Biggest Computer Upgrade?

[fps justin]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Might want to check your dates. AMD didn't release the Tbird 1ghz CPU until Summer 2000, beating Intel to the 1GHZ mark. Intel never release a P3 1.6ghz CPU, they switched to P4 at the 1.4ghz CPU.

Also 64MB cards weren’t available in 99 either. Nvidia didn't release their Geforce 2 GTS 64mb card until 2000.

I think they made 1.4ghz pIII. They had "special PIIIs" that were made but INTEL hid these cpus because they performed better than P4's at the time. LOL

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by fps justin

I think they made 1.4ghz pIII. They had "special PIIIs" that were made but INTEL hid these cpus because they performed better than P4's at the time. LOL

There were a few yes. IIRC Dell used them in some of their desktops, but for the most part P3 ended at 1.33ghz. Also IIRC the P3 1.4ghz out performed the P4 1.4ghz CPU.

[screwballl]

I am just wondering what would have happened if they updated the P3 architecture instead of going with the space-heater P4 netburst type.... how history would be different...

[XoRn]

P3 733
512 RAM
GeForce MX 400
20G Harddrive
A very old Asus board.

to

P4 2.4ghz
2G Ram
Radeon 9600se
60G HD
AsRock P4V88

To

CD2 E6600
1g OCZ GOld
XFX 7900GT
250G HD
Asus P532N-SLI Delux Gamer

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Might want to check your dates. AMD didn't release the Tbird 1ghz CPU until Summer 2000, beating Intel to the 1GHZ mark. Intel never release a P3 1.6ghz CPU, they switched to P4 at the 1.4ghz CPU.

Also 64MB cards weren’t available in 99 either. Nvidia didn't release their Geforce 2 GTS 64mb card until 2000.

Like I said, I can't remember the CPU speed on that 99 Gateway. We don't even have that machine anymore, so I can't check either. I did just find this page: Chronology of Microprocessors (1998-1999) which seems to state that the 750 and 800Mhz P3's were out late in 99, so it could've been one of those. As far as the video card, I was sure it was 64MB, but it might have been 32MB. It was so long ago...
And besides, I knew virtually nothing about computers at the time - save what I learned about Windows and M$ Word at a tech school in 1994. At the time, for me, simply hooking the thing up to its peripherals was a challenge!

Originally Posted by fps_justin

I think they made 1.4ghz pIII. They had "special PIIIs" that were made but INTEL hid these cpus because they performed better than P4's at the time. LOL

1.4ghz P3 sounds familiar, but I just can't be sure...

[Hitman]

Gig-O-Ram, I wasn't trying to be a know it all, I just vividly remember when AMD released the first 1ghz Tbird, because it was such a big deal that they beat Intel to the punch, and I know for a fact that was the summer of 2000.

[JazzyJake]

from a 333mhz(?) P1
64mb of ram
crappy mobo
everything onboard
1.01gbHDD

to

4400+ x2 @ 2.9ghz
7900gt CO OC'd
2gb OCZ gold DDR500
DFI lanparty eXpert
antec truepower 550w
X-Fi music
250gb w/d caviar + 100gb maxtor backup

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Gig-O-Ram, I wasn't trying to be a know it all, I just vividly remember when AMD released the first 1ghz Tbird, because it was such a big deal that they beat Intel to the punch, and I know for a fact that was the summer of 2000.

Hey Hitman, it's cool...You're more than likely right on about when they crossed the 1ghz barrier. You see, it would actually be pretty hard for me to debate the issue, since I'm not entirely sure of what the specs on that first machine were. I think I stated we had a 20GB hdd, when it may have been 10GB...I can't recall exactly, and the fact remains that I knew nearly nothing about computers and their constituent parts at that time, much less who was making what CPU at what speed then. I think I knew that there was an Intel and an AMD, but beyond that, I didn't know a T-Bird from a Prescott from a Willamette from a San Diego (which incidentally is the core type on my 3700+). I didn't know about CPU cores and architecture processes. I knew nothing!

Christ - I remember a time a few years ago when I didn't know there was a difference between PCI and AGP. I wanted to upgrade a video card, and I went to Best Buy (didn't know about Newegg then) and bought a card, not giving any thought to interface types (didn't know I needed to). I bought the card, brought it home to install it, and then I'm standing there scratching my head wondering why the card wouldn't fit onto the board. I took it back to the store and told a tech guy my problem, and after ascertaining that the slot I was trying to use was brown and not white, he told me I had the wrong type of card. I had AGP, but bought PCI. So I made an exchange, and took the new card home to install.

You can imagine the light bulb that went on when the card fit like a charm.

[screwballl]

we all start somewhere.... I was the type of kid that bought a $20 radio with dual cassette from Kmart and 2 weeks later when the tape player stopped working , I took it completely apart, fixed the drive belt thingy with a new rubber band and put it back together not missing a single screw...
this was around 8-10 years old...

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by screwballl

we all start somewhere.... I was the type of kid that bought a $20 radio with dual cassette from Kmart and 2 weeks later when the tape player stopped working , I took it completely apart, fixed the drive belt thingy with a new rubber band and put it back together not missing a single screw...
this was around 8-10 years old...

I used to do stuff like that when I was a kid, but I don't remember if I missed any screws or not. I did like to take things apart, I know that.

I remember too, before I learned about heatsinks and thermal compounds I had removed a stock heatsink from my Intel motherboard I had at the time (just to see how it came off), and when I put it back on, I guess I didn't put it back on correctly. When I powered the system on, it started making all kinds of loud beeps, and then it would shut down. I did this a few times, and each time, I got the warning noises. Sure enough, I had not placed the HS flat on the CPU, and the system experienced a thermal event. So I looked at it again, and saw my mistake. After a crash course in heatsinks and TIM, I put the HS on correctly with some new thermal stuff, thereby solving the problem.