Hope my last nForce2 upgrade isn't a waste...

[DirthNader]

My system for the past year has been:

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
Athlon XP 2700+ @ stock speed
1 GB PC2700 RAM (2x256, 1x512)
BFG GeForce 5200 Ultra @ 365MHz core, 710MHz mem
Seagate Barracuda 160GB IDE HDD

My PC is really for Star Wars games - Galaxies, KOTOR, and BattleFront. The memory was the local shop special, and I got what I paid for - none of the "PC2700" stuff would run at 333Mhz without bumping the RAM voltage up to 2.8V. Even at 2.8V, I'd get random crashes maybe once a week. I figured I'd give one more update to this old AGP box.

I just spent a little bit of green on:

Mushkin 512x2 PC3200
BFG GeForce 6600GT

I've been running my CPU at 11x200MHz for a week now as a test with no problems. I'm hoping that quality PC3200 RAM will let me run the memory at 200MHz as well, giving me a "real" 2.2GHz @ 200MHz fsb PC.

I'm having to force v1.4 shaders in SWG, because letting it run with the default v2.0 shaders brings my little 5200 Ultra to its knees, even at 1024x768 w/o AA or AF. Hopefully the 660GT will help in that area, maybe even enough to turn on volumetric shadows without coming to a screetching halt.

A nice bonus is that now I've got enough spare parts to make another desktop that isn't a K6-3+ (I'm so very cutting edge ). I've got a spare Athlon XP 1700+ and Leadtek nForce2 mobo, so the old RAM will be going in at 266MHz fsb along with the 5200 Ultra. Don't know what I'll do with another mediocre desktop though...

 

[tfinch2]

Distributed Computing? Check it out.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Distributed Computing? Check it out.

indeed!
join a team on the distributed forums

 

[mshan]

A great resource for your Asus A7N8X computer:

http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

The sticky is loaded with lots of good info.

From what I've read, that mobo tops out at about 220 fsb. Winbond BH5 or CH5 seems to be very, very compatible with that board. Also could consider an mobile Athlon XP for more overclocking potential (seems like 2.4 or 2.5 is a reasonable target, but you would need to use a higher multiplier b/c fsb limit of that mobo)

If you read the customer reviews at NewEgg, it seems like some people are using that 2 x 512 MB Corsair Value Select kit for under $100 successfully with the A7N8X mobo.