Best SDRAM/Socket A Mobo?

[Netopia]

Hey Gang,

There's a guy I know who doesn't have a lot of money but wants to get some more life and bang from his current stetup. He has an old SIS based (K7-SEM v1.1e) motherboard, a Duron 1.3GHz, an GeForce 5200 and a GIG of SDRAM.

I told him that the quickest way for him to get some more bang was to get rid of that dog of a graphics card. The next thing I would think he should do is to get a better CPU, but that old mobo (from what I can find) can only handle a Palomino 2200+... so I was wondering if there was a better mobo that could be found that could use his GIG of SDRAM while allowing him a wider range of new CPUs. He doesn't have a lot of money, so I'm just trying to help him get the most bang he can until he can save up enough (maybe a year) to get an Athlon64 based system. If he gets a better mobo, I'll probably just give him a better CPU to help out.

Anyone got any ideas? I realize that we're talking about old technology at this point, but if anyone would know, it would be the AnandTech Community!

Joe

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Shuttle has been selling reliable boards for minimal expenditure. They tend to leave out the bells and whistles, but a new A35N is priced around $50. HOWEVER, hold on a second. If you mean the old PC-100/PC-133 SIMMs with only 168 pins, your buddy is totally out of luck. DDR took over the entire market at least two years ago.

The last still-new MB's that accepted that SDRAM went to the Overstock/Surplus market over a year or more back. There are sellers on eBay offering what they call "new" old stock that includes KT133 boards like my *beloved* old ZXE from Gigabyte, but it tops out with Palomino XP cpu's, not even Thoroughbreds (max 2100). I'll bet that is typical. There were a few two-way boards from both Gigabyte and Biostar that I know about that took either 168 or 184 pin RAM; but those also predated the Thoroughbred cores for XP cpu's.

 

[Netopia]

Yeah... those were my basic findings too, but I feel better knowing that someone else confirmed my (sad) thoughts on the matter.

Seems a shame to waste a GIG of PC133.

Joe

 

[TStep]

KT7A (V1.3 only) and a few KM266 boards I believe had SDRAM and Athlon XP support.

OOPs, not postive if those are TBred XP compatible though

 

[Netopia]

Strange that you mention that particular mobo, since that is what I'm using on the machine I'm typing from! It's got a Pally in it and the FSB is upped from 133 to 140 so that it is generally at 1900+ speeds instead of the 1800+ that's in it. At 145 (the next step) it is a bit less stable. This is just an office machine though, so it doesn't matter but the other guy wants to game, so I'm wondering if I can help him. The main thing is that he doesn't have the money for an A64 setup right now, but I'd hate to see him put hundreds into DDR and AGP if they are going out with the next generation.

Joe

 

[TStep]

In the end it is rather futile to try to squeeze anymore out of his system. Maybe you could put it to him like this:

Sell:
-mobo plus duron (at least $30)
-FX5200 (at least $35)
-should be able to trade 1G SDRAM for 512k PC3200, or sell for = dollars

I'm not sure what the funding is, but P4 and A64 are probably too much $$$ from the sound of your post.

Maybe:
-a Newegg refurb NF2 for $35ish
-A sharp eye can grab a TBredB XP for under $45
-512k DDR from logic above
-Ti4200 for $50ish, 9600 for $80ish not sure of the budget

All in all, you should be able to set him up the the cost of the graphics card of choice. Not A64 fast, but very capable (especially with the overclocking capabilities of NF2 and TBredB) and would be like night and day compared to what he has.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, that, or you could find an ECS K7S5A Pro (v.5) board somewhere for cheap, but those were known to occasionally have some mfg QC issues. (Actually, I'm uncertain if the later board revs still had the SDRAM slots on them.)

But the way RAM prices are now, it wouldn't be a bad idea to trade that Gig of SDR in to a memory dealer and get some DDR, DDR prices are falling, and SDR prices are still kind of "up there", as long as some demand remains.