Atomic Systems

I've come to the conclusion that it's time to upgrade my processor and add more memory in order to better use MSTS and prepare for MSTS2.
Buying a new PC just isn't a cost effective option and I can't afford it anyway.

My current PC Specs are

Abit KT7/KT7-Raid Motherboard (Socket A Based)
Athalon 1.1GHz processor
46Gb Hard drive
128Mb Geforce FX graphics card
12x DVD Rom
8x CDRW
384Mb PC100/PC133 SDRAM
Creative Live Soundcard
Floppy drive
PC Case
4x USB 1/1.1 ports

Anyway, What I'm struggling to figure out are:

1. What speed processor I should go for?
2. Will I need a new motherboard? - The manual for my KT7 says it's for AMD Socket A Athalon and Duron CPU's
3. PC100/PC133 SDRAM..... I'm not sure which I have, PC100 or PC133 or whether PC100/PC133 is the same....Will I need to dump this or can it be carried over?

As far as my thinking goes, I reckon I can get away with, At most buying:

A new processor
A new motherboard
New memory

I'd appreciate any feedback.... If anyone doesn't want to admit to being a geek then they can PM me and I will keep their name to myself.

Thanks in advance.

ForburyLion wrote:I've come to the conclusion that it's time to upgrade my processor and add more memory in order to better use MSTS and prepare for MSTS2.
Buying a new PC just isn't a cost effective option and I can't afford it anyway.

My current PC Specs are

Abit KT7/KT7-Raid Motherboard (Socket A Based)
Athalon 1.1GHz processor
46Gb Hard drive
128Mb Geforce FX graphics card
12x DVD Rom
8x CDRW
384Mb PC100/PC133 SDRAM
Creative Live Soundcard
Floppy drive
PC Case
4x USB 1/1.1 ports

Anyway, What I'm struggling to figure out are:

1. What speed processor I should go for?
2. Will I need a new motherboard? - The manual for my KT7 says it's for AMD Socket A Athalon and Duron CPU's
3. PC100/PC133 SDRAM..... I'm not sure which I have, PC100 or PC133 or whether PC100/PC133 is the same....Will I need to dump this or can it be carried over?

As far as my thinking goes, I reckon I can get away with, At most buying:

A new processor
A new motherboard
New memory

I'd appreciate any feedback.... If anyone doesn't want to admit to being a geek then they can PM me and I will keep their name to myself.

Thanks in advance.

You will most likely need a new M/B, I think the only standard Athlon CPU that you can still buy is a 1.3 GHz, after that they go onto the MP and XP range.

As for your memory there are some Asrock http://www.asrock.com (Asustek) M/Bs that will take your old memory and also take DDR memory two of them being the K7VM2 & K7VT2 take a look at
http://www.pcindex.co.uk for prices and information.

Regarding CPUs - the world is your oyster! Most of the Athlon XP range will fit the above mentioned M/Bs.

If you can afford it I would recomend going for the Asus A7N8X Deluxe M/B, http://www.asus.com/products/mb/socketa ... erview.htm I bought one two months ago and fitted it with a Athlon XP 3000+ running at 2.17 GHz and 1.5GB DDR ram and it is as sweet as a bird.

If I can be of any more help - please let me iknow.

Tony.

If you are a bit wary of getting a new MB, processor, memory etc. as individual items and putting them together, you can get complete motherboard kits built and tested from Watford Electronics.

They are at:

http://www.savastore.com/watford/Default.asp

I'm sure there must be other suppliers who'll plumb everything together and deliver it ready to go if it's an option that appeals to you.

pc100 and pc133 memory is defo too slow, and sadly to get any better u will need a new M/B Bst money can buy is RD Ram, though the majority and best option is normally DDR pc2100 Ram.