I got my computer about 8 years ago and it will soon be having its 9th birthday. After Oblivion kicked my computers ass the computer has been on a slow decline. I had to replace the old power supply, update graphics cards and get a new hard drive. I’m still not ready to give up on the old boy; I find it’s the perfect GOG gaming machine and I have a ton of XP games I still like to play. So what I’m looking for is suggestions on how to improve/keep it alive.

What I’m looking at:
Updating the BIOS on my motherboard, not really sure how I feel about this one.
Updating my Power supply (the current one is 350Watts)
Getting a SSD for a Boot drive
Maybe replacing the motherboard. My biggest concern doing this is I only have the Cyber Power Restore CD.

After 9 years I think you're perfectly within your rights to rebuild the entire thing (maybe keeping the case if it doesn't suck to work in).

Why don't you post the price range you have to work with and let the hardware geeks on the board give you a couple configs. If you can get it specced by tomorrow you can try and pick up some parts on sale on Cyber Monday tomorrow.

Be careful with the BIOS update. It's true that it can make a difference to older machines. But make sure you read up on what the best methodology is for your given board. That advice might be hard to come by for a board that old, mind.

A good, branded PSU will help keep your computer alive longer. That much is true. But, to be honest, if you're looking to spend a lot on the PSU that's a decision quickly brought into question by the value of the rest of the system.

A better option would be to replace this computer and keep it has a backup system for your older games. You'd be able to get a full tower that is better than your current system for less than the price of a top quality PSU. It's only really a sound investment if you're looking to build a brand new demanding games machine.

An SSD is again a soundi investment, but only when everything else is up to scratch. It can help decrease booting times and load times of your games, but chances are you'll see a far more significant boost by actually replacing the core parts of your system (or just getting a new system).

So my advice is either to get some second hand parts off of reliable ebayers that are cheap, compatible and of course, better that that which you currently have or simply buy a new tower and keep that one for the old stuff that doesn't work with your new rig. But to splash out on things like quality PSUs and SSDs is not going to be the answer you're looking for.

Bios: Usually bios updates add support for new processors or fix some bugs. I'd suggest looking at the bios changelog to see if any of the changes are useful to your system. Otherwise, pass.

PSU: Upgrade it only if your video card needs a more powerful power supply. From what I understand, the system is old and shouldn't be power-demanding.

SSD: Expensive. I wouldn't bother. If you're only using the system for GOG, I'm pretty sure games load quickly on a 7200RPM HDD already.

Motherboard: I'd only upgrade the motherboard if you're thinking of buying a new processor and DDR3 ram. If you want to re-use your Windows installation, you'll need to run a Windows Repair off the Windows installation disk.

At some point you're just gonna have to let go. I'm sorry, man, but eventually you're gonna run out of first-generation parts. When that happens, I suggest a switch, unless you have a nice chassis - which is unlikely, since sexy chassis weren't invented until a few years ago.

Seriously, after 8 years, none of the components are worth salvaging. Forget about upgrading it, you'll end up with bottlenecks galore. Instead, keep it as it is, purely for old games, and build a new machine from scratch. And do build it yourself. It's not too difficult, and you'll save a bundle.

Best way to get the right BIOS for your motherboard is to look for the model number written on the motherboard usually in big letters somewhere between your various slots. Enter that alphanumeric code into google and it should come up with some BIOS for your motherboard.

Some of the older BIOS update/upgrade utilities relied on you making a bootable floppy that would boot into the BIOS flash utility. If you have the right BIOS and follow all the directions on screen then you should have no problem flashing your BIOS.

SANDRA Lite is also an excellent program to run in order to find out what exact motherboard, and other devices, you have on your system without ripping it open. If you want, you can run SANDRA Lite on your PC and give me the info from it and I'll take a look at finding the right BIOS for your motherboard.

I will agree that 8 year old parts are not salvageable but if you are willing to keep it then at least get all the proper updates for it.

I wouldn't recommend updating your BIOS unless it's buggy or you're looking for new features. A newer BIOS can have new bugs as well.

Be aware that if you replace your motherboard, you essentially have a new computer. Being sentimental will only limit your upgrade possibilities. Selling your old one to help fund a new build is sometimes the best course of action.

I should have state a few things:

First I’m planning on buying a new computer with in the next few months.
I only want the keep my old computer for windows XP games and GOG
I found the BIOS information and only saw 1 upgrade that looks useful
I like to keep the price down maybe $200 at the most
Any maintenance tips would be helpful to

Here is a link to the motherboards info: http://www.albatron.com.tw/English/product/mb/pro_detail.asp?rlink=Overview&no=79

i would suggest you either retain it as a collector and use it for lighter purposes/backup system or sell it and get a better gaming rig ,anything you upgrade will be held back by other bottlenecks in the system.
....i could not muster the courage to sell my last 2 systems a Pentium 4 and the Pentium 2,still boot em once in a while , wish i had not sold my 386 either ....good memories.

edit saw your last post , i don't think updating your bios will have a huge change on the pc , just change the psu and that should keep the system alive for a few more years

I try and do that after work today

I guess it is either an Athlon XP or a Pentium 4.

If you feel that your system's performance has dropped significatively, there might be three things to do :

a) Clean ( using an air spray ) all fans, the motherboard and the ram modules. Dust can cause trouble / overheating
b) remove the cPU cooler, replace the thermal paste ( after 8 years, it's not efficient anymore), replace the cooler
c) backup your stuff, format your HDD and reinstll your system anew

Now, upgrades...

you could boost the ram to 3 gbs ( the max usable by XP)
you could replace your HDD . Be careful for interface compatibility though

I wouldn't try an SSD on such an old config. Compatibility issues could happen
I wouldn't flash the BIOS unless absolutely needed. This operation is useful if it makes your motherboard compatible with newer CPUs. That's about it

Not sure but I would love to have a running Win98 computer.

Then let us know what the full spec of your current system is and we'll see what your best upgrade options are. But really, it's probably best left as it is for older games and spend the money saved on pimping out your new rig a little.