We all use them, I was just curious how prices
compare around the US. With the new Pentium 4 2.0 Gig now out the other Pentium 4 prices have dropped a lot in the past two weeks. I just picked up a Pentium 4 1.7 Gig Retail Box and a
Asus P4T for $354.00. Anyone else upgrading?

No matter  what you buy it will be out of date and too expensive

I just got a TBird 1.4Ghz... Spanks the 1.7Ghz P4 for half the cost... First time I ever bought from AMD, but I love this thing...

Just installed Win2K on it today and having great success!

LOL....I just built a second computer for my family.  Not the fastest/best but it is a AMD 800Mhz with Asus MoBo, 128k ram, 20Gb hard drive keyboard, mouse, and new case all for less than $300!!! I use an old monitor that does just fine with it.

Yes it may be a tad outdated but does much more than the kids will need.

As these price I may just build another real sone.

sgtar15

Definitely build your next system. A store bought computer generally has only 1 or 2 open expansion slots and 1 or even no expansion bays (5.25 or 3.5"). As for me, I'm piecemeal upgrading. I would have had a 1.4 GHz Athlon last week at the Market Pro. Show, but the damned ATM ate my card and the bank's not open on Weekends. Fortunately I got it back on Tuesday.

AMDs are cheaper and faster than Pentiums though they are noted for using alot of power comparatively (Note To Those in PRK). But, Intel had contracts with lots of OEMs, just like MS. Asus makes nice motherboards. I am going for a A7A266, because I can still use my SDRAM until I can afford an equivelant amount of DDR-RAM. Currently, my system has 256 MB, but I have an additional 128 I can add when I upgrade (my system only has 2 RAM Slots.) As for EIDE vs. SCSI, if you want more than 4 Drives, you must use SCSI. I have 5 Drives in mine, but 1 has been disconnected until I upgrade (CD-Rom, CD-Rw, DVD-Rom, 20.8 GB Hard Drive, 13.2 GB Hard Drive) I'd go for a DVD Burner when I upgrade so I can burn DVDs. I'm gonna copy my collection of hundreds of VHS tapes to DVDs, so I'll actually have room to store 'em. I recorded everything I have watched since 1987. I have the Gulf War, Klinton's Election, Limbaugh's "America Held Hostage", Monica Lewinsky, Waco, etc. I want to show future generations what scum Klinton was and how America kicked Hussein's ass. I have the original Starr Report (From 1996 ?) on one of my Zip Disks. Now, once I can get that piece of junk to work again (it is 7 Years old)

As I learned you'll want to have good backup. A tape drive would allow for automated backups. My Zip Drive was sufficient in 1994, but now it'd take 100s of Zips to backup my drives.

One thing you might want to consider in your next system is networking. It should have a NIC Card to allow for Broadband. Mine has 2-NICs and 1-Modem. I can use it as a router in Windows 2000 Server and a switch/bridge in Windows XP RC2. Also, allow enough hard drive space for the future. 13.2 GB was good in 1998, but a year ago I had to add a 20.8 GB Hard Drive for a total of 34 GB. Even now that is nearly full. If I hadn't burned the thousands of MP3s I d/led while Napster was still alive, I would be completely out of space. Now as for the Full-Length movies with Chineese subtitles I'll have to burn them to DVDs soon. But, when I finish my upgrade, I'll have a dedicated server with enough Drive Space To Hold my files.

Just remember that if you allow room for expansion later, then you won't have to replace as often. The Current Motherboards can accept between 1.5 and 3 GB Maximum of RAM. Well, at least when that big of Ram comes out/down in price.

By the way if you are planning on upgrading to Windows XP, supercharge your system becuase XP is resource hog. My 450 MHz is running slow under XP RC2. Though, it seems like a nice system if your computer has enough power to feed XPs ever expanding need for power.

Beta 2 ran fine on my 450 MHz. (But, w/o many key features have been added yet it used less resources.)

RC1 ran semi-sluggishly.

RC2 ran very sluggishly.

Guys, if you build your own systems stay the hell awa y from XP!

I cannot stress that enough.  XP is a piece of crap, requiring you to call MS to get them to unlock it for you.

And if you upgrade your video card and hard drive, you will have to call MS again, and try to convince some 22 year ld kid making $9/hr to give you a new code to unlock your operating system.

I have never been an MS basher, I have never had an issue with Gates, but this XP program rubs me in all the wrong ways.

Either use WinME or move to Windoes 2000 Pro.

I just put Win2K on my 1.4Ghz TBird and it runs awesome, and in games is even faster than Win98SE was.

STAY AWAY FROM XP UNLES IT COMES PREINSTALLED ON AN OEM MACHINE AND YOU HAVE NO DESIRE TO UPGRADE THAT MACHINE.

Am I the [i]only[/i] Mac user here?

G4 Dual 533.  768MB Ram, twin 40gb HD and a 19inch Lacie monitor.

Mac OS 9.2 MacOS X (MacOS X.1 in a week)

OK, Slam on my candy! Dare ya'![8D]

Zaz

I currently have an AMD 450Mhz and consider it fast enough even for software development.  But then it's always fun to upgrade.

At a local Frys there's a 900Mhz AMD Athlon with case for $150.  512mb memory for $50 and an IBM 60G drive for $159.  Got that itch again.