Upgrading a really really old computer please help!

[Darryl_D]

okay guys i have this ol hp lying around and i wanna upgrade it.... The thing is though taht since hp merged with gaypaq (i mean compaq) i can't find ziltch on my computer... (its an hp vectra not quite sure of exact model number and too lazy to go look ) umm from what i gather its running a slot 1 pentium 3 (500mhz if i remember correctly) and has RDRAM....
has anyone here ever seen a chipset like this? I've tried looking but i could not find anything.... i basically wanna upgrade its video card processor and ram....

Also the weird thing about teh RDRAM is that its not in pairs... all it has is one stick of 128mb and one crimm module... i was a bit confused by this... i mean doesn't RDRAM need to be installed in pairs?

this morning i tried putting in my old geforce 2 mx200 and it dfidn't boot up with it... my bro told me that it can't take anything higher than a 16mb video card.... (he bought it off ebay a while ago)... So anyone know of a good card i can get to put in it?

Now here's my other question.... regarding the cpu i have 2 options....
buy a 1ghz slot 1 cpu from googlegear for about 270 dollars! which i'm just not ready to do.... or i can get a slot to socket converter.... umm i looked up on ebay and i found this particular one that looked promising... here is the link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3421807177&category=16180
it says that teh supported buses are 66mhz.. 100mhz.. and 133mhz... i'm not sure if the motherboard supports those bus settings... does it matter? does the motherboard also have to support it or does the converter supporting it enough?

basically i want to know this....
has anyone heard of a chipset that had rdram and slot 1?
do you think the converter will work on the computer?
any reccomendations for a good 16mb video card would be appreciated also...

 

[NiTrO bOiE]

RDRAM didn't come out until the Pentium 4. So no, you won't find a board with slot 1 and RD RAM.

 

[ptwearnhardtfan]

For the money your gonna spend, I would just start from scratch or gut that sucker and put in some new components. It makes no sense to stay with that old style when you can put in new stuff for cheaper.

 

[Darryl_D]

ya i told my bro to scrap the old computer and start from scratch, but he doesn't want to... i don't know why...

Nitroboy umm sorry but RDRAM did come out before the p4... ummm one word i820

 

[Z_oc]

Darryl_D is right - RDRAM first debuted with the i820 chipset. It was mighty expensive at that time...

For supporting 133 FSB, u'r motherboard needs to support it also; only the Slotket adapter supporting it wont work.

Being an i820 chipset, it should support 133 MHz FSB. But does u'r BIOS support newer CPUs?

For a VGA card, u might try out with a TNT2 card.

In all honesty, investing in this PC may not be a good idea.

If u want to save money, then there are better options...

 

[craigiz1]

Leave that one the way it is and get it started crunching SETI.

Build a new one and get it started crunching SETI also.

You would really be WASTING money trying to upgrade that machine when you could put that money toward a machine that would blow the other away for just a very little bit more. If you really had to, you probably could use a few part's from it to save money, like the hard drive, cd-rom, floppy, cooling fan's and MAYBE the psu.

 

[TimWest]

Put together a nForce2 IPG system ( Built in everything ) with a Barton 2500+ and 512DDR and save time, money and heart ache trying to upgrade that system. Take the floppy and keyboard, if you really feel the need to call it an upgrade.

CPU $90, MB $100, Memory $72, Total $262....just add case and HD, that should take you too about $400

 

[gamefoo21]

invest in a faster cpu if your going to use it for seti or folding

excuse me but why do amd fanatics float around over here trying to tempt intel users to amd? i mean its getting annoying reading a post that someone is asking for help with a older system or even a newer one. and there is some ati fanboy telling them to switch over. sorry for my griping but it is getting old.

Oh and back on topic.

it would appear that slotkit adapter is using the universal socket so it can probably mount Tualitions in it. also the slotkit doesn't support fsb's as such it just sets which one you want it to default to you can uc a 133 cpu to 100 if the mobo is a real non upgrader. Also i have read that the mobo doesn't need to ID the chip properly for it to run. eg a cele 1200 being id as a p3 305 don't ask but its what i read.

 

[dustybyrd]

you could get a board that will support intel tualatin processors for $30-$50 (Soyo TISU is one---I have it see sig) or $30 for used tualatin boards or cheaper boards...

then get a $40 1.0-1.4ghz Tualatin Celeron with 256k of on die cache...

if you get an overclockable board then you can hit 1.5-1.7 ghz and that will be about as fast as a p4 2.0-2.2ghz system...

then you sell the p3 500 on ebay for $30-50 and the board for maybe $20-30....free upgrade almost...

you can also check if that motherboard supports the SLOT-T convertor that will allow you to run a Tualatin 1.Xghz on that board:

www.upgradeware.com

 

[FIZZ3]

The reason why the RDRAM is not installed in pairs is that the chipset is a single channel design, unlike the newer P4 chipsets that are much more common today.

 

[Steven4563]

go go go to AMD lol na im jokin if u like intel go with them but u would get the same kinda system for less money with amd

 

[Zuzzz]

ok JUST for THE record. . . that slot 1 system will support 100mhz FSB this being said as long as you have the latest BIOS and a Slot-T converter you SHOULD be able to run a tualatin core CPU. somewhere around 1.5 ghz or so. and that 'upgrade' would cost a total about 110 dollars US. and please note: I am using just such an adapter on an OLD BH6 mo board(440BX chipset). . installed a 1.2 tualatin core and with a lil 'overclocking' gets this puppy to 1524 mhz with air cooling and stock HS/FU. . . . good luck and enjoy


Zuzzzzzzzzzzzzzz