Determining Motherboard Socket type and tower needs

[Mandi]

I want to upgrade the motherboard and processor for an ancient machine we presently have (a 1995 Zeos Pentium 100 mHz.) I've done a lot of reading and window shopping, but am getting confused on two points:

- how does one determine the socket type required on a motherboard?

- how is case type determined, relative to the motherboard you decide upon? I have a feeling I may need a new case - the present one is tall enough to develop condos in the empty space LOL.

....basically, I just want to give it enough juice to run Win2K Pro (Microsoft.com lists the minimum requirements as Pentium 133, but that seems a lame upgrade for the effort involved, LOL.) The machine will also run MS Word and Publisher, basic internet apps., and a few games like Civilization, Sim City, that sort of thing. Nothing super high end, definately. What can I get away with there?

What would be the determining factor for minimums if I upgraded to DVD and CD-RW too? I'm thinking the burner isn't a big deal processor-prowess wise, but DVD is a whole 'nother ballgame.

[Randall]

I don't think it's going to be worth it.

My own experience is that Win2K isn't worth running on anything less than a Pentium II, so you're looking at a new motherboard. And since the form factor changed from AT to ATX in between, you would need a new case as well.

I've done this for my father -- took his old hard drive, CD-ROM, floppy and RAM and moved them into a Pentium-II/350. I think it was about $150 for the parts, but the case was cheap and ugly. Unless you want to build something from scratch, you're better off getting a new PC.

CD-RW is doable with a P-II, but I think DVD would be kind of iffy.

Randall

[dank]

I agree with Randall. You can buy a new computer nowadays for not much more than renovating an old one, or you could go the used route for very cheap. Modest Dell refurbs can be had for $200-300, I believe:

http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=30734292

(as opposed to Dell's outlet store which always seems more expensive then the current special on new systems)

Dan

[Randall]

(as opposed to Dell's outlet store which always seems more expensive then the current special on new systems)

With the promotion going on right now, I see some pretty good deals at the outlet store, like this one:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/Dispatcher...ceTag=DDCA5T9F

Not bad for a system with a DVD burner.

Randall

[dank]

That's pretty good -- better than most outlet items I've seen -- but compared to the system I just bought new for $40 more, it's 2 models lower on the totem pole, 0.4ghz slower processor, slightly slower RAM, probably less video RAM (no mention), and pretty similar on the rest of the stuff. For a non-new system, that's a fairly big tradeoff to get a DVD burner for nearly the same price...

Dan

[sheila]

Originally posted by Mandi:
The machine will also run MS Word and Publisher, basic internet apps., and a few games like Civilization, Sim City, that sort of thing. Nothing super high end, definately. What can I get away with there?

Be sure to verify that the games you are planning to run will work under Win2K. When we got our kids a Win2K machine a couple of years back, it turned out that a number of games they wanted to play would not run under Win2K. If the games are older games, it is even more likely they will not run under Win2k.

Just want to save you from the griping of children that I have personally had to listen to. Course, a couple years later, and I don't get it TOOO often. My son does run a couple of games that require administrator privileges to work properly, so I have to enter the admin pass for him when he boots those games up. (The kids have no access to admin account.)

[Mandi]

Excellent points. No, these are more games that presently WON'T run on her ancient Win98 P100, and so she monopolizes Dad's faster P4 machine, and the shared office space where we, ya know, try to WORK . . .

[Mandi]

I just wanted to follow up on the advice given here . . . and say that for the first time ever (no, really!) I decided NOT to Do As Advised By Our Esteemed Community Members.

I did rebuild the system, and I am REALLY HAPPY with how it turned out. It is worth noting, for anyone eyeing their clunkers, that it took me the better part of Saturday, Sunday, and today - but I was working with a steep learning curve inside the case.

For example, as noted by my Installing Hard Drive thread, I didn't realize cables are verrrry particular about which direction they are installed (hint: one edge is BRIGHT RED.)

Kiddo now has a (used) PII 266 motherboard, which came with its processor and chipset. It even had a newer video card than the old machine thrown in, which was a surprise. I got that for a song. I bought a new 40 gig HDD, mostly because used drives that size were the same price as new w/ rebates/markdowns - about $40 after rebate. System previously had a futzy 3.2gig drive, and the original 1.2 gig HD. (I remember several people drooling over that "big" drive when we got it, too !!) The new (to us) MB also had 48 MB RAM onboard, but I pulled it in favor of the 80 MB in the old machine (after carefully checking that it was the same kind.)

I was happy to discover SCSI slots too, as our best machine doesn't sport any - and I have an old scanner that I occasionally NEED, but can't hang off the P4 desktop.

As noted above, I also needed a new case to fit the updated MB architecture. It was my first experience with a naked case;I thought it was really fun to set it up from scratch. It has a 400 watt power source, which is probably wayyyy overkill for this system - but that's what they come with now. I'm not happy with how the case protects the various cards - no clip or screws, just a chase-around that keeps them from getting bumped. Not the most securely seated situation, but it's my only complaint about the case.

Let's see, other things . . . I found out *after* booting up (and much teeth gnashing) that the BIOS did not support a hard drive larger than 32 MB, something I couldn't have known earlier (and if there is a way to know this - on a used drive - someone please say so!!) Fortunately, Maxtor provides a "might work" workaround, and it did. It involves an extra jumper on the drive, plus lying to the BIOS. I didn't *have* an extra jumper, so I hopped in the car last night and drove about 25 minutes to the closest CompUSA, just before closing. The service desk gave me one free - just thought I'd put that little plug in there, since they were so decent about it.

I put the old 1.2 gig HD in as a slave, just for backing up data files during rebuilds and the like. She could use it for a music server too, I guess.

Oh, I ended up needing a new keyboard, I decided to quit running the old style (what was that called? Before P/S 2 style?) via a serial port adapter. It has "quick buttons" for several functions which I think is sorta , but my daughter thinks is cool (which is all that matters.)

The *only* issue is the network card, which gets its own thread and is likely actually a HOUSE issue LOL . . . so I'm a happy camper . . . not to mention that the spousal unit will be getting his machine back too!!

Now I just need a proprietary sticker for the case that says "E-ma computers" LOLOL! (I-ma is Hebrew for "mama" and what my kids call me . . . a little play on words.)

[Randall]

Well, we never said it wasn't going to work, just that it might be more trouble than you wanted to go through. But I guess you Alaska people are tougher than that.

Randall

[Andilinks]

so I'm a happy camper

I am very happy to hear this and this success story makes it much more likely that when I get back to my main workspace (in California) I'll be equipping a workbench there...

Space is just too limited here though, I think you need room to spread out for this kind of work.

Andi