old skool build for a 9 yr. old

[robAP]

background: My wife's friend at work inherited a computer from their deceased father.

requirement: they have a 9 year old son who just goes online to things like nick.com and Disney....etc. standard kid stuff. (i'm glad they have those options) and enjoys their low resource games to play online.

 

problem: the computer they inherited (of which they don't know much about the insides) is a 1998 skt. 370 celeron MMX 466mhz with 192mb memory. (2 unmatched sticks 1x128, 1x64)

the kids mom says "it's slow can you speed it up? just clear off any programs or whatever we don't need to keep anything on it." I asked, "whats slow about it? is it the programs that are slow or does it take a long time to boot up? what..." she says,"yeah, everything is slow on it..."

 

so of course i understand this talk. its slow...well do you know how old it is? i mean it runs windows 98. (a good thing in a way cause its low resource and all the updates have made it mostly locked down tight. but a bad thing in compatibility issues for anything you want to run on it.

 

so heres what i can do.

i have 4 sticks of 128 ddr100 that will work. i can put them in the 3 sockets it has, and put in a spare cd/rw i have. and hopefully that will speed it up a bit from the memory standpoint. nothings getting around the processor (the 1.3 coppermine i also have wont fit in the gen-1 370 sockets) and video but 384mb ought to let xp work if it gets installed on there (thats what they want to put on it)

 

 

im going to advise them to just go and get a dell refurb for under $200 delivered that will work into the future a bit.

cause who knows what will crap out on this thing.

but i could just appease them and do this.

 

thoughts?

Edited February 4, 2008 by robAP

[Verran]

That's probably the original install of windows from 1998, so it's had a good 10 years to degrade. I bet just blowing it away and reinstalling 98 (or 2000 would be better, if it's an option) would make a very big difference.

 

It's at least worth a shot before they sink any money into this PC or a new one.

[Andrewr05]

The fastest cpu you can put into that would be a 533, as for graphics it probably at least has PCI or maybe even 2x AGP, I'm pretty sure its not ISA.

 

I would try to convince them to just get a cheap refurb or save up for a $399 special....

[Comp Dude2]

yea, i wouldnt bother with XP it may be old () but the computer will feel better with 98

[cchalogamer]

XP on a 466 celly is going to be like Vista on an Athlon XP 2200+, painfull at best. As for what to do I say wipe it clean and do a fresh Win 98 or if you have access to it 2000 (will help compatability without the full resource hit of XP)

 

And and it's not DDR100 that you have, its PC100, skt 370 doesnt support DDR at all

 

As for video...whatever it had is bound to suck but if they need a better card to run whatever games they want it to play they'll be MUCH better spending the money on more modern used parts or a GOOD refurb prebuilt

[yatstv]

i wish i had the means to help. but i have some old parts that would fit.. i have a few sticks of 256meg pc-100, i think some pc-133 too and a old processor that might fit too.. didnt mean to tease the thought of some better parts.. just cant get them shipped. i live in the middle of nowhere.. lol

 

but good luck with the cleansing process, it was real nice of you to help those folks.

[robAP]

well i discussed it with them after fishing around and they're opting for a dell refurb at this time. i mean you can get something delivered for under $200 thatll last a good while and not be gambling that this thing will last a few years longer.

 

it was alot of fun tho poking around this thing. like a trip down memory lane. i was into computers in mid to late 90;s then fell out of them cause of no money, then back into them again 5 years later. but you know what. its amazing how much changes in 10 years, 466mhz stock to 3500mhz stock.

 

hmm i wonder if i run superpi on it and a few light benchies we can get a nice comparo to how things have improved :>

even the drive is gonna get a test. (the hd, not the 40x cd-rom)