Giving life to an old machine – but wait…
October 5th, 2017
I’m trying to give life to an old desktop set up which was in the store room as it was presumed to be broken! It wasn’t and two years later, it has the strength to enable me to post this topic today!
Here is the rig specs. I’m curious if I can format the drive, re-install to x64 and bump the RAM up to 8GB. Will that give it a little bit more power to process, or am I wasting my money on an old CPU?
Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Pentium E2200 @ 2.20GHz48 °C
Conroe 65nm Technology
RAM
3.00GB Dual-Chan DDR2 @ 333MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard
http://www.abit.com.tw/ I-45CV(Intel i945GC-ICH7) (Socket 775)
via Speccy
Also, if the answer is yes, that 8GB and x64 install will give it a new lease of life, then please advise where I can get 800Mhz DDR2 128×8 RAM? As, I’ve looked and can’t find any, which lead me to question if the CPU could handle it. The board only has 2 RAM slots, so its a 2x4GB kit required! I never remember the machine running so poorly as this. I’ve updated the system and it is well ventilated. I presume programmes have become more intense, but despite that, if the new program wasn’t capable of running on such specifications, I wouldn’t of upgraded!
DDR2 is no longer in production…Your best bet is somewhere like Ebay..
Just use a Linux distro.
Just use a Linux distro.
I enjoy windows @ true my friend, I’ve been looking! I can only find 8GB kit for AMD, does this matter?
Edit: I found this on ebay but I don’t understand why it says AMD only, it looks like the RAM that is in atm. Is there something specific or is it just marketing which stops it rom working?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Samsung-4GB-PC2-6400-DDR2-800MHZ-240pin-AMD-Desktop-Motherboard-Memory-RAM-/351276221722?hash=item51c9b1c51a:g:Xz4AAOSwnDxUqokL
Please remember to double check that all your links have been coded. #3.10 links must be coded - including, but not limited to, e-mail addresses, passwords and internal links.
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I can only find 8GB kit for AMD, does this matter?
Avoid the high density ram.
The E2200 is a very weak CPU. If you have the latest bios you can get an E8500 for $10 on Ebay. This would be a better upgrade than more ram. 2x4gb ddr800(low density) is rare but can be found on Ebay. It’s just a matter of if you want to pay the price. It might be 3 or 4 times the price of 2x2gb.
Personally, on something that old, I would get the E8500 and 2x2gb ram. $30 and you’re done.
I can only find 8GB kit for AMD, does this matter?
Avoid the high density ram.
The E2200 is a very weak CPU. If you have the latest bios you can get an E8500 for $10 on Ebay. This would be a better upgrade than more ram. 2x4gb ddr800(low density) is rare but can be found on Ebay. It's just a matter of if you want to pay the price. It might be 3 or 4 times the price of 2x2gb.
Personally, on something that old, I would get the E8500 and 2x2gb ram. $30 and you're done.
Sweet, I’ll have a look! I found many E8500s. Do you suggest anything else if I wanted to spend $20 $30 on one which will work with my board?
Here is Abit bios page. #13 is needed for E8500.
http://abit.ws/page/en/download/download_bios_detail.php@pFILE_TYPE=Bios&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=I-45CV&pSOCKET_
This will tell what cpu will work on your board.
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ABIT/I-45CV.html
Use this to search on Ebay “SLAPK”. Doesn’t look like the later version of E8500 was ever proven to work.
Here’s the Abit CPU support list.
http://abit.ws/cpu-support-list/mb/intel_945gc_i-45cv.htm
Seems like all the appropriate bios files from abit are just empty .zips (16bytes of nothing)
All abit too hard!
Found one on Softpedia but it was empty too.
http://abit.ws/page/en/download/download_bios_detail.php@pFILE_TYPE=Bios&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=I-45CV&pSOCKET_TYPE=LGA775
EDIT….FOUND one that downloads OK….(and for free!)
http://www.hwdrivers.com/ftp/fd_-slash-Motherboard-slash-Abit-slash-Socket_775-slash-I-45CV-slash-Bios-slash-.html
Should be good with a suitable E8500 or similar, as says.
You may already have 4GB of ram that would show up in a 64 bit OS, or could add a bit more.
4GB should be heaps for an older system anyhow.
Would be a good machine for experiencing and experimenting with Windows 10
Seems like all the appropriate bios files from abit are just empty .zips (16bytes of nothing)
All abit too hard!
Found one on Softpedia but it was empty too.
http://abit.ws/page/en/download/download_bios_detail.php@pFILE_TYPE=Bios&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=I-45CV&pSOCKET_TYPE=LGA775
EDIT....FOUND one that downloads OK....(and for free!)
http://www.hwdrivers.com/ftp/fd_-slash-Motherboard-slash-Abit-slash-Socket_775-slash-I-45CV-slash-Bios-slash-.html
Should be good with a suitable E8500 or similar, as says.
You may already have 4GB of ram that would show up in a 64 bit OS, or could add a bit more.
4GB should be heaps for an older system anyhow.
Would be a good machine for experiencing and experimenting with Windows 10
, SP1 installed last night. I’ve tried to scrub it clean as best I can without a new install. Windows 10 notification appeared after start on SP1. I might push it and see! W10 is suppose to run on all suitable Win 7 machines, but a lot better!
@cmk: Thanks man! I’ll check them links out now! Did you know this on the top of your head? Your good at this stuff I’m throwing Ubuntu LTS on dual because I want to see if there is a difference. All before I attempt to swap the CPU :laugh:
If you have a 2gb and 1gb ram you might try to find a match for the 2gb rather than buy 2 sticks. Another gig can’t hurt.
^^^^4GB would be enough for general usage. 3 would even be fine, anything more would be money unwisely spent. Not like you are going to be Super gaming…
Go to Mymemory and run a scan, that will give you the exact specs to look on Ebay for either a match or slight upgrade. Sometimes old DDr2 RAM is expensive, but you may find someone who has an auction or low buy it now as they are just getting rid of an old rig. I’ve got plenty of working DDR2 at home and work for occasions like this, post what you need and I’ll have a look.
Hey fellas, just wanted to update you! Other the weekend I put the orders on for the E8500 chip & found another 2GB Hyperam RAM stick.
New chip is now in the PC as well as the RAM.
Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 @ 3.16GHz49 °C
Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM
4.00GB Dual-Chan DDR2 @ 250MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard
http://www.abit.com.tw/ I-45CV(Intel i945GC-ICH7) (Socket 775)
Just a little curious if any body thinks the RAM Mhz is a little low?
I'm throwing Ubuntu LTS on dual because I want to see if there is a difference.
Ubuntu Unity? I’d advise you to avoid installing it, it’s not a lightweight OS, get either the xfce or lxde desktops instead (go for Xubuntu or Lubuntu).
http://abit.ws/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php@fMTYPE=LGA775&pMODEL_NAME=I-45CV
There’s a comment about 533 ram running @500(or 250 on your spec sheet) but it doesn’t include the 667 ram. The faster FSB of the new cpu usually would allow for faster ram speed up to the 945gc limitations. My old 945 machine runs 4 gigs of DDR2 800 at 667 which is the 945 max.
Check the bios and see if you are able to adjust the ram settings.
Other than the ram speed how does it perform?
@Jack, 14.04 desktop. I’ll have a look at them options.
@cmk Instant noticeable improvement in multi-tasking capabilities, it is definitely on the high-end! I read reviews on the chip when you suggested it and its nothing but praises for it! It definitely packs a punch for its price! (especially now at $10 ha)
I will have a look at the settings tomorrow bud! Thanks again for the suggestion, a CPU upgrade didn’t cross my mind!
Aida64 Extreme Edition is a great tool for telling all about your system.
It can do Benchmark tests on your Memory Read, Write and Copy speeds
as well as CPU and FPU and you can compare them to similar systems shown on the list.
(Press the Refresh button at the top of the page to perform the test)
Up top, you can go to Tools for stability testing and so on.
The Computer > Overclock and Sensor sections show how everything is working in real time also.
https://www..org/viewtopic.php?t=22600917&highlight=
You could check ram speed with old ram and new ram and so on..