Ok, I'm saving up some cash for a complete system upgrade, but that is several months away. In the meantime, I'd like to upgrade what I have so that I can push it as far as possible.

Currently, I have a Dell Optiplex GX150 with a 1.13Ghz P3 (256KB L2 cache), 256MB RAM, 250GB HD, and a DVD Writer.

Through my research, I see that the most capable P3 ever made was a III-S, which runs at 1.4Ghz and has 512KB of L2 cache. Other than HSF & thermal paste removal & installation, is it pretty much a direct drop-in replacement? (Yes this system has the latest BIOS version installed.)

Secondly, the system can accomodate up to 512MB of PC133 SDRAM. The main differences I see in my choices are whether or not the RAM comes with heat spreaders and what CAS Latency I want, in this case 2 or 3. I know that lower CAS Latency numbers equate to slightly faster RAM. Will this system accept CAS2 RAM?

Third, this system has an AGP 4x slot. What is the most capable AGP 4x card released?

Fourth, will these upgrades push the stock power supply too far?

Thanks!

Save your money and put it into the new system. You won't see much if any performance increase in that old system...

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grasshopper is right, I am no expert, but you would be much better off saving the several hundred dollars trying to find these relics and just put together a new computer once you can compile 500-600$

Don't waste your money. If you want it to run faster, dump XP & go back to Win98SE. Or try one of the minimalist Linux distros such as Puppy, TinyMe, DSL, etc

1.4GHz PIII-S cpus are readily available for $20 or less on eBay. The extra cache works wonders--a Tualatin-S is much faster per clock cycle than both the Coppermine P3 and the standard 256K Tualatin.

However, the Pentium III-S was designed to be a server processor. You may need an FC-PGA2 adaptor that supports the 512K Tualatin.

Your system will run CL2 RAM. If you do decide to upgrade to 512MB, make sure that you grab two 256MB modules. The i810/815 chipsets are absolutely horrible memory-wise. If you install three DIMMs, you'll be forced to run them at 100MHz. This will result in a severe performance penalty, especially on a Tualatin system. The Tualatin is able to prefetch data into its L2 cache from RAM, so having very fast RAM is important.

Just about any AGP card will run in an AGP 4X slot. I've got a P3 system running an overclocked GeForce 7950GT in its AGP 4X slot.

If you absolutely must upgrade your graphics card, then don't go any higher than a Radeon 9600 Pro/XT. These are available for as little as $25 on eBay, and both models do not require an extra power supply connection.

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