Page 1 of Please don`t mock me...

Because I have a 166 mmx. I do so love my puter and it`s very very fast indeed. Except when I go to use it and then it`s crap. Anyhoooo, anybody know where I can get upgrades/updates for the mmx specifically the 166? The downloads from Intel themselves don`t work (missing dll and can`t be bothered to go and get it and it probably wouldn`t work anyway) and everybody seems to have forgotten about the mmx completely. I`ve upgraded everything else I possibly can but will not replace the processor as will be getting a new puter eventually. (Been saying that for three years!)
Any ideas?

Blimey mate - I took a higher specced machine than that to the tip a couple of weeks ago!

MMX was a function built into the chip to enable faster gaming/multimedia I think - kinda like 3d Now on the AMD chips. I don`t think you could upgrade it as such - it was a feature that games/software developers could code in to their software to take advantage of MMX technology. The only way to actually upgrade a chip is to replace it :D Or overclock it and make it run faster than it should.

Do you mean chipset drivers? Intel also manufacture motherboard chipsets - you can download drivers for chipsets that make them work better with your version of Windows - but in your case I wouldn`t bother - it`s so old now that there`s no hope of running newer software on it. I`d keep saving up or buy a second hand machine from somewhere.

Hand on heart honestly, three words - dead horse and flogging. There`s nothing you can do with a 166MMX machine to upgrade it. Anything you try to do will only kill it. If you buy a "new" chip it won`t work with the motherboard, if you get more memory that won`t work with the motherboard. If you want to hook any new kit up to it, you`ll have difficulty. You`ll have to bite the bullet and start saving in earnest.

J Mark Oates

Quote:
You`ll have to bite the bullet and start saving in earnest.

Wouldn`t it be better if he started saving from his own village rather than travelling all the way to earnest ? :D

Seriously though it has to go it`s well past it`s sell by date.


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Wayne

I knew it! Subconsciously I wanted to be told I s`pose...
Will go and buy a new one this weekend and give this a decent burial at the Council Tip.

Cheers

or you could give it to a charity who would love to take it.....

Good idea. I`ve heard of these charities that will relieve you of old Pentiums. Any recommendations on where to buy my new PC? I`ve heard good things about Mesh, Dell, Evesham. Any other suggestions for an `off the peg` system?

Depending on how adventurous you feel, and the condition of your basic peripherals such as your monitor, keyboard, mouse etc., it might be fun (and cheaper in the long run) to get into home brewing your PC. Buy a basic carcase - case, motherboard, processor, memory and HDD, then a couple of months down the line upgrade your monitor, then if you need to upgrade other stuff start revisiting the HDD, motherboard, etc.

I find Watford Electronics very good, as they test components before they go out. They currently have a base unit (no monitor or operating system, keyboard or mouse) based on the Athlon XP2000+ (which I`m running currently quite happily) for just shy of £260. That could be your stepping stone to a power system in the future.

J Mark Oates

I don`t want to start a flaming issue here but it is well worth checking on the web for peoples opinions of specific suppliers before deciding who is going to get your hard-earned cash !

This item was edited on Friday, 24th October 2003, 17:15