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Thread ID: 111809 2010-08-12 09:42:00 Upgrading an older Shuttle PC Chemical Ali (118) Press F1
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1127211 2010-08-12 09:42:00 Hi All

I have just gotten an older (2002/2003 era) Shuttle XPC SS51G desktop machine.

It has a 4x AGP slot and a PCI Slot and is running a P4 processor with a 4OGB hard drive and Windows XP pro. Total RAM at the moment is 768MB (DDR 400). From memory the video card is a Radeoon 9200 (4x AGP).

I would like to use the machine as a jukebox PC attached to a 21" touchscreen LCD monitor running Windows 7.

So I'm just wanting to upgrade the macine a little to boost its performance and ensure it runs okay with Windows 7.

I'm thinking along the lines of:

Replacing current RAM sticks with 2 x 1GB DDR400 RAM modules
Replacing current 40GB Hard Drive with either a 250GB or 320GB drive


And possibly upgarding the video card to something like this:
www.ascent.co.nz

I'm not wanting to spend too much on it as its a bonus PC really and it's only going to be used as a jukebox PC.

Any other suggestions or alternatives?

Thanks in advance ... 		Chemical Ali (118)
1127212 2010-08-12 10:49:00 Jukebox PC as in what exactly?? Just playing MP3's? It probably wouldnt be fast enough for something like bluray or something like that Speedy Gonzales (78)
1127213 2010-08-12 11:10:00 Yep - just playing audio such as MP3s or CDs and maybe the odd music video via youtube or a dvd.

Not planning on BlueRay or anything HD really.

Just picturing using iTunes on a touchscreen mounted on the wall with the Shuttle PC hidden away. 		Chemical Ali (118)
1127214 2010-08-12 11:25:00 What version of 7 did you install? If its a version that's got Media center, use that Speedy Gonzales (78)
1127215 2010-08-12 22:26:00 Use a USB stick for pre-fetch boost.....might help with playback SolMiester (139)
1127216 2010-08-13 05:52:00 Use a USB stick for pre-fetch boost.....might help with playback

Cheers - thanks for that suggestion.
Hadn't thought of doing that.

Any size/model you particularly recommend for that?

I'm thinkinh that with 1.5 - 2GB of DDR400 RAM and a USB drive in pre-fetch boost mode it should hum along okay.

Would it be worth upgarding the video card along the lines I was suggesting in my opening post? 		Chemical Ali (118)
1127217 2010-08-13 05:54:00 I wouldnt bother with another videocard. You're not going to do any heavy duty stuff with it Speedy Gonzales (78)
1127218 2010-08-13 05:55:00 @ Solmeister:

Do you mean ready boost rather than prefetch boost? 		Chemical Ali (118)
1127219 2010-08-13 06:24:00 Cheers - thanks for that suggestion.
Hadn't thought of doing that.

Any size/model you particularly recommend for that?

I'm thinkinh that with 1.5 - 2GB of DDR400 RAM and a USB drive in pre-fetch boost mode it should hum along okay.

Would it be worth upgarding the video card along the lines I was suggesting in my opening post?
Ahhh, AGP, guess you could get a 3xxx series ATi but not sure if that will accelerate video processing, someone else up with ATi cards might be able to help, but a P4 will probably always hold the card back.
As for USB stick, not all are equal, I would suggest at a min a 4Gb Corsair voyager... 		SolMiester (139)
1127220 2010-08-13 06:37:00 Why do you need a video card, Windows7 ond more RAM to play music? edit sorry missed the Youtube bit. not absolutely sure but I thought Flash Player would run on a P4? PPp (9511)
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