RadTech7

Here are my computer specs:
Sony Vaio PCV-RX682 (Old dog, I know)
Mobo - Asus P4B266-LM (OEM to Sony) ATX
Bios - upgraded to revision 1004 (latest I can find)
Chipset - Intel Brookdale i845D
CPU - Intel Pentium 4 2.2Ghz sSpec # SL68S
PSU - OEM 280 watts; part # 1-468-601-14
RAM - (2) 512Mb DDR SDRAM PC2100 (133Mhz)
GPU - Geforce2 Ti AGP card

I did some searching on the net to see if I could improve my system and I found a post on another forum where an owner of a Sony Vaio with the same Mobo, chipset, and bios that I have claims to have successfully upgraded his CPU to an Intel P4 3.06Ghz @ 533Mhz which he confirmed this speed with Sandra Lite's processor benchmark and AquaMark3. (his initial CPU upgrade was different, but he makes this claim at the end of the post).

On this website I saw that my CPU is using about 56 watts and the new one would consume 82 watts. Is this going to create to much demand for my wimpy PSU assuming it's even possible? He says he's using another PSU dedicated to his GPU?? I found the CPU new on Ebay for $140 which includes shipping. I'm hoping if this works it will enable me to use 400Mhz ram, which I found for $34.80 for 1 Gb (2 512's). Is all this even worth $175? Thanks in advance for any help!

linderman

youre going to be playing the game of hit & miss BIGTIME

A) it really depends if the latest bios from sony will support the 3.06 ghz northwood cpu ?

no ... it wont run the memory at 400mhz because the cpu is only capable of 533mhz which is PC 2700

that upgraded cpu will "use" PC3200 memory / which is DDR400 but it will down grade to the speeds of PC2700 which is 266mhz FSB

hope this helps


IMHO you are really overdue to start making a savings account for a new system >>>>> start with that $175.00 you are about to WASTE

RadTech7

Thanks a lot, pretty much confirmed my doubts - just wishing I could have a new system for under $200!!

linderman

thats wishful thinking and foolish spending


instead you "should" be rejoicing" at having NOT spent money on the three generations of systems that you didnt spend money on ?????? where does your complaint lie now ????

RadTech7

Yeah, I think I've milked my setup for quite a long while. Thing is though, I'm a student in college, this computer is a hand-me down from my parents and I have little cash flow. This computer gets what I have to do done, but some more speed would be real nice. Another year and I'll graduate and find employment, then I can afford the latest and greatest!!

Pharaohz

If your going to be forced to use it and dont see the big jump to a new system anytime soon, then spend a couple hundred and upgrade. But I wouldnt upgrade what you have. You can get a new mobo with 800fsb and a cpu to match it along with some 3200 ram for 150.00 used off of ebay. Though I can not stress enough on being careful of not only what you are buying but from whom. A chop shop ebay store with a few thousand feedback and a 30 day refund for doa is a must. I was of the 533fsb class and tried a new cpu (3.06) and i didnt have the needed bios for it. I tried to upgrade it, failed and toasted my board. So I decided to move upto 800fsb and this is what I got for how much. (Including shipping)

GIGABYTE GA-8IK1100 800fsb DUAL DDR400 SOCKET 478 = 100.00 (alil spendy but I liked this board for and all the goodies on it.)

Intel P4 3.0GHz/800fsb/1M cashe HT Socket 478 CPU Never Used = 58.00 (could of gone faster but the almost new caught my eye.) (Sold old one 2.4ghz/512/533fsb for 5.50)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM from Newegg = 59.00 (free shipping. 2.64 for a 20" cable) = 60.64

Asus Neptune P4 AH7 CPU Fan For Socket 478 - NEW = 18.80

Kingston PC3200 4 gigs of ram = 117.00 (planned on selling 2 sticks back on ebay for about 70.00 So total could be as low as 47.00) (Sold old ram 4x512 2700 for 34.99 really only spent 12.00 for 2 gigs)

New Sealed Ultra V Series 500 Watt ATX Power Supply = 25.49 (Not a great psu but I got it to test my 400 watt. I sold the 400 watt back on ebay for 10.00 So the total is = 15.49)

Was able to keep my Video Card, Sound Card and Networking Card which didnt need to be upgraded.

Total Spent: 369.93 (after resales not including the selling of 2 of the 4 gigs of 3200 is a total of: 329.44 (259.44 if I resell 2 of the 4 sticks of 3200)

I didnt need a new hard drive but I can carry that over to a new system later if I want. I might of gotten away with my old heat sink but the new cpu is bound to run hotter. Better to be safe then sorry. This new fan rans at 5700 rpm. Noise isnt an issue for me cause I use headphones all the time.

So if you cant afford the price of the new systems. For me the system I want is around 1500.00 I have a new piece of property that is still in need of a pump for the well, fencing, tilling and planting. I simply can not afford a new system. I can how ever afford 300.00 for a great upgrade. :) Hope this opens up some options for you. Good luck

RadTech7

Hey Pharaohz, thanks for your post. After reading it this morning I thought your idea was worth looking into, so I spent some time working on my budget & seeing what's available on the web. I think I might get this to work if I can solve some minor problems (I have to figure out how to use my current Sony case, despite it's crazy PSU placement & other minor issues it creates), but I definitely was able to find some similar gear to what you bought at some great prices.

I found a "newly pulled" Intel P4 3.00GHz 800MHz SL6WK 478 that comes with a one year warranty on Ebay from a reliable seller for only $37.95, and that includes the shipping. He says that it is an OEM chip - is this a good deal - seems awful cheap? It also does not include a heatsink, but they seem to be relatively easy to come by.

Gigabyte GA-8IG1000MK 865G "new" on ebay for $90 total
(I'm assuming I can connect my old 3.5" IDE drives and my old DVD drives - (ATAPI ATA/ATAPI-5) to this mobo?

2GB PC3200 Ram $59
NEW Chiefmax 650 Watt ATX Power Supply $30 total on Ebay
GeForce FX 5200 128MB 8x AGP For $32 (not a monster but I'm ok with that)

All that comes to $250 - so all I need to scrape up is another $75, and figure out how to rig the PSU to pull it off!

Pharaohz

:) cool to hear. First off the case... Sony, Dell, Gateway... all have their cases made to fit just their OEM stuff and you can tell by the psu in your case. It may also only fit that single motherboard.
Ebay is not the place to look for a case thats for sure. I looked on www.newegg.com and they have a bunch of 30.00 (including shipping) cases. You might even try to look in the 25-50 $ for one with a good psu already in it. Doing that would save a lil bit on shipping maybe.

Took a look at that motherboard on the gigabyte site. (great place for any info you need on any model board. Cpu support lists as well for each board) Here is a link:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...d/Default.aspx

I would wait for a bigger board to come up. Thats a mirco atx with only 3 pci slots. A good video card with a fan will make it so you cant use the pci slot right next to the agp slot. So that only leaves you with two pci slots. I checked ebay and found some good boards: (Your old hard drives and dvd will work just fine in any 478 socket board.)

Gigabyte Motherboard w/Intel 865PE Chipset & P4 3.20CPU
GA-8IPE1000 Motherboard & Pent 4 3.20E GHz 800FSB Item number: 260258524737 (great cpu and only going for 50 with 13 hours left. buy low feedback and no refund listed) Often times you have to ask them if they have a refund time. Save the message for proof later on if needed.
The board you have listed is from someone with low feedback numbers and it comes with no box or paperwork. If its new then how was it stored and why no box? And no refund policy listed.
Heres a combo but again, low feedback and no refund listed.
Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 Motherboard & 3Ghz P4 COMBO
COMBO with 3Ghz Prescott P4 Processor Item number: 330248823039 (great board by the way)
GIGABYTE GA-8IK1100 DUAL DDR400 SOCKET 478 SEND BY EMS
1GB Kingston Flash Drive+Free insurance+30 day Warranty Item number: 250266203235
This is the seller I got my board from. I sent a message asking if they would take 75.00 for the board and 25.00 for shipping including insurance and he wrote back sure but it would not include the jump drive or cords. I said cool. Good feedback and 30 day refund. But you get the idea of it.

Here is a link to the info on that cpu. This is a great site also. In yahoo.com just type in the 5 digit model code then spec (ie SL6WK specs) and this will be the second hit.
http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SL6WK.html Its a good cpu (Northwood). Max would be 3.2ghz on most of the 478 socket boards. I went with a hotter running Prescott for the 1m cashe instead of the 512. Personal choice. Northwoods are much easier to cool.

Now for your video card. You can do soooooo much better. Here are some links:

From Newegg.com listed under: Video Cards/AGP/25-50 $

Double Lifetime Warranty ((42.99+6.99 shipping))
XFX PVT44AWANG GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
PixelPipelines: 4
DirectX: DirectX 9
OpenGL: OpenGL 1.5
D-SUB: 1
DVI: 1
TV-Out: S-Video Out
RAMDAC: 400 MHz
Model #: PVT44AWANG
Item #: N82E16814150107
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

Double Lifetime Warranty ((49.99+6.99 shipping))
XFX PVT44AYAJG GeForce 6200 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 350MHz
PixelPipelines: 4
Memory Clock: 533MHz
DirectX: DirectX 9
OpenGL: OpenGL 1.5
D-SUB: 1
DVI: 1
Model #: PVT44AYAJG
Item #: N82E16814150269
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

35.99 + 6.99 shipping ((128 bit)) nice and cheap
XFX PVT34KUAHG GeForce FX 5200 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 250MHz
PixelPipelines: 4
Memory Clock: 333MHz
DirectX: DirectX 9
OpenGL: OpenGL
D-SUB: 1
DVI: 1
Model #: PVT34KUAHG
Item #: N82E16814150239
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

Id pick this last one I think. It has 128 bit over the other two with only 64bit.

But check out those combos listed for cpu and mobo. It might be worth a message to em to see about a refund if doa. Let me know what ya thing and how things turn out. :)

OH almost forgot. In order to take advantage of mobo options like Hyper threading and dual channel, the ram must match. Dont buy no name generic brands either. A Kingston/corsair value twin pack is perfect for these kinda builds.

OH and almost forgot this too. If you have the OEM operation system disk and thing to use it for a new build, I think you will find it will not work. Its writen on those disks to search for the OEM bios and if it doesnt find it it will tell you "Thats not a Sony machine and will not install"

Good luck

Pharaohz

Here is a pic of the case I use. IMO its one of the best desinged cases ever. Its an Antec ATX full tower server case :)

Has 2 inlet fans in the front infront of the hard drives. Helps keep them cool. Air filter in front of them to keep out the big dust balls. Two outlet fans in the back. Drive base are quick release. But what I like best is the strangth. You couldnt not bend any part of this with your hands unless you really tried to. Locking quick open side panel. Locking front door. Though that door is plastic. Easy to hook up cables. But these will set ya back about 100.00.

Attached Images

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