Looking for best upgrade

[Agaemmon]

My computer is getting kinda old and I am looking to upgrade. The main things I am looking for are CPU video card and case. I currently have an El cheapo case w/235W PS from some old cybermax comp I had. It is not very "air friendly" and I want a new one. I am looking for a mid-tower case with an Athlon approved PS (300W) and good cooling. I don't plan on overclocking but I do want good cooling. The max I am willing to spend, including shipping, is $115. Now, my video card is a Diamond Viper V700 Ultra, and my CPU is an Athlon 500 on an MSI 6167. I am looking for a CPU upgrade before the video card, so what would be the best I could put in the MSI MB? Would I have to go standard Athlon or would it accept a Tbird? I would be buying the CPU locally so I could test it to see if it worked, etc. I am willing to spend about $200 on a video card, w/shipping, so what would be the best deal for all of my requirements? Thanks in advance.

 

[bonkers325]

get a antec 300w case @ onvia for $67
and get a geforce 2 mx 32mb for cheap

 

[Agaemmon]

I need some exact specifications; certain case, which one has best cooling, etc. Also I need to know how cheap you can find a Gforce 2 MX for. I thought for $200 I could get around a full Geforce 2. Also, can the Mobo hold a Tbird?

 

[novice]

I am not sure how fast a slot A Athlon your motherboard will support without a BIOS update, but the Athlon 800 processor should be around $180 or so and should give a pretty good boost in speed. As for cases, I love my Enlight 7237 Mid Tower ATX case. Mine has a 250W power supply, but they are also available with a 300 Watt PS. Should run around $80 or so with the 300W PS. My case with 250W PS was just $48 plus shipping from mwave.com. The Enlight case includes an extra fan on the front as well as one on the Power Supply, and seems to cool very well. I added a slot fan below my V3 3000 to aid in exhausting hot air from the video card, and have had no problems running a PIII 600E at 744 with factory hsf. I don't think there are slotkets for the slot A to socket A adapter, so I think you are stuck with the slot A Athlons, at least they are cheaper!
As for video card, certainly a Geforce 2 MX would be a decent step up from your TNT Ultra and you can pick up a Guillemot prophet MX for around $150 retail, which should have the 5.5 ns ram, which is supposed to be better for overclocking if you plan to try that route. So it looks like you should be able to get a solid upgrade of case, processor, and video card for around $400 or so plus shipping. If everything works out, you should see some very visible gains in speed, I would think. Let us know how it works out!
Chuck

 

[Agaemmon]

Thanks for the help. I am planning on waiting a little while before buying, only have $300 now, I am hoping to save another $100 or two before christmas, then get $300 from parents or so and get a good 17" monitor.

 

[Agaemmon]

^

 

[Dan]

I'll second the vote for the Enlight 7237. I already have an Enlight 6680 and really like it. (It was handed down to the wife last weekend.) I just got my Enlight 7237 with a 300Watt power supply for $63.

 

[Davegod75]

i'll third the enlight 7237. it's a nice one