I have a quick questions to all the geeks out there. I know this PC isn't the top of the line...seeing it's almost 4 1/2 years old now. I done a few upgrades in the past few years, nothing huge. It just don't seem to be fast enough anymore. Could I just change the CPU or do I have to change the whole motherboard?

I got
(2) 40 gig HHD
thats all I need for now...(I save a lot to dvd's)
So far the motherboard is a AMD and I am more than pleased with it..so I would like to get another.

So what do you all think?

Please do not focus first on the motherboard or processor.

There is a good chance that your machine is memory bound, and if you have begun using more graphics intensive programs, it may be slowed by a weak graphics processor.

What specs do you have for your processor, memory, and graphics processor?

While not likely to have significance to your machines speed, you running XP SP1, or SP2?

What are these "few upgrades - nothing significant" you refer to?

It is likely that a processor upgrade for your machine would be available - MBoard upgrades would be recommended by me only in extremely unusual situations - other opinions may differ.

Hi, based on little more info with your PM to me, I would consider at least upgrading your AMD duron.

If you are just sticking to browsing internet/word processing.. then upgrading is not necessary.
The ECS K7S5A mobo and AMD Duron are pretty dated. However, your board does support up to Athlon XP2600+ CPU. (The CPU is cheap and discontinued, but hopefully you can find one!)

However, if you want to do more CPU/ graphic intensive stuff in future, then consider upgrading CPU, mobo and RAm. The problem is if you want to run newer/latest apps and games, the min. specs are much more demanding so you will be quite limited. If money is a factor, I would suggest at least upgrading to Athlon Xp 2600+ to max out the board along with at least 512MB of DDR200/266 RAM. (1 gIG is max)

This is only a general recommendation. Didn't say how much video RAm or what type of video card you have. Please provide more specs of your machine and we will be happy to give you more advice.

Where would I find the info?

I think I found the video card...Rage 128 Pro (5046). is that it?
As for ram I have 512MB.

You may use:

PC Wizard 2007.1.72
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.cpuid.org/download/pcw2007_v172.exe

Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
http://www.belarc.com/Programs/advisor.exe

WinAudit Freeware 2.17
http://www.pxserver.com/WinAudit.htm
http://www.psdu506.demon.co.uk/WinAudit.exe

Thanks euromix...I'll give the first one a try when I get a bit of free time. Maybe some night after my little fella goes to bed.

I've been talking to a guy that will sell me a motherboard and cpu together...this is the msg I got from him. Is this a good deal or not?



Whats your input?