first Athlon rig, need help chosing MB & CPU

anazoal

Senior member
May 30, 2000
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Hi, I'm building a rig for a friend -- this will be my first AMD system. Any help and/or comments would be appreciated.

1. Cost is important, the MB + CPU should cost < $300 (I think AMD will give me more bang for the buck),
2. My friend wants a 1 GHz CPU at all cost (I can probably convince him to get a Thunderbird 950), and
3. This system will not be overclocked (well, I can overclock it for him, but he won't be doing any tweaking).


How does this sound:
MB: FIC AZ11E Socket-A KT133 (686B) ATX (~$100 afeter shipping)
CPU: Thunderbird Socket A 1GHz (200Mhz Bus)With Standard Fan (~$200 after shipping)

Is this motherboard any good? Anandtech's
review gives it 7.5/10. Is it okay, or can I find something better for the price? Should I perhaps opt for a Thunderbird 950 and more expensive MB?

And what type of RAM shoudl I use (what's this 200 MHz FSB)?

BTW, I've already purchased a case with 300W AMD approved PSU.
 

stultus

Golden Member
Dec 2, 2000
1,774
0
76
You might as well get a KT133A motherboard for later on when he wants to upgrade. No reason to get outdated technology in a new computer! If price is an option, you can get an EPoX 8KTA3 at newegg.com for $117 shipped. That puts you just a few more pennies than $300...

You will use standard PC133 ram in this system. There is a x2 &quot;marketing hype&quot; that they apply to the FSB. But All you really *need* is 100 for 100/200 FBS Athlons, or PC133 for &quot;266&quot; Athlons, but ram is cheap. Buy 256 PC133 and be happy.