Gaming Machine?

[baZillionaire]

I am buying a case w/power supply, a new mb and processor. I want AthlonXP processor. I would like to buy the mb and processor as a combo. I have 500MB+ of SDRAM and want to use that. Any suggestions of what is my best bet? My budget is $200 -$235 for these parts of the system. What mb do you recommend that will work with my SDRAM but also DDR so I will be able to upgrade RAM later?

 

[baZillionaire]

Also the RAM I have is 2-128's, and 1-256

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: baZillionaire
I am buying a case w/power supply, a new mb and processor. I want AthlonXP processor. I would like to buy the mb and processor as a combo. I have 500MB+ of SDRAM and want to use that. Any suggestions of what is my best bet? My budget is $200 -$235 for these parts of the system. What mb do you recommend that will work with my SDRAM but also DDR so I will be able to upgrade RAM later?

SDR SDRAM and DDR SDRAM are both SDRAM.
The ECS K7S5A is about all there is for SDR & DDR. IMO, you're better off getting a newer mobo instead.
Edit: in the case of your RAM, you will NOT find a board with 3 168-pin DIMM slots and any 184-pin slots.

It's not a mobo/CPU combo (if you can find a good one, though, go for it): All prices at Newegg
DYNAPOWER Metis Series ATX Case with 300W Power supply, Model "CS-I3ASB.701" -RETAIL $40 (shipped)
Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM $73
ECS SiS 746 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "L7S7A2" -RETAIL $46
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail $90
Total: $234

 

[fstime]

Ok man , Well lets see. First off that sdram cant be used since the latest athlon xps only support DDR which I believe is a bit different but at the same times way faster. You can get a 2800+ $110 abit nf7-s $100 and for the case..Get the aspire superalien..Comes with PSU so yea.... A stick of low end 512 corsair only coasts you about 80 bucks and thats DDR400...Make sure you get DDR3200 or DDR400 its the same thing. you should be set around 500 bucks... If your looking to overclock get the 2500+ but if you are not planing to the 2800+ is fine. Do you need a video card? If so 9800 pro 128 mb version is around 230-250 killer deal. that should be a killer gaming rig

-BouZouki

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: BouZouki
Ok man , Well lets see. First off that sdram cant be used since the latest athlon xps only support DDR which I believe is a bit different but at the same times way faster.

Chipsets. The processor's support for anything like that, to my knowledge, has not changed since they went to the Slot-A (isn't the FSB taken right from Alpha?).

You can get a 2800+ $110 abit nf7-s $100 and for the case..Get the aspire superalien..Comes with PSU so yea.... A stick of low end 512 corsair only coasts you about 80 bucks and thats DDR400...Make sure you get DDR3200 or DDR400 its the same thing. you should be set around 500 bucks... If your looking to overclock get the 2500+ but if you are not planing to the 2800+ is fine. Do you need a video card? If so 9800 pro 128 mb version is around 230-250 killer deal. that should be a killer gaming rig

Yeah, except for the $235 bit.

-BouZouki

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sell your SDRAM in the FS/FT forum (read the rules first, you'll need to turn on your profle, have a valid email address, etc.).

Then take Cerb's good advice.

 

[baZillionaire]

Thank you all, Cerb, esp., the exact items w/prices is very helpful. I am ordering tonite!

 

[baZillionaire]

ordered .... but i changed the case. thanks again!

 

[Cerb]

Cool. That case was just the cheapest that I would really trust to have a decent PSU (when it's a 400w PSU and the 3.3v+5v spec is 168w...somebody's smokin' stuff, you know?). If anything screws up when you get it...just post.

 

[0roo0roo]

don't use non ddr in a gaming system. i tossed sdram on a xp processor+ecs m/b before, and the diffference between ddr is noticable even in wnidows, a certain lack of snappiness.

for non gaming its fine, my moms email machine uses my old non ddr

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
don't use non ddr in a gaming system. i tossed sdram on a xp processor+ecs m/b before, and the diffference between ddr is noticable even in wnidows, a certain lack of snappiness.

for non gaming its fine, my moms email machine uses my old non ddr

I might try that one day. I've been using DDR since the cheap AMD 760 boards were $130, and just haven't, with current prices, seen a reason to even think about PC100/133.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea, the pc100/133 is hand me down stuff.

 

[baZillionaire]

WOOT, order is scheduled to get in tomorrow! NEVER done this so it should be interesting... this will be replacing a 333 (with the non-DDR RAM aforementioned) so am hoping to see BIG improvements. I'll post how it all turns out!

 

[Mike99Pgh]

Just wondering what processor you went with? No reason to go any higher than an XP2500+ since you can OC it to XP3200+.

 

[baZillionaire]

I went exactly with what Cerb recommended, which was:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail $90 at newegg. So far so good.
Do you think it is a good idea to overclock? I wasn't planning on that, but would be interested in hearing what is the opinion...

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: baZillionaire
I went exactly with what Cerb recommended, which was:
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail $90 at newegg. So far so good.
Do you think it is a good idea to overclock? I wasn't planning on that, but would be interested in hearing what is the opinion...

My opinion:
If it needs overvolting, it's not worth it. Otherwise, go for it. And usually Prime95 will chatch an error if it gets too high--otherwise something else will. The L7S7A2 might not get to 200MHz using stock cooling, though (typically it reaches 205 or 210--allegedly there has been as high as 230--with the Zalman NB32j or NB47). 180-190 tends to be a max with the stock cooling (in case you didn't know, 333MHz is DDR, the actual speed is 166 2/3MHz). It's normall held on with tape, so if you remove the board, it is pretty easy to remove.

 

[Mike99Pgh]

Agree with Cerb on that...depends on what your mobo can do. I run my XP2500+ in an Abit NF7-S which is a great overclocker. I set the FSB at 200MHz when I put everything together and forgot about it. Never had any problems. I do have the Zalman northbridge cooler.

 

[baZillionaire]

HA, Cerb, you SO went over my head with that answer, lol! It all sounds great but...... I think I better leave that alone for now... first goal is to get the parts in place and working

 

[Cerb]

Hah, OK. Explanation:
Obligatory speed chart:
133MHz = 266MHz DDR = PC2100 RAM
166MHz = 333MHz DDR = PC2700 RAM
200MHz = 400MHz DDR = PC3200 RAM

The northbidge chip (the chipset chip with a heatsink on it, near the CPU) runs hotter as you run the front-side bus faster.
So it needs more heat dissipation as it runs faster. AFAIK, the L7S7A2 does not allow multiplier adjustments. A 2500+, at 1.83GHz, is running at 11x the front-side bus speed. In this case, 166 2/3MHz * 11 = 1833MHz. Increasing the FSB speed increases the CPU speed. 200MHz * 11 = 2.2GHz (3200+ speed).
Typically the heatsink, which isn't great to begin with on that board, is attached with double-sided tape...not the greatest. So it gets too hot when you run it faster (like with the FSB at 200Mhz). Aftermarket northbidge heatsinks are then required. The Zalman ones are awesome . One of them on it would allow you to overclock to the limit of the chip itself.

If you had mentioned overclocking earlier, I would have steered you to the Abit NF7. However, the 2500+ should be fine for a year or so. I'm still running an 1800+, as newer games seem to be using more video card and are stressing the CPU less (not that an Athlon64 doesn't have its place, but is hardly a requirement if you're on a real budget).
With no overclocking, the SiS746 chipset is as fast as single-channel NForce2, so right up there for a nice budget machine, and the chipsets have made great differences in performance (I can really feel the difference from a KT333 to NForce2 single-channel).

 

[baZillionaire]

Great, thanks for the info. I am going to see what performance this gives as is. I am SURE it's going to be so much better than the OLD 333 it's replacing!