Old Computer Upgrade

[YellowMenace]

So back in the 2005-2006 area, my great aunt bought my mom an IBM Thinkcentre A50 8148. Right now, though she has a new laptop, she still wants to keep this thing and use it. It's 2013 and it's time to upgrade this thing. She wants to keep as much as possible without having to replace much.

Specs:

CPU: Intel Celeron D 331 @ 2.66GHz

RAM: 512 MB DDR 166MHz

Graphics (controller): Intel 82865G w/ 12MB of memory

HDD: 40GB WD Caviar

PSU: 280Watt

 

My question is, what can I replace to make this thing a little bet better and with what?

[Sarcasm]

Chuck it and get a new one. Seriously. There's literally nothing left to do with it.

[Mo5]

There is nothing to keep... other than the optical drive (if you need it). Just get a cheap APU based system. 

[YellowMenace]

Did you guys even read what I said?

 

So back in the 2005-2006 area, my great aunt bought my mom an IBM Thinkcentre A50 8148. Right now, though she has a new laptop, she still wants to keep this thing and use it. It's 2013 and it's time to upgrade this thing. She wants to keep as much as possible without having to replace much.

 

 regardless of the price

[Sarcasm]

Seriously, the system is a dead end. There's NOTHING left to do with it.

[YellowMenace]

Seriously, the system is a dead end. There's NOTHING left to do with it.

I know I can get old processors off of ebay and local computer shops and same goes for RAM, you can still buy 186-pin DDR ram off of Newegg, I just don't know what else can be done or what processors can be used.

[Sarcasm]

I know I can get old processors off of ebay and local computer shops and same goes for RAM, you can still buy 186-pin DDR ram off of Newegg, I just don't know what else can be done or what processors can be used.

The amount of money you put into it would simply not be worth it whatsoever. And you probably can't change the processor, seeing as this is an OEM build and is probably locked down.

[YellowMenace]

The amount of money you put into it would simply not be worth it whatsoever. And you probably can't change the processor, seeing as this is an OEM build and is probably locked down.

The heatsink is detachable with screws and has a standard socket like an AMD socket, I'm just not sure what kind and google didn't give any useful info.

[Sarcasm]

The heatsink is detachable with screws and has a standard socket like an AMD socket, I'm just not sure what kind and google didn't give any useful info.

It would be locked down at a BIOS level, not hardware.

[YellowMenace]

It would be locked down at a BIOS level, not hardware.

When originally buying this computer, you'd have a choice of processors that were all supported. I asked my uncle, who worked at IBM, and said that they were upgradable.

[needmorewood]

well price out the cost of all the upgrades and youll see that buying a new machine is a million times worth more of the money and a million times more powerful. buddy its time to upgrade

[Sarcasm]

Alright, I'm sounding like a broken record, this is the last time I'll say it. Whether it gets into your head or not is up to you. There is NOTHING you can do to this computer to justify the cost versus the performance you would gain out of it, which would be marginal at best. Everything in the system is about four generations too old. Chuck it and buy something else, or leave it be. 

[YellowMenace]

well price out the cost of all the upgrades and youll see that buying a new machine is a million times worth more of the money and a million times more powerful. buddy its time to upgrade

 

So back in the 2005-2006 area, my great aunt bought my mom an IBM Thinkcentre A50 8148. Right now, though she has a new laptop, she still wants to keep this thing and use it. It's 2013 and it's time to upgrade this thing. She wants to keep as much as possible without having to replace much.

[Sarcasm]

You want to replace the minimum amount? It's the whole fucking thing. So either you aren't even bothering to read what I've been saying, or you're the most stubborn person in the history of the world. I'm done here, unless you actually decide to start looking into a new machine.

[YellowMenace]

I know you guys are saying it isn't worth it, but to her it is, it was a $1800 gift (at the time) and she still uses it.

All I wanted was some compatible  parts that'd work. Hell, I put a new Toshiba 500GB HDD to a sata port in it and install Ubuntu, the BIOS doesn't have too many limitations. Unfortunately the HDD has been failing, but it just proves the point of it being able to work.

[Sarcasm]

I'm not just saying it's not worth it, I'm saying you wouldn't get a performance gain at all.

[YellowMenace]

You want to replace the minimum amount? It's the whole fucking thing. So either you aren't even bothering to read what I've been saying, or you're the most stubborn person in the history of the world. I'm done here, unless you actually decide to start looking into a new machine.

I've been reading what you've been saying, but it's my mom's decision. she already has a new machine, but she sees nothing wrong with this one asides from it being slow. She's grown too attached to even care about the price to performance gain ratio. The parts are wearing out and just need to be replaced, and it is possible to do.

I'm just wondering if there are any parts that were made at the time that are better in any way shape or form than what she already has. We already ordered more RAM that should work.

[skywake]

There's really not much you can do other than building a whole new system. If the monitor and case are good then keep them. The PSU is maybe OK for a very, very low end build but my guess is that it doesn't have a 24pin and instead has a 20pin. Even if not it's probably not running as well as it once did and is probably worth replacing anyways. If the HDD is dead as you mentioned then again it's worth replacing plus it's a 40GB drive so you can do a lot better these days. The optical drive you can probably keep but if it's from 2005-2006 it's probably an IDE drive and can't be used anyway. CPU + MoBo + RAM.... what can I say that hasn't already been said?

 

Seriously if you want to keep as much as possible and still actually upgrade it you'll probably be left with just the case. If she's attached to it just explain that technology moves fast and that in 8 years virtually everything about building a computer has changed. If she wants it to spend money on it she'll be better off getting something new. That's just how it is. However if you want an absolute minimal upgrade keep everything as is, get rid of dust and put an SSD in there. It's a waste of an SSD putting it in that machine but if you really, really want to keep most of it I wouldn't go any further than that.