[Advertisements]

Save up to buy new. I'm sorry to say this but it's to old to see any gains with upgrades. It's time to save up for a new rig later on down the road.
I can't find memory that slow, so nothing will be compatible with your motherboard.
It's a pentium 3, they left the market in 2002 to be replaced with Pentium 4's, you'll never be find that generation processor new.
You could add a hard drive, but no performance gains will be seen.
Video card, well there just isn't any point.....You could but the rest of the system would be such an bottleneck that it probably wouldn't reach 60% of the capabilities of the newer graphics card.
James

Edited by james_8970, 20 April 2007 - 10:39 PM.

[james_8970]

Save up to buy new. I'm sorry to say this but it's to old to see any gains with upgrades. It's time to save up for a new rig later on down the road.
I can't find memory that slow, so nothing will be compatible with your motherboard.
It's a pentium 3, they left the market in 2002 to be replaced with Pentium 4's, you'll never be find that generation processor new.
You could add a hard drive, but no performance gains will be seen.
Video card, well there just isn't any point.....You could but the rest of the system would be such an bottleneck that it probably wouldn't reach 60% of the capabilities of the newer graphics card.
James

Edited by james_8970, 20 April 2007 - 10:39 PM.

[stettybet0]

oh, no, I already have a nice new rig for serious gaming and stuff, but this is just for my linux hobby. I'm just looking to make the system run a bit faster, and maybe get some higher FPS in some Linux games (which usually aren't very graphics intensive anyways).

I know they sell the appropriate memory on newegg, and I could get a PIII off of ebay, or at a local computer shop... The problem isn't finding the parts... it's knowing which parts would help me the most.

[james_8970]

The first thing that needs to go on there is the processor for sure. But I can't help you much in that regard since it's a Pentium 3, I know nothing about them. But considering it's a celeron(low end pentiums), I'm sure there is something better out there that your motherboard can support.
Next would be the memory, find out the maximum supported memory that it can handle speed wise, i doubt that motherboard could handle more then 256mb per slot. Memory would for sure be the upgrade afterwards though. You could probably get both the parts for your price range too. Also, if you actually do buy this chip on Ebay don't spend more then 30$, your really risking your money, to find a chip is one thing on ebay, but to find another is a compleat other. Remember these chips were created some time around 2000, so they'll probaly have been running for at least 6 years, a chip is only designed to run for around 10.
James

Edited by james_8970, 21 April 2007 - 11:39 AM.

[stettybet0]

you're right about the memory... my manual says it can support 256mb in each slot... for 512mb total. right now I have 128mb in each slot. So buying two of these would take up $60 of my budget.

I know I can find PIIIs for under $90 (the remainder of my budget), but I read somewhere that my computer can only support certain types of PIIIs, but I'm not sure which. My Celeron is a Coppermine chip, if that helps.

Also, apparently my mobo is socket 370, not socket 478 as I previously said. Sorry.

So, what we're looking for is:

A coppermine, socket 370 chip with a frequency of 550 - 1133 MHz, a FSB of 100 - 133 MHz, a L1 cache of 32kb, a L2 cache of 256kb, and build on a 0.18 micrometer process. (info found on wikipedia)

The problem... most sites just say "Pentium III", but not whether the chip is a coppermine. Other coppermine-t chips and Tualatin chips have the same specs, but would be incompatible. It's sometimes easy to tell a Tualatin chip, because they are built on a 0.13 micrometer process. That info is not always given though...

Edited by stettybet0, 21 April 2007 - 12:05 PM.

[stettybet0]

I found exactly what we're looking for:

1.13Ghz PIII Coppermine

It's the best processor my computer supports.

Now I just need to find a place to buy it...

[james_8970]

Coppermine is probably the codename of the chip before it was released. The cache of that processor doesn't chance what we'll want next. What we really need is information on the motherbaord and not the processor run the following program and find your motherboards model and manufacture.

everest free edition

James

[stettybet0]

that wont be necessary... read the above post...

not that I could run everest on ubuntu anyways...

[james_8970]

lol, yeah never even thought about that.
Yes I can see that now, I'll see if I can find anything, but I'm going to have to go soon.
James

[james_8970]

Here you go
http://www.zipzoomfl...odlist=shopping
James

[james_8970]

Here you go
http://www.zipzoomfl...odlist=shopping
James

[james_8970]

Here you go
http://www.zipzoomfl...odlist=shopping
James

[stettybet0]

thats a tualatin...

[Tyger]

The big question here is how fast a processor can your mb support and an auxiliary question is how fast can the FSB run. But there's some real confusion going on here. There is no such thing as a celeron PIII. It's either a celeron or a PIII, and some boards can use either with at most changing a jumper setting, and some will only run one kind. PIIIs and celerons were made using socket 370, and celerons used socket 478 too. The celeron sets both the FSB and CPU speed so only very few boards allow you to overclock them. My first advice would be to find as much info as possible by Googling

MB part# filetype:pdf

which will often fetch you a manual. And of course go to the Compaq website for info too. Good luck and have fun with Linux. I'm trying out PCLinux and the new Ubuntu right now too.

[stettybet0]

The big question here is how fast a processor can your mb support and an auxiliary question is how fast can the FSB run. But there's some real confusion going on here. There is no such thing as a celeron PIII. It's either a celeron or a PIII, and some boards can use either with at most changing a jumper setting, and some will only run one kind. PIIIs and celerons were made using socket 370, and celerons used socket 478 too. The celeron sets both the FSB and CPU speed so only very few boards allow you to overclock them. My first advice would be to find as much info as possible by Googling

MB part# filetype:pdf

which will often fetch you a manual. And of course go to the Compaq website for info too. Good luck and have fun with Linux. I'm trying out PCLinux and the new Ubuntu right now too.

We've already ascertained the fastest processor that my mobo can support.

There IS such thing as a Celeron built on Coppermine PIII technology. A Celeron is simply a Pentium with features disabled, lower clock speeds, lower FSB speeds, and less cache. And they're not just for socket 370 and socket 478. Celerons based on PII technology used slot 1 and Celerons based on P4 technology also use socket 775.

Introduced in April 1998, the first Celeron was based on the Pentium II core. Later versions were based on the Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Pentium M. Intel's roadmap lists a series of upcoming Celerons, based on the Intel Core microarchitecture.

A celeron, while typically a bad chip for overclocking, does not have "locked" clock speed or fsb speed as you have said. The only thing that overclocking a celeron depends on, just like every other chip, is the mobo's support for overclocking. Not that this is even applicable, as I am upgrading to a PIII.

Compaq has absolutely no info on this computer, as it is old, and it is from before they were bought by HP.

And as a side note, I've been using Ubuntu since 6.06 came out, so I've already "had fun", so to speak.

Edited by stettybet0, 21 April 2007 - 03:32 PM.