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AMD system recommendations.......please leave your opinions

iamme

iamme

Lifer
I'm looking to put together my second system. My first was a 1GHz AMD Athlon, largely put together based on Anandtech.com reviews and user opinons. Worked out great and I was very pleased - thanks guys 🙂 Sold that system to a relative, and now I need a new one 🙂

I already have a monitor, CD-RW, and hard drive. I have had great experiences w/ Newegg, and would like the convenience of ordering all from one place. I'll be using this for gaming, school, web, etc, etc.

Here's what I've assembled:

Abit VIA KT266A Chipset Motherboard Model KR7A-Raid - $89 (refurb)
AMD 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP PROCESSOR CPU- OEM - $117
CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM - OEM - $85
ATI Radeon 8500 64MB DDR AGP RETAIL - $165
ANTEC Mini Tower ATX Case Model SX630 with 300 Watt Power Supply - $65 (chose this, because I don't want a full tower, and I want something quiet)

Grand Total: $550 shipped.

Any recommendations or experiences w/ the above equipment? I'm looking for the most bang for that price range.
 
Why not get a new ECS K7S5A? I'd trust it over a refurbished KT266A (which some say still have data transfer problems). Besides, I'm running one in my system and took me less than an hour to set up, with basically zero hassle.

From Newegg.com

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ - $89
Thermaltake Volcano 5 - $9
ECS K7S5A - $52
Kingston 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM - $72
Gainward GF3 Ti200 Golden Sample 64MB - $149
Enlight 7237 /w 300W AMD Appr. PSU - $46
Sunon 80mm fan - $5

Total - $422

BTW, you can overclock the Gainward to 200/450 guaranteed. That's why it's called a Golden Sample (plus, the full name of it includes PowerPack 450 !!! which means the memory speed...)
 


<< Why not get a new ECS K7S5A? I'd trust it over a refurbished KT266A (which some say still have data transfer problems). Besides, I'm running one in my system and took me less than an hour to set up, with basically zero hassle.

From Newegg.com

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ - $89
Thermaltake Volcano 5 - $9
ECS K7S5A - $52
Kingston 256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM - $72
Gainward GF3 Ti200 Golden Sample 64MB - $149
Enlight 7237 /w 300W AMD Appr. PSU - $46
Sunon 80mm fan - $5

Total - $422

BTW, you can overclock the Gainward to 200/450 guaranteed. That's why it's called a Golden Sample (plus, the full name of it includes PowerPack 450 !!! which means the memory speed...) >>



Wow, I can use my old SDRAM on that sucker.....interesting.

I may stick w/ the Radeon 8500, since I don't reall want to overclock the CPU or vid card....

hey, onboard LAN too.....
 


<< ...
From Newegg.com

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ - $89
Thermaltake Volcano 5 - $9
 >>



since when can you get an XP 1700+ for under $100, let alone $89??
 
DUDE are you on drugs? Ditch AMD for now, get a northwood 1.6A, these puppies can overclock over 1GHZ with STANDARD HSF. Haven't you been reading the forums?? Heres what you should get:

Asus P4S333 Sis 645 Board
Pentium 4 1.6A Northwood RETAIL w/HSF
OCZ 256 PC2100 w/ "NANYA" chips
Radeon 8500 RETAIL
Antec Midtower chassis w/300W P4 PSU

-$540
 
If you don't mind overclocking, I have to agree with humank.

It's hard to beat a 2400-2560MHz P4 system for $550. Hell, there are a number of people here that have been upgrading from your proposed system to $550 P4 2400-2600MHz systems. You might as well save yourself the money and cut out one more upgrade, ehh? 🙂
 
But then I need to deal w/ cooling, fans, more noise, more heat, etc.

This setup's in my bedroom and I'd rather not have the extra fan noise. Won't I have to deal with those issues as well?
 
I'm running the ECSK7S5a w/Lan in one rig and it's been fine (cheap too). The sound playback is ok (I have an extra SB Live! if I find that the recording is bad with it, plus you can use your old RAM until DDR prices get real again.

In terms of cases, I like the SuperPower Polaris Mid-Tower ($57 or so) for most things since it's not too tall but still has lots of room (deeper than most cases). The only thing I don't like is that the two 3.5" hard drive bays are right under the floppy - all bunched up and bad for cooling if you're running 7200 rpm drives.

As far as CPU coolers go, I like the Thermalright SK6, but it comes with a noisy delta fan that draws like .494 amps - noisy as hell and excessive if you don't overclock. I bought a replacement fan (molex, not 3 prong MB fan) for it and it runs pretty quiet and cool.
 
But then I need to deal w/ cooling, fans, more noise, more heat, etc.

get a northwood 1.6A, these puppies can overclock over 1GHZ with STANDARD HSF
 


<< But then I need to deal w/ cooling, fans, more noise, more heat, etc. >>



You've got things reversed. The P4, even when overclocked, produces less heat and less noise with the stock heatsink (which is all you need). With the P4, even overclocked, you don't need any case fans.
 


<< But then I need to deal w/ cooling, fans, more noise, more heat, etc.

get a northwood 1.6A, these puppies can overclock over 1GHZ with STANDARD HSF >>



wait, i misread that. i thought you said it can be overclocked to 2GHz w/ standard hsf.

you mean over 2.6 GHz!? yikes......back to the drawing board.....
 
2.6 from a 1.6A is certainly feasible, but not likely. 2.1-2.4 is the general range. Still, at $145 (or less) for a 1.6A Retail Box, you can't go wrong.

I'm the biggest AMD fanatic around these parts, but Northwood is a better option for the time being.
 
Honestly, it's a coin flip these days regarding 1.6A vs. 1700+. If you don't want to overclock the choice is clear - AMD.

One comment regarding your component choices, make sure your power supply is on AMDs list of approved supplies, I don't think the Antec 300W'er is approved for a 1700+. The Antec 600/800/1000 series cases are made by Chem-ming (spelling?). These same cases are sold under the Cheiftech brand for less money. Check these out at Newegg, the 400W'er is a very nice ps although it doesn't come in the smaller 600 series case.

Another comment is related to the K7S5A, while many people have had good luck with these boards, many others have not. They seem to require a high output ps and are a pain to set up - mine was at any rate.

Just my $.02 - and overpriced at that.

Ed
 
*sigh* in the end i may have to go with the lesser expensive route, which will probably be an AMD setup.
 


<< *sigh* in the end i may have to go with the lesser expensive route, which will probably be an AMD setup.

Abit VIA KT266A Chipset Motherboard Model KR7A-Raid - $89 (refurb)
AMD 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP PROCESSOR CPU- OEM - $117 >>

The difference is only $33 for a Asus P4S333 ($101) + P4 1.6A retail ($138) from Googlegear.com.

The default P4 heatsink produces about half as much noise as the default Athlon heatsink (Coolermaster).
 


<< *sigh* in the end i may have to go with the lesser expensive route, which will probably be an AMD setup. >>



I was thinking:

AMD 1700+/266 FSB Athlon XP PROCESSOR CPU- OEM: $115 (dropped $2! woohoo)
ECS K7S5A SiS® 735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL with On-Board LAN Port and Sound: $52 (new)

Total: $167

only $30 more than the 1.6A by itself. or, with the money saved, i could just get a faster XP
 


<< The default P4 heatsink produces about half as much noise as the default Athlon heatsink (Coolermaster). >>



I always thought most of the system noise was from the PS fan.
 


<< I always thought most of the system noise was from the PS fan. >>

You thought wrong. 🙂 Of course, that depends on your power supply too. Power supplies typically use 80mm fans, whereas the stock AMD heatsink uses a 60mm fan with higher pitch.
 
can you compare an Athlon Tbird 1Ghz (what i had before) w/ the P4? Noise level, specifically?

My previous system was the 1Ghz Tbird, and the most noise was coming from the stock PS from the Inwin case.
 
iamme,

That depends on what heatsink you were using. If it was the AMD heatsink from Taisol, the P4 heatsink produces less noise.

Of course, this really isn't that big of deal. If you want to reduce the noise on the Athlon, you simply buy a larger heatsink like the $30 Alpha PAL8045 or Thermalright AX7 and mate it with a $5 80mm Panaflo L1A or M1A fan.
 
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