PC hardware noob wants to upgrade PC

[belovedmonster]

I've got an old PC I'd like to upgrade the CPU and graphics card but I have no idea what components this computer will take.

My mother board is:
MSI MS-6712

My CPU is:
Althon XP 2200+ 1.8GHz

My Graphics is:
nVidea GeForce4 4400

If anyone can tell me what specs I should be looking at when browsing parts (what CPU slot type and graphics card connector and such like) I would very much appreciate it.

[bani-banan]

The first thing is; What do you want to run on that thing?

How much money do you have to spend?

[xcorvis]

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=505#

That gives you most of the info you need. Your motherboard supports Socket A, up to an Athlon XP 2800+ processor and has an AGP slot. That's old hardware.

AGP cards are getting rare. Here are a bunch:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609639
Newegg doesn't even have Athlon XP processors. I'm sure you can find them, but is it worth it?

Seriously tho, instead of running around trying to find this stuff and upgrading your old system to the point where it can run 3 year old games, you'd be better off by spending $500 or so and building a fully modern Ars Technica Budget Box (http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200809.ars/2).

[belovedmonster]

Thanks for the links.

I have no intention of playing games or anything like that. I was just hoping to bump the PCs specs as high as they can go while the parts are still fairly easy to find (but hopefully old enough that they are dirt cheap). My plan is to stick Linux on the machine and continue using it basic web browsing for many years to come.

[computoman]

Thanks for the links.

I have no intention of playing games or anything like that. I was just hoping to bump the PCs specs as high as they can go while the parts are still fairly easy to find (but hopefully old enough that they are dirt cheap). My plan is to stick Linux on the machine and continue using it basic web browsing for many years to come.

I run an amd 1.5 with linux and it s perfect for web browsing plus a lot more. Save your money for a super duper new machine. If you have to have new hardware, keep it use the existing system as a server and get a new machine. There is so much competition out their right now it is almost cheaper to get a new machine that to upgrade.

[belovedmonster]

My current graphics card no longer supports 3D acceleration with the new versions of x.org. Primarily I'm looking to upgrade that so I'm not stuck using an old distro for years to come. If I can get a slightly faster CPU then great, but it's mostly graphics I'm looking at. I want to future proof the box for Linux.

[marcos_tfd]

My current graphics card no longer supports 3D acceleration with the new versions of x.org. Primarily I'm looking to upgrade that so I'm not stuck using an old distro for years to come. If I can get a slightly faster CPU then great, but it's mostly graphics I'm looking at. I want to future proof the box for Linux.

You can get 3D acceleration working on your system with your current card, there is no need to upgrade your card. If your box works great under Linux then it is future proof, simple as that. Use the beta driver found here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122139
It was released 3 days ago and it works great with my Nvidia GeForce4 card.

Post how it goes....

Marcos

[jdhore]

You can get 3D acceleration working on your system with your current card, there is no need to upgrade your card. If your box works great under Linux then it is future proof, simple as that. Use the beta driver found here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122139
It was released 3 days ago and it works great with my Nvidia GeForce4 card.

Post how it goes....

Marcos

Or don't run:
1. The latest version of Ubuntu (8.04 works fine for any use)
2. Ubuntu at all cuz it's far from good.

[marcos_tfd]

Or don't run:
1. The latest version of Ubuntu (8.04 works fine for any use)
2. Ubuntu at all cuz it's far from good.

Where did you read Ubuntu? The poster never mentioned anything about Ubuntu. However, if we are going to assume that they are running Ubuntu then it should be said that upgrading to 8.10 and going through the process that I described will have the card working, there is no need to stay at 8.04.
I am going to stop there now and not debate which Linux distro is better because I have other things to do.

marcos
happily running Ubuntu 8.10

[belovedmonster]

You can get 3D acceleration working on your system with your current card, there is no need to upgrade your card. If your box works great under Linux then it is future proof, simple as that. Use the beta driver found here: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122139
It was released 3 days ago and it works great with my Nvidia GeForce4 card.

Post how it goes....

Marcos

Is this an official driver? Will it be long before it is no longer beta?

[marcos_tfd]

Is this an official driver? Will it be long before it is no longer beta?

Yes it is an official driver and no I do not know when it will be out of beta. I have been using since it came out and have not run into any problems.

marcos