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AMD system building questions

H

HardWired

Senior member
I've been using exclusively Intel since the 386 days. My current rig is a P3 700 o'ced to 933. It runs like a top but I'm ready to jump up to the 2GHZ+ level. And I'm thinking AMD for the first time. It seems lately they are hands down the best in the "permormance for price" catagory. I have a few questions though.

I'm confused by all the different RAM flavors out there these days and I wouldn't have a clue what kind of mobo to buy, and the proper ram to go with it for an AMD system. I also wonder if my Antec full tower ATX case will work. Will it hold a AMD mobo, ie; will the LPT, serial, USB, mopuse/keyboard holes line up properly in the back.

I have a ti4200 128MB video card coming soon, so I'm covered there. And I also just replaced my power supply with a Antec True330, which I made sure has the connectors and is certified for a AMD/P4 system. So if my current case and new prower supply will work, guess I just need a mobo, processor and ram.

Could someone please address these issues for me and give some feedback?.

Like what kind of AMD speed can I buy for $150-$200, and a mobo, (preferrably Abit..I've always had great luck with them) in the $100 range. I don't need RAID but if there's one out there for $100 that'd be cool. And I don't need on-board sound, but again if it comes with it, and I can disable it, that cool too. It doesn't have to be the newest out there. Maybe one in the last 6 months to a year that's been getting good reviews. And a RAM suggestion would be cool too. I'm thinking one 512MB stick would be good to start with.

Thanks for any info all you hardware junkies (especially AMD) can provide.

 
Motherboard KD7-raid $116 + $5 shipping (newegg)
CPU XP2400+ retail $198
Memory PC2700 CAS2 256 meg Corsair x2=$228 (can't find a single 512, but preferred, maybe you can find it)

My best suggestion for what you want
 
I just found this for memory🙁at newegg.com)
CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series CMX512-2700C2 PC2700 DDR RAM 333MHz w/ Heat Spreader - OEM
512MB 64x64, Non-ECC, 184-Pin, CAS 2.0 -Unbuffered Requires DDR supported Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. Model#: CMX512-2700C2 -OEM Special Free FedEx Saver Shipping
- Product Link -See It! (image count 1 ) -Price Alert (N82E16820145401) Return
(avg rating out of 26 voters)
(19)
$183.00

Cool ! And cheaper !
 
I'm confused by all the different RAM flavors out there these days and I wouldn't have a clue what kind of mobo to buy, and the proper ram to go with it for an AMD system.
Click to expand...

PC2100 aka (133 MHz DDR) is kind of the official middle of the road memory that OEMs have settled on for their Athlon systems. Many manufacurers (in the component retail secetor) however have moved on to PC2700 (166 MHz DDR). It gives a few percent performance increase even though it is faster than most Athlon's front sid busses (which are 133 MHz DDR accept for the brand newest ones which have moved up to 166 DDR (also called DDR333 because of it's effective speed.)

DDR400 has recently been showing up along with supporting chipsets, but it's my understanding that there has been a few stability issues and the performance gains aren't really that great, especially since the manufacturers have to use higher latencies to get to that speed (sometimes a lower latency gives better performance of a little extra bandwidth.)

So in my opinion PC2700 (166 MHz DDR aka DDR333) is a good level to settle on since it's common, a tad faster than PC2100 and more technically solid IMHO than DDR400.

The motherboards themselves are standard ATX so the keyboard/USB/serial/etc. port layouts shouldn't be a problem at all. That shouldn't vary from Athlon to P4. All other aspects of the motherboard should be pretty standard too so you don't have to worry about it fitting or anything like that.

Athlons do want a decent power supply. I recomment a name brand 300+ watt. Your Antec True330 should work just fine. I have an Antec case with an Antec True 350 (I think 350 ... maybe 330) and it works just fine.

When buying DDR ram it's best to buy as few sticks as possible. Most motherboards will support up to 3, but fewer = greatest stability, especially if you overclock. Mushkin (www.mushkin.com) is VERY popular in these forms. Their ram is very high quality and relaible. I've been buying Mushkin for a few years now and have never been disatissfied. Coarsair is another company that is known for very high quality and fast RAM.

I have an Epox 8K3A+ motherboard and have been very happy with it. I just bought another one for my mom's computer. (they have the 8K3a which has fewer bells and whistles too.) Before this I was an ABIT fan, but Epox has been getting very good reviews, has good prices, and good features.

Ohh yeah ... the via KT333 is probably the most common chipset for Athlons. The Nvidia Nforce2 uses dual channel DDR RAM (requires 2 sticks) and has a lot of buzz about it right now (it's newly coming out.) The original Nforce was a bit of a dissapointment. My mobo is KT333 and I've been very happy with it.

I hope this helps a bit!



 
im liking my new epox 8k5a2+
3ddr slots, RAID, 6ch snd, lan, usb 2
supports FSB 133-250 (i think) and various voltage increments for the cpu/ram

the 5a3+ has 4ddr and a couple other things i think, cant remember
and i OC my 1600+ AGOIA stepping to 1.743 (like a 2000 or 2100+) and dont seem to have any problems with it

but you prolly got more cash than i had 🙁
 
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