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Help the old fart? pt2

D

Doordie

Member
Now that I know where to shop it's just a question of what combo to get. Do you people have any recommendations for me or maybe a site where I can get a non-confusing idea on what combo would be right for me? Most reliable Motherboard, Fast reliable low cost Processor? There are so many to choose from.

I do have a generic clone ATX chasse. I hope that means I?m in good shape. 😕

I would love to be confident that my PC will play the heck out of the new PC games that have or will come out.

Thanks for all your help people! I am one step closer to having my dream PC thanks to you. 😛
 
How about this: Abit N7V-133R @ about $90. This board has everything but the kitchen sink. An Athlon XP 1.8 Ghz can be had for @ $85. 512 Meg of Crucial PC 2100 DDR will run you about $100 (2x256). That's under $300 for everything.....
 
Thanks flawedexistence. I don't know if you nailed the right choice for me or if everyone skipped the old fart. I see on pricewatch there is an Athlon XP 1800 for $83. I think that's a great deal and after reading some of the posts on this board I'm thinking maybe I should go with either an Asus or a Abit motherboard. I don't need sound on the board unless it's better than a low end sound card. I have a GeForce4 TI 4200 coming in the mail for video so at least that?s covered..

Boy am I confused. What do you guys think I should do? Get the Athlon XP 1800? What board would work well with this processor? I don't want to over clock. I can't afford to burn anything.

Newegg has KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM ? RETAIL for $52 is that what I will need?
 
I'll amplify a bit.................The Abit N7V133-R is an N-Force chipset. Everything I have read indicates that the chip is rock stable. The board comes with onboard sound. That is 6 channel digital v5.1 support. It IS better than a low end sound card. The board also has onboard LAN. Why don't you check out Abit's website? You can download the manual from there if you wish. The board is NOT a great overclocker, but it doesn't sound like that makes a big difference to you! PC2100 DDR SDRAM is a great bargain at this time. I have serious reservations about VIA chipsets ( KT266 and KT33) although there are many experienced guys who swear by VIA. IMHO, VIA is not a good choice for the novice. Having said that, why don't you also check out Anand's recent comparison of VIA KT 333 mobos?😉
 
flawedexistence it's NV7133-R not N7V-133R right? 😉

I was searching for the wrong board, thinking to myself what is this guy talking about. Do you have one of these?
 
How's the airflow and cooling in the area where you will be setting up the computer. If you think that it might be a little hot you might want to go Intel. My AMD 1800XP runs about 50C, while my Intel P4 1.6A is in the 30C-40C range. It's more than the Athlon and motherboard combo you are looking at, but a P4B533 and 1.6A would be a great choice.
 
flawedexistence I just read an article about VIA chipsets ( KT266 and KT333) I don't see anything wrong with them. Did I miss something?

AU Tiger the air flow is great! Small room big AC! 😀
Intel is out of my price range. I want to get more for my money, but thanks for the heads up!

This is what I found on my own.

Asus VIA A7V333 Chipset ATX Motherboard w/ RAID Retail Boxed
AMD Athlon XP Ready, C-Media CMI-8738 Onboard Sound. ASUS C.O.P. (CPU Overheating Protection), Support DDR333 (PC2700) **Promise IDE Raid ATA133** USB 2.0 Ready, TI controller1 x 1394 port, Asus Q-FAN (Variable Fan Speed Control) 5 x PCI 1 x AGP4X 3 x DDR DIMM Sockets. Max 3GB PC2700/PC2100/PC1600 DDR $146.00

But I don't need the RAID though. Having good OB sound would be nice. I don't want to spend extra cash on onboard LAN. I have a card.

Well slap this processor in and tell me what you think.

AMD Athlon XP 1800+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL Athlon XP 1800+/ 1.53GHz, AX1800 BOX. 3-Year Warranty. With Heatsink and Fan. The Ultimate Digital Media Experience in an x86 Platform.Tailored for Microsoft® Windows® XP. Featuring QuantiSpeed? Architecture for Rapid Execution of Applications. Tomorrow?s Technology Today.The Power of a Reliable Partner.
Specifications:
CPU: 1.53 GHz
Type: 1800 XP
Cache: 256K
BUS: 266MHz
Socket A (PGA) Retail (box with Heatsink and Fan) $108.00

I still need a power supply. I need to find out what W I need.

I need to go with the warrenty. I went through 2 AMD 550 MHz processors before I got a good one. I also tried 2 video cards and 2 motherboards before I realized I had gotten 2 bad processors in a row. That might explain why I'm so nervous and I waited so long to upgrade. I would like to have some confidence that this upgrade will make my dream PC. I'm not set on this at all. I would love some more Helpful tips.
 
I have nothing personal against VIA chipsets..........In fact, for the AMD procs, VIA has the fastest performing solutions. Sorry about getting the model number wrong on the ABIT board. If you decide to go with a VIA chipset, please refer to these forums. There are setup guides for most of the major players. I suggest you follow them carefully. I also agree with buying retail procs. Lastly, in reference to your question about power supplies; you need to go with a name brand such as Antec, Enermax, or Sparkle. I would suggest at least 350w.
 
I think I would like to go with a VIA chipset, but the Asus VIA A7V333 Chipset ATX Motherboard w/ RAID I think might be over my head. Too many jumpers I think. Thanks for the name brands for the power supplies. I still don't know what to do about this I have to find the right VIA mother board for me.

Hey thanks for your help on this flawedexistence.
 
Hey flawedexistence what do you think of this?

ABIT KX7-333R, VIA KT333 chipset motherboard with RAID
Specifications:
Chipset: VIA KT333 / VIA VT8233A
EIDE:Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 IDE protocol
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1500+ ~ 2200+ Socket A
Memory: 4x 184-pin DIMM sockets support PC1600/PC2100/PC2700 DDR SDRAM module
SoftMenu III Technology to set CPU parameters
ports: 1 AGP slot, 6 PCI slots
Built-in IrDA TX/RX header - ATX Form Factor $107.00
 
the epox 8k3a and 8k3a+ (the + version has raid) are both great boards based on the same chipset your looking at, the kt333

the abit board you mentioned is also very nice, but im not a big abit fan, ive had to many of their boards die on me 🙂 but to be honest from what i understand abit has improved a lot in the last couple years.

another board to look at would be the soyo dragon+

any of the above mentioned boards should work great for you
 
Why don't you do a quick search on that board on this forum? Some other nice forum sites are viahardware.com, amdmb.com, and motherboards.org. All will help you make an informed decision. BTW, don't get put off a board just because it's RAID capable. It's one of those features that can be disabled in BIOS. As to the above message, the EPOX boards are very popular with a lot of the guys/girls here because of their excellent overclocking potential.
 
OK. Call me crazy. :Q

This is what I went for at newegg.

KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2100 DDR RAM - RETAIL $56

MSI KT3 ULTRA (MS-6380E-010) VIA KT333 DDR ATA133 SocketA MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL Specifications: Socket A (Socket 462) for AMD® Athlon/ XP / Duron Processor. Supports DDR266/333 (PC 2100/2700) Max 3GB Supports ATA-133 IDE HD Integrated Audio (6-channel codec) AC97 Five PCI 2.2 32-bit Master PCI bus slots. One AGP 4X slot 4x USB 1.1 ports 2 on-board 2 on expansion slot. ATX Form Factor $77.00

AMD Athlon XP 1800+/266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL Athlon XP 1800+/ 1.53GHz, AX1800BOX. 3-Year Warranty. With Heatsink and Fan. The Ultimate Digital Media Experience in an x86 Platform.Tailored for Microsoft® Windows® XP. Featuring QuantiSpeed? Architecture for Rapid Execution of Applications. Tomorrow?s Technology Today.The Power of a Reliable Partner.
Specifications:
CPU: 1.53 GHz
Type: 1800 XP
Cache: 256K
BUS: 266MHz
Socket A (PGA) Retail (box with Heatsink and Fan) $108.00

Allied 350W Power Supply ATX350P4 ***AMD APPROVED good to 2100+ *** UL, CSA, FCC Approved
Power Supply Type : ATX
Dimensions : 5.5 x 6.0 x 3.3 Inches
Cooling : 12V Ball Bearing Fan
MTBF : 100,000 Hours
Hi-Pot/Burn-In : 100%
Protection : All Outputs
Warranty : Two Year
Approval: UL, CSA, FCC
Description: *Ideal for P3, P4 and AMD Systems
*AMD Approved for Athlon 1400/Athlon XP 2000+
*6 large and 2 Small Leads
*Ball Bearing Fans
*Color Retail Box $28.00

Then I went nuts and got this case w/blue light! for $99

Grand Total $368.00

What do you guys think? have I gone nuts? 😕
 
Setup my new PC and it is smokin! Not literally. 😉
I am playing JediKnight2 on the highest settings flawlessly! I love this new setup! Thanks for the advice. I would probably still be thinking about what to get had it not been for this board and its members. Well I got some games to play! See ya and may the force be with you! 😀

 
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