Time to upgrade

I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon

Assuming your not running Office 2007 then upgrading is not going to achieve
much for Office / browsing / mail etc
You may find Office opens faster, but thats about it
Upgrading to 1gb ram will probably produce more, and help photoshop.
Image scanning performance also depends on your scanner, to a certain
extent.

You will likely find that performing a clean install of winxp and adding 1gb
ram would work wonders
I've assumed you have sufficient hd space
But then again its your money

"Gordon" wrote in message
...
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon

In article ,
says...
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon


What's your budget?

Bill

Gordon wrote:
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon

Due to the price war between Intel and AMD, you can get a lot of
processor for little money. Depending on the budget, AMD products
cover the low to mid range, and Intel cover low, mid, and high.

Here is an Intel processor. Dual core, and Photoshop should be
able to use both cores at the same time, for some of its filters.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz core/FSB1333/4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 $195
(Comes with its own heatsink/fan)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115029

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $100
This is the review link, with customer comments.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128059

Picture of the motherboard.
http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggIma...128-059-04.jpg

You can get a movie here, that shows how to install the processor.
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/rese...eng/100617.htm

You'll need a new power supply. The new boards have a 2x2 ATX12V power
connector. The main power connector has 24 pins (and is compatible with
20 pin connectors, in an emergency). This particular supply, has strong
output rails, strong enough for virtually any video card. It has one
PCI Express 2x3 power connector, for video cards with that connector on
the end of the card.

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 470 ATX (ATX12V Ver 2.2) $75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703011

This one is almost as good, and is only $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703010

This documents the ATX power supplies, version 2.2, so you can understand
the new connectors. The 2x2 square one with 12V on it, powers the processor's
Vcore converter circuit.

http://www.formfactors.org/developer...public_br2.pdf

For a video card, the new standard is PCI Express. Newegg lists more than
400 entries for PCI Express x16 interface cards. And the first (cheapest)
one, has good reports, has two connector types of interest on the faceplate
(traditional VGA, plus newer DVI-I connector). So this will get you started.
And if it doesn't work out, it only cost $29, so no big loss. I usually position
a fan, next to fanless video cards, but that will be your choice, based on
how stable the thing is. (If stable, and no crashing, then just use it.)

GIGABYTE GV-NX72G512P1 GeForce 7200GS 128MB 32-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 $29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125073

I selected a power supply that was ready for anything, but that graphics card
is not taxing the supply in the least. With the hardware so far, you could
use an even weaker supply if you wanted.

RAM is about $30 per gigabyte. The sweet spot for current build systems,
is 2x1GB sticks. DDR2-800 CAS5 is more or less industry standard, with
enthusiast product costing more. The reason for purchasing a matched set
of sticks, is for dual channel operation (128 bits fetched at a time). That
is intended to give better memory bandwidth. There aren't too many
DOAs reported in the customer reviews.

A-DATA 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 5-5-5-18 1.8V $61
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211066

Same specs, but product is from Kingston $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134488

You can use the reviews on Newegg, to get some idea how many defects
there are.

Could I shave money off the $460-$480 so far. Sure, you can nickle and
dime the thing, you could also switch over to an AMD processor, and
drop the price considerably.

You get to use your old computer case again :-) The only thing that would
rule against that, is thermal considerations, and the 65W processors being
sold now, plus your low power video card, should not really have that
high a total heat output.

Almost forgot. The data transfer thing. You should be able to connect
your old IDE ribbon cable drive, to the one ribbon cable connector
on the new motherboard. The ribbon cable is supported by a Jmicron
JMB368, and I haven't seen comments or complaints about that one
yet (too new). Intel doesn't put ribbon cable interfaces on their
Southbridges any more, which is why an extra chip like this is added.

http://www.jmicron.com/Product_JMB368.htm

I'd pick up a new SATA drive, and install Windows on that. And then
transfer over your data files, via the ribbon cable interface.

Paul

Gordon wrote:
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon

Photoshop is pretty demanding, so I'd go with 2GB; and, if your new
CPU supports dual-channel, make that 2x1GB for max. memory bandwidth.

Also, since Photoshop is slow to start up, you may want to spend $s
for fast HDs: either 10K RPM Raptor (from WDC), or RAID0, or both.
Alternatively, if you use Photoshop a lot and have lots of RAM, then
invoking Photoshop when you boot and never exiting from it will help.
I found some improvement with multiple (non-RAID) HDs, by parking the
scratch files on one HD and the executable files on another; I suppose
that more HDs to spread the OS and the Photoshop executables would also
help, but my budget dictated only 2 HDs.

I know you asked about hardware, but I'll add a software comment:
Vista is *not*, IMHO, an upgrade. Maybe next year, but not now.
--
Cheers, Bob

On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:23:29 GMT, Gordon
wrote:

Thanks to all of you for your answers and information. I am
gradually working my way through this and will probably reach a
decision pretty soon.

I'm also considering replacing my old Sony Trinitron 17 inch
monitor with a new flat screen LCD monitor. I don't have anything
specific in mind, and would welcome any recommendations. My old
Sony monitor has some screen burn-in scars that are the result of
having left a screen saver unchanged for too long. The image sort
of burned in permanently and can't be cleared away. Also, this
old monitor produces enough heat to put a load on the air
conditioning system for my office.

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:44:17 GMT, Gordon
wrote:

On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:23:29 GMT, Gordon
wrote:

Thanks to all of you for your answers and information. I am
gradually working my way through this and will probably reach a
decision pretty soon.

I'm also considering replacing my old Sony Trinitron 17 inch
monitor with a new flat screen LCD monitor. I don't have anything
specific in mind, and would welcome any recommendations. My old
Sony monitor has some screen burn-in scars that are the result of
having left a screen saver unchanged for too long. The image sort
of burned in permanently and can't be cleared away. Also, this
old monitor produces enough heat to put a load on the air
conditioning system for my office.

Maybe have a look at one of these the speakers on LCD's are junk but
if you have a good set of speakers to use instead, this monitor would
serve you just fine
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824116088

On Mon, 8 Oct 2007 16:19:49 -0700, Bill
wrote:

In article ,
says...
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon


What's your budget?

Bill

Budget limitations aren't really a problem. My wife spends more
than this on her new winter wardrobe.

Gordon

On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:23:29 GMT, Gordon
wrote:

I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon

I've reviewed all the information I have gathered and also given
some thought to replacing the box. The PC Power and Cooling Tall
Tower I have is designed for lots of floppy disk, and CD drives,
but my new system will probably not use or even be able to use
these old floppy disk drives. Maybe I should just set my old
computer aside without disassembling it, and build a new on from
the ground up. What would be a good choice for a new box,
assuming I go with the Intel MB and Core 2 Duo CPU?

Is there a workable setup that eliminates most of the cables? I
am thinking of something like a wireless keyboard and mouse, and
perhaps similar connections to my printer and scanner.

Thanks for any insights you would share with me.

Gordon

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 8 Oct 2007 16:19:49 -0700, Bill
wrote:

In article ,
says...
I have a home-built system consisting of an ASUS P2-B MB with an
Intel Pentium III 501 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM. This
computer is running Windows XP Pro. with SP 2 installed. For the
most part is works very well, but it is slow and sometimes goes
catatonic, requiring a re-boot.

I built this computer, using a PC Power and Cooling large tower
case which is still in very good condition. I would like now to
replace the MB, CPU RAM and hard drives with what ever best suits
the needs I have for this computer. It is NOT a gaming computer
at all. I use it for home office work, genealogy and for Internet
browsing, e-mail, etc. It is connected to the Internet by a 24/7
DSL service through SWBell.

My main applications are Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and image scanning,
Family Tree Maker 16 and the whole MS Office Pro group of client
software.

What MB and CPU should I consider and how much/which kind of RAM
would best work in harmony with the new system?

Also, what is the best choice as a replacement for my old
outdated 100 MB ZIP drive? Is there any new ZIP drive that will
read my old disks or will I have to transfer all this information
to what ever new drive and medium I go with?

Thanks for your insights. Gordon


What's your budget?

Bill

Budget limitations aren't really a problem. My wife spends more
than this on her new winter wardrobe.

Gordon


Ok, what is the make, model, and age of your power supply?

Figure that that may be the only piece of hardware in the computer
case that might be usable, although with an unrestricted budget I'd
get a newer one of those too.

Trashcan the Zip stuff, move the data to DVDs or thumb drives.

Two/three grand will get you a machine that will make your present
machine look like an original IBM PC for speed.

How do you feel about water cooling?

Bill