Upgrading my PC --> I want your opinion(s)

[ANHS]

I want to upgrade my PC (motherboard, processor and memory). I went to 2 different computer stores today and I got 2 prices. Obviously, I'm gonna go for the cheaper price for the same parts. Anyways, here is what I want to get:

Processor: P3 1.2ghz (yes P3...not P4)
Motherboard: P6S5AT
Memory: 256 mb @ 266mhz

The total cost for this would be 445$ canadian (about 300 US). Now I wanted to know if this was a good price for the upgrade and I wanted to know from you guys if it was worth paying that much for this upgrade. Basically, anything I put in my computer to upgrade it right now will be better than what I have. But I want to know if any of you have any specs to recommend to make sure I get good parts.

Everything is guaranteed and the processor would come in a sealed box with the fan and a 3 year warranty.

Let me know what you guys think.

[rainbore]

Its not my baliwick, but as it happens I received a promo mailing from TigerDirect today that featured systems and upgrade components. By comparison, they offered an AMD Athlon XP 1800 system including the case, motherboard, 256MB SDRAM, Seagate 40GB HD, CD-RW drive, keyboard, and mouse for about $390.00 (after rebate plus approximate shipping). So, a PIII, motherboard and some RAM for $300, doesn't sound great, but it sounds like you've got a reason to stick with the PIII. Have you poked around eBay? It'd probably give you a better idea of the market for these things. Good luck!

[ANHS]

The main drawback for me is the fact that I live in Canada. Yeah computer parts come for much cheaper in the US but damn they blow up shipping charges when it comes to sending stuff to Canada...and that's when they'll do it.

As for Ebay, I don't really trust people who sell computer parts on there (sorry if anyone here sells parts on ebay). I have a website I check once or twice a week (pricewatch.com) and you can get the best deals there...but like I said, getting a good deal there and having to pay overpriced shipping is not worth it...you end up losing on the deal because of it.

The thing is I already have a 40 gig HD ready to use, I have a good sound card and I have a 32 mb video card. I have a good case that I bought about a year ago so I don't want to buy a whole new computer becuase I feel I can go for cheaper by getting the 3 parts I need for cheaper than getting a new computer.

Another thing, the reason why I want to get a P3 instead of a P4 processor is because I know a lot of hosting companies (Powweb included) use P3 processors for their servers. So they have to be good and I have heard that they are more reliable than P4's. Another thing is the store I went to only has 1 year warranties on P4 and they have 3 years on P3's...so...that makes a huge difference also...

Thanks for your input rainbore...I hope to hear from more people soon!

[(jj)]

Hi,

Have you checked out Computer Avenue (http://www.computeravenue.ca) for prices?

They are a Canadian company out of Winnipeg and have some pretty decent prices. I couldn't find the mother board listed there (just by the numbers), but the memory and CPU price only came to around $225 (Canadian).

They are pretty decent people to deal with, or at least they were the last time I talked with them.


Just my "For What It's Worth"