Upgrading my pc with ebay

noskas16 said:

At the begining i want to say: dont say that this computer is too old to be upgraded, i want to use this computer at least 1more year.

Now my pc is:
Biostart P4m80-m4 Mother
Intel Pentium 4 1.6@1.8ghz CPU
Kingston 2x512mb DDR 200@230mhz RAM
WD 320gb 7200rpm IDE HDD
nVidia Geforece FX5200 128mb DDR 230mhz GPU
F3ll 400w power supply

After Ebay upgrading it would be:
Biostar P4m80-m4 Mother
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz HT CPU (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220625659196)
Kingston 2x512mb DDR 200mhz RAM
nVidia Geforce 7600GT 256m GPU (http://cgi.ebay.com/XFX-GeForce-7600-GT-AGP-VIDEO-CARD-USED-EXCELLENT-/300439541611?cmd=ViewItem&pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item45f397976b)
F3ll 400w power supply

Questions:
a) After i upgrade my system, could i use Windows7 Home Premium without any problems?
b) Maybe you know better ways to upgrade my pc (for ex. maybe you know better cpu's in ebay, pls post the link)

By the way, i have 51dolars to spend :/
Thanks.

You might have a bit of a struggle with Aero (but still a winnable one) and it wouldn't be the speediest of machines, the RAM is pushing it but is acceptable for Windows 7.

I would prefer to run Window 7 a little more comfortably than this and the only thing that really does put doubt in my mind is the processor but only because I'm not trusting of Pentium processors, but as long as it's in your budget it should be fine.

I also hope you appreciate that replacing a CPU is a fairly difficult procedure and may take a while.

Don't go on my opinion alone, wait for someone else.

Oli

PS eBay isn't the best place to buy electronics due to the nature of second hand parts as well as bad descriptions and full on rip offs, I'm not saying that you shouldn't use eBay, I'm just saying be wary.

So, If I read this correctly you are going to upgrade your CPU from a 1.8Ghz Pentium 4 to a 2.8Ghz Pentium 4, increase ram from 1GB to 2GB and move up to a 7600GT video card? That should run Win7 alright. I've run aero with these cards and they work just fine.

Well your board Biostar USA can support 2G of ram, so I would upgrade that next down the road too. 1G should work, but you might hit the limit quickly.

Also this is the list of your supported CPU's: Biostar USA

Edit: I don't see your mobo's CPU listing in above link. You might need to contact BioStar to see what your board can use.

make sure the one you are planning on buying is supported. and look at the BIOS version listed next to it in list to see if you need to upgrade BIOS. Also you might need to upgrade BIOS for Win7 install, but I don't know if it will be required. Its good to have on hand prior to install Just in case: Biostar USA

if you going to get a P4 make sure its a northwood !!!!!!

It's not so important that you want to use the machine for another year; what's important is what do you want to use the machine for?

If it's for doing everything you're doing currently, with no change in software (games or otherwise), and you want a minor speed bump, then yes, it will work out just fine... as long as you stick with 32-bit 7. However, if it's your intention to play modern games, I think you may be disappointed with the expenditure?

Ideally, you'd like to get as much RAM as is possible. 4GB would be best, even if you're going to run 32-bit (3.2GB in dual channel is still better than 2GB), and you may want to get a stronger card to offset the cpu; which while better than the one you've got, is still aged.