AMD processor/mobo recommendations (RAM too!)

[Nevyn522]

Hi -

I'm currently shopping to get a new mobo and CPU (my old one is just too slow these days). Due to price, I'm looking at AMD chips, but am not too sure what to get.

Obviously, it's going to be a Socket A CPU, either a Duron or Thunderbird, but I have NO idea about mobos.

I'm planning on overclocking the system right from the start.

First, which CPU? Duron or T-bird? Also, I'd like to overclock into the 1GHz range... So which chip?

Second, which motherboard? I currently have 3 hard drives, 1 DVD drive, 1 IDE CDRW, and 1 ATAPI ZIP drive... At the moment I'm using the 4 onboard and then a Promise controller... So I could get by on a mobo with only 2 ports. But which would you recommend?

Third, what speed RAM should I get? I KNOW I'm not going to settle for less than 256mb... but what speed? I don't know the bus speed of the AMD chips to begin with, so this is fairly hard for me. I figure PC133 is probably the slowest I should settle for, maybe 150 would be better?

And lastly -- any recommendations on where to buy and OEM vs. retail?

Yeah, I know, I'm asking a lot of questions.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[mosdef]

Asus A7V seems to be the most full-featured board out there. Also MSI Pro2-A is very stable and has soft overclocking but I don't know if it has an AGP port (the one I bought didn't) and isn't as full-featured.

I would get a Duron. They are 90% as fast as equivalent Thunderbirds, and much cheaper. If you must reach 1 GHz, I would get a Duron 750 or 800. Note that overclocking success greatly varies from chip to chip. Also, you know about locked/unlocked chips, right?

Look in the Hot Deals forum for RAM. If you want high quality RAM get Crucial 256 MB PC133 CAS2 non-ECC (you don't want ECC). It'll be a little more expensive than the regular stuff but it'll serve you much better. Also RAM prices are around less than half what they were this summer, so jump on now.

I'll PM you with some good "hot deal" sites.

-mosdef

 

[MC]

If your budget allow, then go for T-Bird(aroung 800mhz) and MSI K7T Pro2A since they are not the cheapest out there but surely one of the best!

You are right on the Ram, 133 the minimum and go for 150 if you can!

You might need some good Video Card if you planning on overclocking! something like Geforce2 will be cool!

Do some research on Price Watch for buying them!

You might want to check out the Reseller Ratings before you buy from them, it will definitely make your life easier!

Hope this will help!

 

[MC]

Yes the MSI Pro2A do have the AGP slot and it's a great overclocking board in my opinion!

Did i mention some kickass heatsink and cooling is a must for overclocking, you can't get too far with good cooling!

 

[mosdef]

Do you know why my Pro2-A didn't have the AGP slot?

-mosdef

 

[mosdef]

Oh also if you plan to overclock to 1 GHz, buy an OEM CPU, whether Duron or Thunderbird. Then you have to buy thermal interface (grease/paste) and a high quality cooler. I'm not sure which coolers are considered the best these days but definately get ArcticSilver for your thermal interface.

ArcticSilver @ millisec.com, $14

-mosdef

 

[DaddyG]

Mos,

What are you using for video ?? A PCI card maybe ?? You must have some kind of factory reject mobo ??