Can I remove these?

smarteyeball · 20 Mar 2010

No worries mate.

You should have no problems in replacing the HDD. That motherboard has two SATA connectors. *NB SATA II is backwards compatible with SATA I which I believe your board is. (This means that new HDD's will still work with your PC )

For the video card, it will need to be a AGP x4/x8 card and NOT a PCI-E card. (for example) :
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Video Cards & Video Devices,Desktop Graphics / Video Cards,AGP 4X/8X

As for the memory, apparently that board can technically take a maximum of 2GB (2x1GB) , but some models are limited to a maximum of 1GB. Unfortunately it appears as if your board falls into that category:

Maximum allowed 1.0 GB (2 X 512 MB)

stormy13 · 20 Mar 2010

Just going to weigh in here to say that any money spent on upgrades other than a hard drive is wasted, and would be better put towards a new computer. A new hard drive can be moved to a new computer, anything else you add to it (ram, video card, etc) is wasted and cannot be moved to a new computer.

cgrim29588 · 21 Mar 2010

smarteyeball- Yeah the HDD would be easy, but do I really need to upgrade the two SATA connectors? Thanks for the video card suggestion. Can I get by just using 1GB of memory?

stormy13- I haven't had this PC long, so why would I go out a buy a new one?

stormy13 · 21 Mar 2010

You may not have had it long, but to tell the truth that computer with what is in it (all 5+ year old tech) just isn't worth upgrading. To try and put it in perspective if the motherboard in it can take up to 2 GB of ram and not the 1 GB shown in the specs, the cheapest ram here (2x1 GB),

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Memory,Desktop Memory,184-Pin DDR SDRAM,2GB (2 x 1GB)

would be more than the entire computer is worth.

cgrim29588 · 21 Mar 2010

So you still suggest I buy a new computer?

stormy13 · 21 Mar 2010

Yes. Another way of looking at it, the CPU that is in it (not too mention the antiquated VIA chipset). Your computer has the old Socket A in it which is now 5 generations old (and the type of memory used by each),

Socket A (DDR)-> Socket 745 (DDR) -> Socket 939 (DDR) -> Socket AM2 (DDR2)-> Socket AM2+ (DDR2)-> Socket AM3 (DDR3)

As I said any money put into new ram and/or a video card is going to end being more than the computer is worth, and neither of them would be able to be moved over if/when you do get a new computer (nothing made today uses DDR or AGP and haven't for a few years).

smarteyeball · 21 Mar 2010

cgrim29588 said:

smarteyeball- Yeah the HDD would be easy, but do I really need to upgrade the two SATA connectors? Thanks for the video card suggestion.

No, you don't need to upgrade the Sata connectors. According to the specs, that motherboard has two Sata connectors which means you can connect two sata devices - ie 2 hard drives, or 1 HDD and sata DVD burner etc.

At any rate, sata connectors aren't upgradeable. I mentioned Sata II as 97% of new devices will state they are Sata II. I was just pointing out that they will still work with your current motherboard.

Can I get by just using 1GB of memory?

Yes. It won't leave a lot of overhead room for many apps, but it will still run okay.

I haven't had this PC long, so why would I go out a buy a new one?

While you are scraping the spec limits for smooth and comfortable operation, it really depends on what you plan to use the PC for.

If it's mainly for just internet browsing and Word processing etc, then your machine should be sufficient. However, if you plan to do some more intensive tasks, then a newer machine would be better for smoother usage.

Buying a new hard Drive is not a waste, because if you do decide to buy a new PC down the track, it can swapped over and put in the new machine.

However an AGP card will be a one-off since the technology it is very long in the tooth technology wise and will not be re-usable if you decide to go for a new computer. Realistically, this will be the only 'waste of money' so to speak.

It basically comes down to need vs budget.

If your usage needs for the machine are frugal, then spending between $100-$150 for a new HDD and card may be a better proposition than forking out several hundred for a new PC that you don't need.

If your usage needs do exceed what you currently have, then aside from the cost of a new PC, the only real loss is the money spent on the video card.

unifex · 21 Mar 2010

I usually refrain from giving purchasing advice, since I don't know neither your needs, nor your situation, but in this case, since you have just bought Windows 7 and are planning to buy a hard drive and a video card for the PC with the stated specs, my suggestion would be to look at the Dell website. The Inspiron 560 starts at 269 bucks. Sure, if you pay exactly this amount you'd get the most basic model in their line-up, but ... this would be light-years ahead of what you have just now, even with the planned upgrade.

To give you an example, I have an old PC myself, bought it in 2000, Pentium III, 500 MB memory and so on. Still works fine, once I have bought a second hard drive for it, and once one of the hard drives died, I had to buy a replacement. But guess what? It runs Windows 2000. I know what I am using it for, it's good for its purpose, good enough for web surfing and text writing, and so I keep it running. I would never spend any money to upgrade though, neither hardware, nor Windows. It would make no sense to me. For more complicated tasks I have a newer PC, which I bought a couple of years ago, this now runs Windows 7 (bought it with Vista - the first and the last time I upgraded the OS, actually not quite upgraded, I dual-boot, so Vista is still there). Neither of my PCs were top of the line at the time of purchase, but they do what they are supposed to and that's what matters to me.

Just wanted to provide a little perspective, hope this helps.

cgrim29588 · 21 Mar 2010

Thanks for the advice both of you.

Greg S · 21 Mar 2010

LilDomii said:

A hard drive the capacity of around 40 gbs (and under) is not recommended, .

Works for me, faster and smoother than XP.