Critique this upgrade... :) First upgrade in 3 years.. Help me do it right!

[Eli]

Welp.. It's time.

I'm finally upgrading my K6-3/400 @ 450, 2.6v. It's been solid for the last 3 years, but it is time for something new...

My current system:
Epox MVP3G-M board
K6-3/400 @ 450, 2.6v
Creative Labs RivaTNT1
18gb WD Expert
45gb IBM 75GXP
Plexwriter 12/10/32A
3x128mb Micron PC133
Promise Ultra/66
SB Live! Value
Intel NIC
250W power supply (max of 8.0amps on +12v)

This is what I'm considering upgrading to.. It will be a minimum upgrade, because I don't really have very much money.

Shuttle AK32A board
AthlonXP 1700+ (AXDA core ... hopefully a revision B)
Thermalright SLK-800 heatsink
Enermax 300W power supply (22amps max on +12v)

I'm going to keep my old video card. Any known issues with the old Nvidia chips, and newer boards?

I won't need the promise card anymore... And I'll only be able to use 2 of my 128mb DIMMs for a total of 256mb.

Going to disable onboard sound and use the SB Live. I have a decent YS Tech 60mm 5000rpm fan that puts out 38cfm, so I'm just going to use that on the heatsink... power supply is self explanitory.

Anybody see any problems with this? Is there anything that would be better? Perhaps a hot deal I don't know about?

Going to get it all from Newegg, total will be about 210$ including shipping.

 

[pillage2001]

The shouldn't be any issue with the TNT1 as long as the drivers are there. As for the Rev b issue. Chances are you won't be getting it for the time being. Otherwise. It's a good upgrade.

 

[OS]

you can get a stick of pc133/512 at staples this week for about 40 bux.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: OS
you can get a stick of pc133/512 at staples this week for about 40 bux.

If I were going to shell out the money for more memory, I would get some nice PC2700 DDR.

memory speed is going to seriously hinder system performance.. but it's still going to be a hell of a lot faster than this K6-3/00 @ 450.

 

[pillage2001]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: OS
you can get a stick of pc133/512 at staples this week for about 40 bux.

If I were going to shell out the money for more memory, I would get some nice PC2700 DDR.

memory speed is going to seriously hinder system performance.. but it's still going to be a hell of a lot faster than this K6-3/00 @ 450.

256 to 512 is a difference regardless of PC2700 or P133. Afterall, you won't find pc2700 for 40 bucks anytime soon.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: OS
you can get a stick of pc133/512 at staples this week for about 40 bux.

If I were going to shell out the money for more memory, I would get some nice PC2700 DDR.

memory speed is going to seriously hinder system performance.. but it's still going to be a hell of a lot faster than this K6-3/00 @ 450.

If you remember my other thread, I did a similar upgrade and I reused 512 megs of SDRAM. I don't notice it being held back really. If you're interested in a benchmark, I can do some.

Though I guess you can just keep an eye out for cheap DDR. Memory prices usually collapse in spring.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: pillage2001

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: OS
you can get a stick of pc133/512 at staples this week for about 40 bux.

If I were going to shell out the money for more memory, I would get some nice PC2700 DDR.

memory speed is going to seriously hinder system performance.. but it's still going to be a hell of a lot faster than this K6-3/00 @ 450.

256 to 512 is a difference regardless of PC2700 or P133. Afterall, you won't find pc2700 for 40 bucks anytime soon.

Shrug.. My system has become unstable lately, and while trying to diagnose it.. I was removing memory..

I can only notice the difference between 256 and 384 when I have a LOT of things open...

I noticed the difference when I only had 128 right away though. I think having 256 is a nice compromise, since the system will be more than twice as fast anyway.

 

[pillage2001]

What OS would you be on? I suppose Win2k or WinXp?? You might not notice alot of performance gain but it all comes down to what you do on the pc.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
What OS would you be on? I suppose Win2k or WinXp?? You might not notice alot of performance gain but it all comes down to what you do on the pc.

Win2k..

Is what I'm really interested in is if like, the heatsink I'm getting will work.. I just don't want to have any weird problems.. And I've been out of the computer hardware loop for like a year now, so I had to do a lot of researching..

 

[pillage2001]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: pillage2001
What OS would you be on? I suppose Win2k or WinXp?? You might not notice alot of performance gain but it all comes down to what you do on the pc.

Win2k..

Is what I'm really interested in is if like, the heatsink I'm getting will work.. I just don't want to have any weird problems.. And I've been out of the computer hardware loop for like a year now, so I had to do a lot of researching..

Don't see why you'll be having problem with 512mb of RAM. The HSF you're buying is the best money could buy.

 

[Eli]

bump

 

[bluemax]

The TNT1 isn't bad if you're NOT playing ANY 3D games.... I'd suggest 256MB RAM and a cheap video card rather than 512 and your old TNT1.
Surely you could justify a very cheap card like a GF2 GTS-V, Radeon original or LE, even a GF2-MX 400.
A GF4MX-420 or 440 is VERY cheap and would make a world of difference to overall games, same for a cheap Radeon 8500LE. Mention on here what your cheapest options are and we'll steer you in the right direction.
3D games need a good video processor - period.

If you're NOT playing games, a Matrox G200 or G400 would be a good option because of its MUCH improved 2D desktop quality. My Creative Labs TNT1 was pretty fuzzy... Cards by ATI or ELSA or VisionTek were good too.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Unless your gonna Seriously OC that baby, i'd consider getting this Heatsink, GC 69 for 9.99 plus S+H.

that SLK gotta be running you over $40.00 at newegg. take the $30 diff and buy more ram.

just me anyway.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Unless your gonna Seriously OC that baby, i'd consider getting this Heatsink, GC 69 for 9.99 plus S+H.

that SLK gotta be running you over $40.00 at newegg. take the $30 diff and buy more ram.

just me anyway.

Yeah, I was planning on overclocking..

I'm not going to be buying any new memory, that's the whole purpose of getting the Shuttle AK32A.. so I can use my old SDR SDRAM for now. If I was going to shell out money for new memory, I would get a decent board.

Nah, not really into games.. that's why I haven't upgraded. Newest games I can play are Quake3 and UT.

I'll keep looking around for better deals.. but it doesen't look like I'm going to get out of spending a bit over 200$.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Eli

i'd still seriously consider that GC HSF if i were you. save 30 bucks. I currently have the Palo 1700+ running in my system w/ a PAL 6035, not the big 8045 brother but the small one and it still keeps my temps at 36c at idle. i bet that gc (an 80mm hsf) will cool much better than this alpha i've got running.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
Eli

i'd still seriously consider that GC HSF if i were you. save 30 bucks. I currently have the Palo 1700+ running in my system w/ a PAL 6035, not the big 8045 brother but the small one and it still keeps my temps at 36c at idle. i bet that gc (an 80mm hsf) will cool much better than this alpha i've got running.

Hmmm..... I dunno. If I did get a cheaper heatsink, I'd probably get the Thermalright SK-7. It's 25$ on newegg.

I want to get something decent..... because I do want to try and overclock at least a little.

 

[PlatinumGold]

Hmmm..... I dunno. If I did get a cheaper heatsink, I'd probably get the Thermalright SK-7. It's 25$ on newegg.

I want to get something decent..... because I do want to try and overclock at least a little.

sorry, didn't mean to be pushy with it.

i do believe that you could oc w/ the gc69 just fine tho. the 1700 is a pretty cool running cpu. at least the one i have is. i haven't tried oc'ing it cause i don't wanna go thru the hassle of unlocking a palomino cpu. i got a 2700 coming tho, that one i might try and oc so i ordered a slk800 for that one.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Hmmm..... I dunno. If I did get a cheaper heatsink, I'd probably get the Thermalright SK-7. It's 25$ on newegg.

I want to get something decent..... because I do want to try and overclock at least a little.

sorry, didn't mean to be pushy with it.

i do believe that you could oc w/ the gc69 just fine tho. the 1700 is a pretty cool running cpu. at least the one i have is. i haven't tried oc'ing it cause i don't wanna go thru the hassle of unlocking a palomino cpu. i got a 2700 coming tho, that one i might try and oc so i ordered a slk800 for that one.

No, it's fine.. I'm open to all recomendations, I want this to be a trouble free upgrade.. That's why I posted the thread.

I was hoping to get it to around 2GHz, that's why I chose such a beefy heatsink. I'm just hoping that my old YS Tech 38fcm fan will be good enough for it. It's only a 60mm fan.

The thing that seems to worry me most.. is if the SLK-800 will fit on the board I'm getting. It would suck to get all the stuff, only to find it doesen't fit.

 

[PlatinumGold]

eli

i forgot to mention

w/ my palo cpu i'm using the alpha pal 6035 w/ a 26 cfm fan on it. it's quiet and it is keeping the cpu amazingly cool.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
eli

i forgot to mention

w/ my palo cpu i'm using the alpha pal 6035 w/ a 26 cfm fan on it. it's quiet and it is keeping the cpu amazingly cool.

Hmm.. Maybe it's a little overkill.. Maybe I'll just go ahead and get the SK-7.... I dunno. At the worst, I would only be able to run it at stock speed, or slightly overclocked. What a shame that would be..

How does the SDR memory clock work when bumping the FSB up? Does it go up too? Like if I wanted to up the clock from 266 to say 300, does that mean my memory would then be operating at 150MHz?

 

[Eli]

Need more input, people.

 

[PlatinumGold]

eli

did you get my pm?

 

[BentValve]

Eli you can do better than that ...I assume ~$200 is your budget?

That video card has got to go. I would highly recommend going with a full integrated solution since you cannot afford a few video card at this time.

How about...
Asus A7N266-VM (onboard Geforce 2, AC97 5.1 sound) $73 shipped at Newegg
Athlon 1600+ $48 shipped at Newegg
Glacial Tech 2320 Pro fan/hs $10 shipped at Newegg
Crucial 256mb ddr $60
Antec 300watt PS $45

$236 shipped , I think you would be quite happy with this set-up ...if I were you I would spring an extra $20 and get the ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES MODEL SLK1600 , $62 shipped.

 

[BentValve]

Oh and your not gonna find a rev B Thouroughbred in the 1700+ flavor for awhile, get the cheap and very reliable 1600+ for now, you can always upgrade later on.
I am gonna snatch up a few of these 1600+s myself cause you will never see an XP chip get any lower.

 

[BentValve]

give these to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and write them off
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Epox MVP3G-M board
K6-3/400 @ 450, 2.6
Creative Labs RivaTNT1
250W power supply
Promise Ultra/66


Reuse what you need here>>>>
Intel NIC
18gb WD Expert
45gb IBM 75GXP
Plexwriter 12/10/32A



Sell this for $25 >>>>>>>.
SB Live! Value