Advice needed on the usability of a 10 year old PC.

a reply to: nonspecific

Win 7 is less top heavy than XP is. So generally speaking, your machine would run better. Than and there's probably hardware optimization updates that you would not get with XP, considering the support has expired.

~Tenth

a reply to: grey580

I usually agree on the not skimping angle but in this case I have to say that I really don't need a modern pc for this purpose, as theres no multimedia, streaming or gaming involved I do'nt need quadcore processor or 2 terrabytes of storage or usb3 ect.

Even if the motherboard goes I can buy anotherone for about £20 and have it delivered next day.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Would I have anny issues with having a single core processor?

It's a P4 PROCESSOR 550 WITH HT 3.4 gig.

Would that mean I could use the 64bit version?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: nonspecific

For what you want to use it for it sounds fine , if all it's costing you is 15 quid for memory then its a bargain.

It's even more of a bargain if I plug it into my 24 inch samsung led monitor that I found in the middle of a field and works perfectly!

a reply to: nonspecific

It depends on which version of the processor you are running, if it's an LGA775 chip then you will be fine running x64 but if not then only 32 bit will work. To be honest running the x64 version on that hardware would be pointless unless you were going to add 4gb ram.

Also the P4 is an OK single core processor as long as you use applications that were designed for single cores you'll be fine.

a reply to: mclarenmp4
Apparently it is an LGA775 So i think I will reconsider your kind offer for a product key if you have one spare please!

a reply to: nonspecific

Since you have software that will most likely run on it, I'd say spend the 15 bucks. Set it up, boot it up and see if it flies. If it doesn't do what you want it to, it will make a great media server for your music collection.

a reply to: nonspecific

PM sent.

a reply to: nonspecific

Just a note about the upgrade to Win7, if you plan on using older software on this machine (especially if it's for Win98 or in some cases XP) I wouldn't recommend installing it. I stick with XP and keep it offline, do any updates you need via flashdrive.
There's just too much incompatibility in some cases with XP in comparison to WIn7.

Virtual machine is another option, but in this case your resources will be stretching pretty thin when using XP on a virtual machine within Win7 on a P4. (VM only uses software rendering for graphics so your video card isn't used within VM) Not saying it won't work for you, but just warning you of the potential problems. If you do this I'd HIGHLY recommend 8 gigs of ram to fully utilize the benefit of the 64bit OS, that is if that old motherboard is even capable of running 8GB's.

One final note: Just a thought I had, but make sure to check the fans in that PC especially the CPU cooler. P4's ran hot as hell (may not be the case with your particular model though) like frying an egg hot, so be sure to thoroughly clean out the heatsink for the CPU. You may already know this, but I figured it couldn't hurt to pass the info along.

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: mclarenmp4

Thanks for the offer but I never really got on with windows 7, I replaced it on my other desktop with vista.

You replaced Win 7 with Vista? No more need be said, then.

a reply to: nonspecific

tenthpower pretty much nailed it. The system is good for like... network storage? ish?

I'd probably toss it and spend my money on something with some modern support.

I run one of these::

www.ebay.com...

HP Z800

96 Gigs of RAM ( up to 192 ), Dual 6-Cores, Solid State RAID array... I paid about $700...

New model is the Z820 - even more worthy... Depends how much you're trying to spend - but anything that isn't built for multi-core processors ( I wouldn't get anything that doesn't have dual CPU slots... ) probably isn't worth your time - and AutoCAD doesn't have a chance on that rig.

Sorry bud :-/

When I bought it it came with windows 7 preinstalled and had only just been released, a combination of buggy issues and getting used to it got me angry one day and I wiped the HD and put vista on.

After a while I decided to put windows 7 back on and get used to it but I had no disk and the product key sticker got damaged so I ended up keeping vista on it.

a reply to: Klassified

originally posted by: Klassified

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: mclarenmp4

Thanks for the offer but I never really got on with windows 7, I replaced it on my other desktop with vista.

You replaced Win 7 with Vista? No more need be said, then.

Um... Right...

For the record: Nobody should ever install Vista. Ever. Ever. Ever.

W7 or bust if you ask me... I only know a little about this stuff though *giggles*

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

For what he's doing with autocad he's fine. He used to run it on a PII LOL, remember those? They were a slot CPU, looked like an old school game console cartridge. Still have a couple slot A Athlon's lying around here somewhere. Oh yea, and for the record you just need to skip every other operating system from Microsoft, 98se - bad/Win ME - worse, Win XP - better/Vista - Atrocious, Win 7 - better yet, WIn 8 -another flop. So given the track record all the WIn7 users are hoping Win9 will be better, but we're not holding our breaths.

originally posted by: nonspecific
a reply to: grey580

I usually agree on the not skimping angle but in this case I have to say that I really don't need a modern pc for this purpose, as theres no multimedia, streaming or gaming involved I do'nt need quadcore processor or 2 terrabytes of storage or usb3 ect.

Even if the motherboard goes I can buy anotherone for about £20 and have it delivered next day.

Understood. You always need to balance the needs of your business with your budget.

my rule of thumb is. How much would it cost me to be down?

If the answer is, it wouldn't cost me anything. Then sure go for it.

But if the answer is, it could cost me business. Then I'd look at something else.

Good luck.

originally posted by: Nucleardoom
a reply to: DigitalJedi805

For what he's doing with autocad he's fine. He used to run it on a PII LOL, remember those? They were a slot CPU, looked like an old school game console cartridge. Still have a couple slot A Athlon's lying around here somewhere.

TBH? I'm pretty sure that the latest AutoCAD uses more RAM idling than the proposed rig will even support... Might run... But it'll be working off of the paging file within minutes - guaranteed; and that'll be painful. Get some autocad from 2005 or something and you might be okay; otherwise - time wasted.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

Thats a nice setup!

It's a little out of my budget of between nothing and sod all give or take a little.

Also it's a little over spec for what I need for this purpose, as I said I have other machines but this one will primarily be used for plotting vinyl cutting and some very basic cad work. This machine was pretty much the bomb back when new so surely by using software from the same time period I will have a perfectly useable tool?

About 15 years ago I had an athalon based pc I think it was 800mhz with 512 meg of ram and a 60 gig hard drive, I used it for 8 track live audio recording with a sound card, Did video editing with a dv camcorder and adobe premiere, played doom online and downloaded movies and played them on my projector.

It may have rendered a little slowly with the video editing but other than that it was pretty awsome.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

I think he's using an older version of autocad, so the requirements are way lower than the current version.

a reply to: DigitalJedi805

That the idea, I do not have or need the latest version but I do have 2005 which was in the same time period when this was a high end $2000+ machine designed for using software like autocad 2005.

I would not even try to use anything more modern on this particular machine.