Hp Pavilion xt963 upgrades?

[darsparx]

So i've been slowly but surely working on my old xp computer(mostly dusting because there was at least however old the computer is worth of dust(I've lost track). But since the computer now seems to be working somewhat fine would it be worth it to upgrade the pc even just to use as my retro gaming machine for the pc side of it(especially my small library I have right now).

I know the current specs it has on it right now is:

CPU - intel celeron 1.2 GHz
RAM - 128 MB of PC-133 SDRAM (this could be upgraded to 512 supposedly?)
HDD - 40gb (which this one at least i really do want to upgrade just for sake of actually having space on the thing)


I want to work on this next after i get my newer computer setup since it seems for windows 7 pro(since I was still able to access it in parallels on this computer with a install from my old school in it) is one of the few games in my collection so far with the point where it doesn't like 64 bit systems even with compatibility enabled...

[samsonlonghair]

I would not recommend trying to install Win7 on this machine at this time.

Let's start with that hard drive upgrade. You're probably going to need an old-fashioned ATA hard drive (aka IDE hard drive) not a SATA hard drive like most drives on the market today.

Fun fact: ATA describes the type of data connection. This is sometimes retroactively called Parallel ATA. IDE descibes the type of power connection.

A cursory search of newegg.com shows a 160GB hard drive for about sixty dollars. This would quadruple your hard drive space. You can also keep your 40GB hard drive. You can have two (or more) IDE hard drives connected at the same time by setting the jumper pins of the primary hard drive to "master" and the secondary hard drive to "slave". Check your hard drive for a tiny diagram. It's easier than it sounds.

[TSTR]

Not to be a shameless whore, but I've got some old computer parts (including drives) in my BST you might be interested in...

[noiseredux]

TSTR is a whore that's never on Steam anymore.

[samsonlonghair]

Let's address memory next.

The specs say that 512MB is Maximum RAM to be installed in two separate modules of 256 MB each. This must be PC133 RAM. That "PC133" part is a measurement of clockspeed in MHz. Search Newegg for "256MB PC133".

Of course, that's just what the specs say.
I have in the past installed more RAM than the specs mandate without repercussion.This of course is not recommended by the engineers who designed your PC. It may or may not work for you.

[TSTR]

TSTR is a whore that's never on Steam anymore.

love shouldnt hurt

[samsonlonghair]

Upgrading your CPU is possile, but this would only be a marginal improvement.

Your stock computer relies on onboard video. Finding a compatible video card would yield an improvement, but I doubt you'll find a new one. You'll need a secondhand video card for this. Maybe TSTR can help you with this. I'm not sure.

[TSTR]

Upgrading your CPU is possile, but this would only be a marginal improvement.

Your stock computer relies on onboard video. Finding a compatible video card would yield an improvement, but I doubt you'll find a new one. You'll need a secondhand video card for this. Maybe TSTR can help you with this. I'm not sure.

If the board has an AGP slot, I most certainly can.

[Ziggy]

Did this PC originally come with XP on it? Those specs seem better suited for 98, although it could have been right on the verge of XP coming out I suppose.

512MB max for XP kinda sucks, if you plan to run the latest updates (SP3). I think most would agree that 1GB is the bare minimum for XP. With SP1, you could get away with 256-512MB tho.

[Hobie-wan]

Fun fact: ATA describes the type of data connection. This is sometimes retroactively called Parallel ATA. IDE descibes the type of power connection.

IDE means Integrated Drive Electronics. It meant that the drive had its own controller built in as opposed to needing a separate one how to operate and move the heads. This is why with those really old drives you had to do a low level format when you put in a drive that was new to that machine so that particular controller card could set up the arrangement of the tracks and sectors to its liking. For those pre-IDE drives you hooked up a control, data, and a power cable up as opposed to IDE/PATA and SATA drives where there's power and data only.

If the machine isn't gimped with 1 IDE connector on the motherboard being used for the HD and CD drive with the 2 cable plugs, I'd just add a second hard drive to put programs on.