If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Upgrade questions
I have a (Time) AMD XP1700 pc, with home edition and 512MB of DDR RAM.
It has a GeForce2 MX400 64MB DDR graphics card. It's a couple of years old. The cpu is actually 1500MHz, and I know the motherboard is 4xAGP. (512MB is max installable memory, PC2100 I think) I was thinking of changing the cpu to a faster one (I've been told it will take upto around 2.2GHz depending upon the make of motherboard). Will this force me to re-install XP? Or will windows just boot as normal? Will I have to fiddle with the registry/bios? XP came pre-installed so I don't have a cd. Is a fan/heatsink upgrade necessary for the new CPU too? If I do have to re-install XP, will this format my hard disk? Could I get around this by adding another (faster!) disk and doing the new install onto that? Also, if I upgrade my graphics card, do I have to get one that's 4xAGP or will an 8xAGP card be able to use the 4xAGP? (Presumably at 1/2 data rate?) Sorry for all the questions, but it's getting a bit slow by todays standards and it could do with a few upgrades! Thanks. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
"Rich" wrote in message
om... " Will this force me to re-install XP? Or will windows just boot as normal? " Upgrading the CPU or RAM won't affect your installation of XP. You need to check what motherboard you have, so you can find out what it will take. I expect you'll need a new fan that is suitable for the higher-rated CPU, and you may need to update the BIOS. The motherboard manufacturer's website will tell you all of these details. You can use any AGP8x card, and you won't see any noticeable difference from only having an AGP4x slot. However, not having the ability to do a re-installation of XP could cause you problems. You might be able to get away with not having to do a re-installation, but only if Driver Cleaner doesn't cause any problems. http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ It's best to speak to TIME and tell them what you're planning to do. They may supply you with CDs so you can re-install XP without all the old drivers on the system, but most of their installations do already have the original drivers on the back-up disk image. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
"Cuzman" wrote in message ...
"Rich" snip wrote in message om... " Will this force me to re-install XP? Or will windows just boot as normal? " Upgrading the CPU or RAM won't affect your installation of XP. You need to check what motherboard you have, so you can find out what it will take. I expect you'll need a new fan that is suitable for the higher-rated CPU, and you may need to update the BIOS. The motherboard manufacturer's website will tell you all of these details. You can use any AGP8x card, and you won't see any noticeable difference from only having an AGP4x slot. However, not having the ability to do a re-installation of XP could cause you problems. You might be able to get away with not having to do a re-installation, but only if Driver Cleaner doesn't cause any problems. http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/ It's best to speak to TIME and tell them what you're planning to do. They may supply you with CDs so you can re-install XP without all the old drivers on the system, but most of their installations do already have the original drivers on the back-up disk image. Shouldn't I just be able to roll back the graphics card driver to the original M$ XP driver then switch graphics cards? (and then install new drivers as required?) Do you think my GeForce2 MX400 with fit in my little bros pc, it only has PCI slots no AGP? Thanks. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
"Rich" wrote in message
om... " Shouldn't I just be able to roll back the graphics card driver to the original M$ XP driver then switch graphics cards? (and then install new drivers as required?) " You don't need to *roll-back* the drivers. Just uninstall the drivers from Control Panel first, but with graphics drivers that doesn't always get rid of everything. Hence the reason for the follow-up use of Driver Cleaner. Most people get by OK after using Driver Cleaner, and it's only very-few that need to re-install XP. " Do you think my GeForce2 MX400 with fit in my little bros pc, it only has PCI slots no AGP? " Will a square peg fit in a round hole? |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"Cuzman" wrote in message ...
" Do you think my GeForce2 MX400 with fit in my little bros pc, it only has PCI slots no AGP? " Will a square peg fit in a round hole? Sorry for the stupid question, fairly new to tinkering INSIDE the pc! A square peg will fit in a round hole if you hit it with a big enough hammer. Ha! R. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Questions about 802.11g-108 Mbps | MarkW | General | 3 | March 26th 04 03:59 PM |
A couple of upgrade questions | GeoffC | General | 6 | December 23rd 03 09:40 PM |
about to upgrade from CD-ROM to DVD-ROM Drive, any advice? | S. Tonekham | General | 0 | November 24th 03 01:34 AM |
planning to upgrade to DVD-ROM and a DVD writer, any suggestions? | S. Tonekham | General | 1 | November 10th 03 08:13 AM |
serial ATA vs ATA133...can't decide on wich...to much unanswered questions... | KILOWATT | General | 2 | July 12th 03 10:13 AM |