Athlon 700 with Ti200 ok? Upgrade options? Price drop changes things.

[FluxCap]

I actually just read an unfavorable review for the Abit board. I may have to look elsewhere.

 

[afex]

here are 3 motherboards that i would recomend to anyone. they are stable, cheap and feature filled. (newegg.com prices listed)

Shuttle AK31A - $59
Shuttle AK35GT2 - $74
Shuttle AK35GTR - $76

the ak31a is based on via's kt266a chipset, has excellent onboard sound, and you can oc the hell out of it (i do at least ;p )
the ak35gt2 is essentially just an upgrade from the ak31, it uses the kt333 chipset, has the same great sound.
the ak35gtr is one step above the gt2 at it has onboard raid. only difference...and the price diff isnt that much either . BUT it still only has 2 ide channels...not 4 like you would expect.

from my experience the kt333 wasnt that much of a jump, comparitively speaking. the kt266 > kt266a was awesome...but if your running pc2100 ddr then go for the ak31a - its one of the most stable boards ive ever encountered and you can O/C from the bios (i've reached 152mhz fsb, 2 hours stable)

as far as a nic goes, smc's seem to work best w/ this board (pci slot 3). (a linksys card will work as well)

NOTE: ak31a isn't currently in stock @newegg , don't go for the ak32L , its a bad board in general...bad sound (sounds like a muffled blown 5watt speaker after being processed through a tin can), via kt266 (not a) chipset and doesn't O/C as well (147 fsb max)

when you buy an athlon 1600+ xp cpu and shuttle ak31a mobo you get 5 bucks off

anyway before i get off on a tangent thats my reccomendation, 59 for mobo 54.99 for cpu , throw in the cost of a shim , volcano9 (new and improved!!), nic, thermal paste and ram and your at 300 or so before shipping. ii'd check googlegear.com also , they have lower prices than newegg (sometimes) , always cheap shipping and great customer service.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Emultra you're on an English speaking site it isn't polite to go sticking things like, "Vet inte. Men du kan ju alltid prova, det kanske går" in there.

Vous devriez etre plus de comprehension et moins de sourd-muet, et lire peu plus aussi!

Sie sollten mehr Verstandnis und weniger dumb sein, und auch lesen wenig!

Dovreste essere piu comprensione e meno dumb e leggere poco piu anche!

Usted debe ser mas comprensión y menos mudo, y leer poco mas tambien!

 

[FluxCap]

I think I am getting cold feet. With all the new boards and video cards looming I feel like I am jumping the gun if I want something that will last me about 2 years. I guess if I could play Doom 3 and UT2K3 well then I would be happy. With Visiontek falling apart I might see if I can get a great deal on a card in the next month. Good idea?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well currently there are plenty of new technology and perf promised over the next 6 months, but then that is ALWAYS the case so waiting rarely helps.

I'd rec buying a GF4TI4200-128 now as with a new CPU it will play all current games exceptionally well and the most demanding games like UT2003 and DoomIII should be pretty decent in 800x600x32 but don't forget these games aren't even finished yet. The only way you're going to get better at the moment is to pay $350-400 for a Rad9700 although there is a possibility in 3-6 months that there will be a budget version (well $200) of Rad9700 or NV30.

 

[AnAndAustin]

For the CPU the new AthlonXP-B 512k (XP2400+ & XP2600+) on Barton core seem to be pretty good, esp o/c'ing as XP2000+ to XP2200+ don't o/c at all. Not sure of the prices for XP-B but XP1900+ and XP2000+ are cheap and fast at the moment.

For the mobo it seems in terms of true benefits that the new mobos may not be hugely beneficial but are likely to be fairly more pricey. If you are happy to compromise a little then current SktA mobos are more than fine ... KT266A/333 for o/c'ing, tweaking and a slight speed advantage and SiS735/745 or nForce1 for stability the nForce being great for great quality onboard goodies too.

 

[FluxCap]

With the Intel price drops and the AMD ones to follow? I think I would be smart to wait now. Anyone think so?

 

[AnAndAustin]

Waiting never really pays off, you'll always find price drops and new technology are imminent. Over the next 6 months we should see Rad10000, NV30, $200 'budget' DX9 versions, true dual DDR, DDR-II, Serial ATA, AMD Hammer CPUs (with new Skt), 0.09mu P4 (prob new Skt too) and DVD Writers should begin to become mainstream hopefully with a unified compatible standard. But if you've waited for all that, and it may be 12 months for it ALL to arrive, there will be even more on the horizon and you'd still be waiting for the 'right time' with your Athlon 700mhz, PC100 and Voodoo5.

There will always be price drops and better kit, but that doesn't mean the improvements you got with your last upgrade haven't given months of pleasure and still cut the mustard with what you need to do AND what you like to do. If you really want to wait then I'd say get a Rad8500, GF3 or GF4TI to at least make the wait as pleasant as possible, but IMHO with an Athlon 700mhz you should take advantage of the current pricing and tremendous perf boost you'll get for your cash and take the plunge on a new mobo and CPU to go with your gfx card. Things to wait for are really more of a 'if you want the top-of-the-line' kind of deal and for the budget conscious purchaser you will gain a little more by waiting with each passing month, but it is rarely worth it IMHO.