- Oct 23, 2000
- 9,200
- 765
- 126
Let me preface this by saying that I am open to other suggestions, I had just narrowed down my search to these two as the cheapest solid boards I can find with dual channel DDR. I have seriously considered a socket 754 or 939 system but I can't find anything I like for anywhere remotely close to the ~$150 I can spend right now. (I was looking at a socket 754 Sempron 3100+ combo but I found quite a few negative reviews for the motherboard it came with and can't find any other decent combos for under $200.)
I will probably be putting an XP 2500+ or an XP 2800+ (both Barton cores) on the motherboard depending on which of the two I decide to get. The 2500+ is cheaper and would be fast enough for my needs, but I cannot find one retail and the cost of a good HSF would put it pretty close to the cost of the 2800+ retail at Neweggso I'm leaning towards the 2800+. If you can direct me to a good, inexpensive HSF for the 2500+ I would be grateful.
I do not overclock usually, and if I do it will not be by a significant amount. It would be nice to have the option but it's not a necessity.
The RAM I have now consists of two identical 512MB sticks of Elixir PC3200U DDR. Yes, I know it's not Crucial or OCZ, but it's what I have and I have no intention of replacing it any time soon. The budget is already stretched for this system -replacing a fried MB and CPU- as it is. If there would be any compatibility issues with this ram and either motherboard I'd appreciate the info since I have not been able to find much of anything regarding memory issues for the motherboards.
I have searched many times on this site and around the Internet but I have only been able to find reviews for the older K7N2 and 8RDA+ boards. Nothing helpful on these two specific boards. Most of the reviews I found, including here on Anandtech, put the older version of the EPOX ahead of the MSI in speed and overclocking and behind a bit in stability and support, but I was wondering if that would still be the case with these new revisions of the boards?
Thanks in advance!
Fardringle
I will probably be putting an XP 2500+ or an XP 2800+ (both Barton cores) on the motherboard depending on which of the two I decide to get. The 2500+ is cheaper and would be fast enough for my needs, but I cannot find one retail and the cost of a good HSF would put it pretty close to the cost of the 2800+ retail at Neweggso I'm leaning towards the 2800+. If you can direct me to a good, inexpensive HSF for the 2500+ I would be grateful.
I do not overclock usually, and if I do it will not be by a significant amount. It would be nice to have the option but it's not a necessity.
The RAM I have now consists of two identical 512MB sticks of Elixir PC3200U DDR. Yes, I know it's not Crucial or OCZ, but it's what I have and I have no intention of replacing it any time soon. The budget is already stretched for this system -replacing a fried MB and CPU- as it is. If there would be any compatibility issues with this ram and either motherboard I'd appreciate the info since I have not been able to find much of anything regarding memory issues for the motherboards.
I have searched many times on this site and around the Internet but I have only been able to find reviews for the older K7N2 and 8RDA+ boards. Nothing helpful on these two specific boards. Most of the reviews I found, including here on Anandtech, put the older version of the EPOX ahead of the MSI in speed and overclocking and behind a bit in stability and support, but I was wondering if that would still be the case with these new revisions of the boards?
Thanks in advance!
Fardringle
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