ECS K7S5A and memory

[deadseasquirrel]

since the board has 2 slots for sdram and 2 slots for ddr ram... which would get better performance-- 512mb of sdram (2x256) or CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM?

the reason i ask is i already have the sdram and could reuse.

deadseasquirrel

 

[tenoc]

The ddr should still be slightly better, but since you have the sdram on hand, I'd use it.

You'll probably want ddr333 or 400 for your next upgrade anyhow.

 

[Peter]

DDR is faster, but certainly not worth ditching SDRAM you already have.

When running two DIMMs, make sure you use a current BIOS.

 

[Buz2b]

If you are comparing SDRAM to DDR then DDR wins. However, if I'm not mistaken, you are saying would it be best to have 512 (SDRAM) vs 256 (DDR), then the 512 would give you more "grunt". Yeah, it might be at a slightly different/lower speed, but twice the amount will make up for a lot of things. Stick with that for now as was already mentioned.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

thx for all the replies. i figured i would wanna salvage everything i could... after all, it's only a system for my 5 y/o son. he's got a p350 right now that's still chugging along, but with limited speed and a 16meg video card, he can't enjoy tony hawk 3 as much as he'd like. so far it looks like this:

all from newegg--
ECS K7S5A $53
Athlon 1600+ $52
Volcano 7 $15
GeForce Ti4200 128MB $154
WD 80GB 8MB cache $105
Antec sx840 $109
everything else salvaged from 2 other systems.

Total $488 plus shipping. I could prolley save a couple bucks with a hot deal on the WD drive somewhere else, and scale down the case a bit. And no doubt the Ti4200s will drop in price when they finally release their new cards.

deadseasquirrel

 

[Buz2b]

Only thing that stands out to me is that HSF. You could do better with less noise and still save a few bucks. You could get a Golden Gate HSF ($8.99) from SVC or even a GC68 ($5.99). Heck, you could get the GC68 (here) for $5.99 that comes with a 32cfm, 80mm fan (works "up to" XP1800+) and even add a higher cfm (you would still get the stock fan) for less than the volcano 7. Well, I guess you'd have to add some shipping, but the point is maybe you should take another look at that area. Other than that, he will have a better system than my wife! :Q

 

[maxSe]

ECS K7S5A $53
Athlon 1600+ $52
Volcano 7 $15
GeForce Ti4200 128MB $154
WD 80GB 8MB cache $105
Antec sx840 $109

Whooa... wish my dad would've set me up a system like this when I was 5... :Q Heck.. I don't even have a GF4... yet...

Everything looks fine, but I concur with Buz2b regarding the HSF. You can get much quieter solution than Volcano series...