On 12/16/2010 8:11 PM, James W. Cooley wrote:
> Subject:  Upgrade old Aptiva?
> From: Jim Cooley
> email:  [log in to unmask]
> Is it worth it to do a hardware upgrade to my computer?  I have an IBM Aptiva;
> Board IBM V66m-1, bus clock 100 mH
> BIOS ACER V3 2 66 MEN 4 Q 07/07/99
> Processor 400 mH Pentium II
>
> Should I replace the processor or the whole motherboard and about how
> much would it cost?
>
>    
(First of all, let me be clear that I don't know anything about the 
particulars of your computer, so these are sort of general comments.)

Whether or not it is "worth it" is a value judgement that only you can 
make.  What are your goals?  Just to make it a little faster, or do you 
need more storage?  It might be easy to add another hard drive, but very 
difficult to make it faster.

You run into several problems with this type of project.

First of all, your Aptiva may not take standard form-factor parts.  Some 
mass-produced computers do not take "standard" form-factor parts.  In 
particular motherboards, and, possibly, power supplies.  So replacement 
parts may be difficult to come by that will fit the case.

The power supply may be just adequate for what you have, and anything 
added which draws more power might be too much.

Adding a newer cpu might be possible if you can find one that will fit 
and not exceed the power capabilities, but you probably won't gain a lot 
of performance.  Depends on what you are expecting whether or not you'll 
think it's worth it.

Generally, an upgrade involves a new motherboard, cpu, and memory as a 
compatible group.  But, if your video is currently on-board, then you 
would have to get a motherboard with on-board video.  The motherboard 
will have to fit the case and the back-plane will have to match up, 
too.  This might work or it might not.

If you replace the motherboard, you will need a new copy of the 
operating system if what you have is XP or later.

Are you getting discouraged yet?  Really, the best hope that you have is 
to replace the Pentium II with another slightly faster Pentium II if you 
can find one.  (It has to fit the same socket.)  Almost anything else 
that you do will probably cost more than  buying a new computer at 
after-Christmas sale prices...

Dean Kukral

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