Help with a very budget system...please

[fresh]

HI everybody, my brother has been given a budget system, a very budget systems and i was just wondering if you guys could give me some help. The mobo is an ECS 661FX-M7 ive looked this up to try and upgrade the bios but it seems he it already has the latest 1 from back in 2006, the problem i have is the processor is a celeron d and its got an fsb of 133MHZ and multi of 21, this fsb is way to slow so i wanted to do some overclocking, but the bios is a phoenix bios and doesnt seem to have the options for changing anything technical apart fro where the system boots from.

to be honest i think i will just buy some replacement parts and build one (my first build) but for the mean time i just want to change the cpu to speed things up. anyone got any ideas how i can overclock this??
thanks in advance, i may also be needing some help with the build.

fresh

[MSIC]

Right - what do you want help with? Overclocking a celeron system, or a new system?
If so, what do you want to do & what is the budget?

[DDY]

What are you aiming for? Gaming, office use, playing DVDs e.t.c.?

I can't imagine that 2.8GHz Celeron D being much use for gaming even if it's overclocked, unless you need a fast computer there is no point in overclocking or upgrading.

If you need a fast computer you'd have to dump the majority of your current components, that rig is beyond upgrading in terms of value for money.

More info on your current machine would also be helpful:

CPU - We know it's a 2.8GHz Celeron D
RAM - ?
Motherboard - We know it's a ECS 661FX-M7
HDD - ?
PSU - ?
GFX - ?

[fresh]

i know how to overclock, just not with a phoenix bios i cant find the option to change the fsb etc.

in terms of the new system im looking at one right now and the budget is about 200, all i need is the tower and (windows(possibly)) ive got a monitor, keyboard etc.

thanks

[fresh]

sorry im looking at psu's do i need 20 pin or 24pin for a asus p5n E-sli mobo

thanks

[fresh]

What are you aiming for? Gaming, office use, playing DVDs e.t.c.?

I can't imagine that 2.8GHz Celeron D being much use for gaming even if it's overclocked, unless you need a fast computer there is no point in overclocking or upgrading.

If you need a fast computer you'd have to dump the majority of your current components, that rig is beyond upgrading in terms of value for money.

More info on your current machine would also be helpful:

CPU - We know it's a 2.8GHz Celeron D
RAM - ?
Motherboard - We know it's a ECS 661FX-M7
HDD - ?
PSU - ?
GFX - ?

i only want to overclock this so that its useable whilst i build a new one, the ram is ddr 400 256MB, hdd is a 40Gb seagate???, psu is a generic 400W and gfx is intergrated.

thanks

[-iceblade^]

tbth, i wouldn't recommend OCing a prebuilt system; considering you don't know the PSU specs, if something happens, you might kill off your entire system. Not to mention you don't know the ram quality, etc... there are too many variables.

[fresh]

ok then i wont overclock it, but will be ordering some parts soon, anyone got any possible specs they would like to share, the system will be totally for office use, no gaming. budget is about 200 quid all i need is the tower and windows xp

fresh

[DDY]

There is little to gain from overclocking a 2.8GHz Celeron, IMO it's not worth it. The motherboard you have will not overclock at all, the BIOS won't let you and it's based on a SIS 661FX chipset which will probably blow up if you try.

The only thing I can suggest to make your system faster is to upgrade the RAM to 1GB since you only have 256MB, this would be a worth while upgrade and the only one that's worth the effort and money.

With £200 you might as well build a new system, if you're up for this we can help.

[fresh]

There is little to gain from overclocking a 2.8GHz Celeron, IMO it's not worth it. The motherboard you have will not overclock at all, the BIOS won't let you and it's based on a SIS 661FX chipset which will probably blow up if you try.

The only thing I can suggest to make your system faster is to upgrade the RAM to 1GB since you only have 256MB, this would be a worth while upgrade and the only one that's worth the effort and money.

With £200 you might as well build a new system, if you're up for this we can help.

i did look at getting 1gb of ram but itll only be for about a week or 2 whilst i build the new system and didnt want to spend 30 quid on ddr ram i wont use again.

do you have a possible spec? im pricing thigs up and am at about 300 quid without windows, so way over budget.

thanks

[DDY]

Here is an example for a cheap machine for under £200 without the OS, note the prices are rough estimates.

Intel E2160 Retail - £40
2GB PC2-5400 - £25
Intel chipset mATX Motherboard - £35
160GB HDD - £30
Case+PSU - £50
DVD-RW Drive - £15

Total: £195

[MSIC]

Yep, DDY is right on with that. I could sort out some links if you want, but have a look around yourself at:
Scan
Dabs
Aria
Komplett
MicroDirect
and check out Hexus Trust rating system for other good retailers near you

[-iceblade^]

also try ebuyer and novatech, and if you have any family members in higher education, maybe you could get a copy of Windows under the MSDNAA?

[Pob255]

You shave a little off of DDY's quote by reuseing the current case (unless it takes an odd non-ATX standard PSU, you still can get them but it's more hassle to find them and often cost slightly more)
Without gameing means no need for anything major graphics card wise and brings down your PSU requirements, a good 350w is all you'd need.
Scan do a nice 350w FSP psu which should be fine for you at the grand cost of £23.50
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
An Akasa zen or Antec NSK4000 will set you back around £30

Granted you could pick up a budget £25 case with psu but you'll run the risk of things going bang, even with the tiny power draw of that system.
It "should" work, sometimes they do and keep going for years and sometimes they go bang or to be exact the PSU doesn't your other components will.

EDIT: Novatech do some nice barebones/prebuilt basics for the total novice (although there prebuilt cases tend to be budget ones )

[fresh]

Here is an example for a cheap machine for under £200 without the OS, note the prices are rough estimates.

Intel E2160 Retail - £40
2GB PC2-5400 - £25
Intel chipset mATX Motherboard - £35
160GB HDD - £30
Case+PSU - £50
DVD-RW Drive - £15

Total: £195

that looks good, i was going to go with an asus p5n 3-sli mobo as i know it overclocks, ive recently learnt some boards cant be overclocked, how do i know which ones?? i am in higher education, so what is the MSDNAA and how much can i get xp for , if i can access it??

thank you

[-iceblade^]

Considering you are a student (i'll assume uni student as i am not so sure what higher education means here (don't ask)), life becomes a bit easier.

if your uni is subscribed to it, you get to download the software free of charge. like, they offer vista business, XP pro SP1a and SP2, free... but, you need to register with them, and as far as i know, you need to be doing an IT course of some sort, but i'm not sure if that last part is applicable to all unis... apparently some unis just give it out for free.

basically, just go to your uni's IT faculty website, type in MSDNAA, and see what comes up... here's a bit more info

MSDN Academic Alliance

MSDN Academic Alliance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(this is all completely legal by the way - don't ban me )

Failing that, you could go and get yourself an academic copy of Vista Home Premium's upgrade... It works out being cheaper than OEM, but is also legal. Ebuyer stock it.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - Upgrade package - 1 PC - EDU - DVD - English - English International - Ebuyer is the link.

ALTERNATIVELY, you could go to software4students.co.uk and get a copy of Vista Business, or Ultimate, or XP Pro, for pretty darn good prices... All of these will be upgrade packages, though, so beware.

Operating System Software is the link you'll be wanting to check out.

lol... 3 ways to get microsoft windows, all on the cheap; beat that .