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I’m at a crossroad in terms of my computer’s future. Now that I’ve discovered the cause of the breakdown, I need to make a decision. Do I try to fix the problem or do I write off the computer and start from scratch with a full upgrade? Decisions decisions.

“you got a brandspanking new monitor, and a new graphics card and an old everything else.. how hard would it be to put together something that is the same ‘level’ as the monitor and the graphics card?”
- Navin -

That is a very good point that Navin brought up the other day. An upgrade would involve changing the majority of the components inside the box. The reason for this is that most of the parts (and ports) have been phased out due to technological advancement. Changing one component will invariably require the change of another. For example, changing the CPU will definitely require a change of motherboards due to different CPU sockets. Changing the motherboard would in turn imply a change in the RAM modules as well as the graphics card due to the inavailability of the old AGP slots and SDRAM memory banks.

Of all the components that I have in my computer at the moment, these are the parts that need to be changed to bring things up to speed:

• Motherboard (obviously, since my old one is broken)
• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Memory modules (SDRAM no longer supported by newer boards. Requires DDR)
• PCI-E Graphics Card (Might as well upgrade to a better card rather than sticking with the old AGP. Using an AGP supported motherboard would limit the type of RAM that can be used)
• Casing (Newer motherboard requires a bigger power supply and uses a 24 pin power output while my old ATX uses a 20 pin output)

These are the components that can be retained:

• Harddrive (It is lucky that newer boards still come with IDE connectors for the peripheral drives. Otherwise, the harddrive would have to be changed to one running off Serial ATA [SATA])
• CD-RW/DVD Combo drive (Only one optical drive can be saved since there is only one IDE slot supporting up to two devices. One is dedicated to the harddrive. An alternative would be to use a USB drive and get a USB-to-IDE converter)
• Floppy drive (sheesh)
• Other PCI components (e.g. network card, video capture card, etc)

So I’ve been to the shops to enquire about the various components required for an upgrade and this is what I found out:

• Central Processing Unit:
  Intel Pentium 4 (Socket 775) 2.66 GHz with 533MHz Front Side Bus (FSB), and 1MB Cache
  RM395.00 (USD104.00)
• Mamaboard:
  Gigabyte GA-81915P-D with PCI-E graphics port, Dual DDR1+DDR2, RAID SATA support
  RM365.00 (USD96.00)
• Memory Modules
  2 x Kingston 512MB PC533 DDR2 (Total 1GB. 2 strips to take advantage of the Dual DDR2 feature of the motherboard for faster access speed)
  2 x RM160.00 = RM320.00 (USD84.00)
• Graphics Card
  XFX nVidia GeForce 6200TC 128MB 128bit + 1 Free USB Game Controller
  RM249.00 (USD66.00)
• Casing
  ATX Casing with PowerLogic 600-watt power supply
  RM139.00 (USD37.00)

Total Cost: RM1,468.00 (USD387.00)

On the other hand, if I try to fix the problem by replacing the motherboard, I’ll have to go digging around for one that supports the old Socket-370 CPU. Enrii tells me that his friend managed to find one somewhere in Low Yatt that costs RM200.00+ (USD53.00+).

I think I’ll go dig around to see if I can find a replacement motherboard before deciding on whether to upgrade or not. Finding one should extend my computer’s lifespan (with its current specifications) by another 2 - 3 years. By then, Windows Vista would be out, the newer (and more expensive) technology would have become common (and cheaper), and I can upgrade straight into a high-end machine instead of getting a midrange quick-fix now. So wish me luck. Hopefully I can find a replacement board and save myself a whole lot of grief.