Looking for suggestions

[tuki99]

My current mobo and/or CPU got toasted in a lightning storm last week, and I'm totally unprepared to buy a new mobo and CPU. I'd appreciate suggestions on mobo/CPU combos. I built this computer from the ground up, so I guess I'm fairly knowledgable, generally speaking.

Here's what I've got. I'd like to re-cycle as much as possible.

Abit BE6-II mobo (toast)
PIII 500 MHz (2nd slice of toast)
192 MB SDRAM, Mushkin, PC100-133
Nvidia TNT2 Ultra Video card (AGP 1x)
Aureal SQ2500 sound card
Matrox 40GB hard drive
Matrox 8GB hard drive
Lite-on CRW
HP CD-RW
USB dial-up modem
Cable modem (either USB or Ethernet)
Running Win98SE

As long as I'm going to buy a new mobo/CPU, I figure it makes more sense to upgrade to a P4, rather than try to find something in the P3 line. I'd like to keep the costs down, I'm not into overclocking, and I don't need the latest and greatest. I'm not interested in upgrading (?) to WinXP, too much invested in software for Win98.

I'm also wondering....most of the new boards have AGP 4X, and refer to 1.5V only. Does this mean I wouldn't be able to re-cycle my graphics card to a new P4 board?

I tried to cover all the bases, but if I missed a point, please let me know.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Boonesmi]

if your wanting to keep the cost down you may want to check out the the athlonXP

athlonXP 1600+ (newegg.com has it for $69 shipped)
epox 8k5a2 (newegg or mwave around $95 shipped... newegg looks like its out of stock)

very fast/stable system, not to mention nice and light on the wallet

** edit ** had to add, with any new system you wont be able to reuse your current ram (unless you go with an older/outdated motherboard)
but you can buy some ddr pc2700 512mb for around $100 (or $50 for 256mb)

 

[Buz2b]

You never mentioned your budget so I will assume you are on a limited one. Of course, that could be dangerous. You can get a KT133A chipset board, the MSI K7T TURBO2 (6330-250) from NewEgg for about $72.00 shipped. Add an AMD Duron 800MHz for $32 and you are "out the door for under $110.00 +/-. The MB is a good one. I built a system for my wife with this and it runs like a champ. Onboard sound sucks but you have a sound card anyway. You can certainly upgrade the processor (and along with it the price) in this choice, but at least you can keep your same RAM. Currently, it supports "up to" an XP2100+ CPU.
If you are not too worried about your budget, I like the choices Boonesmi listed for you. You also have to add in the cost of upgrading the RAM though but the future upgrades would be more "painless".
I guess it all boils down to what you want to do at this particular time.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Another budget choice is a Gigabyte socket-370 815ep and retail celeron 1.2a or 1.3a (tulatins, 256K cache) from Newegg for around $150. This would be a bit faster than the Duron (1.3 is about as fast as a P4 1.6-1.8 for many apps) and will definitely work with your current case & power supply.

 

[tuki99]

Hi again...

I considered the Athlon, but was put off by the potential to crush the CPU on install and the high heat factor, if the heat sink/fan isn't installed properly. Also, the touchy power supply issue.

In addition to web browsing, MP3 encoding , CD burning, and general office tasks (Word, Excel, Access), I use my computer for gaming, and I would like to be able to play Morrowind at some point. My current system wouldn't be up to snuff for that game. Currently playing Dungeon Siege, and have had no problems with my current system.

So, it looks like I need to consider mobo, CPU, heat sink/fan, memory, power supply and graphics card. Anything else? Sheesh...this isn't going to be cheap, no matter how I slice it.

OK, so how about something in the mid-price range??? Can I do it all for under $500?

 

[Peter]

tuki, you might want to look at an Athlon board that runs your existing RAM, and a Duron processor to go with that ... you have to keep the CPU bus at 100 MHz to be able to run your PC100 SDRAM. Like ECS K7S5A (around $50) with any Duron CPU, up to 1.3 GHz. Later updates to DDR RAM and much faster Athlon XP, or anything else like newer graphics cards, are then possible. Spend an extra $2 to get the version with onboard LAN, and move your cable modem off USB.

Aiming low in the CPU drawer will also help the power supply bit.

P4 sucks with SDRAM, needs strong power supply units too, and is much more expensive in itself.

So with a Duron, you'd need the CPU, a fan/heatsink, the mainboard, and that's it. With P4 (even P4 Celeron), you need CPU, f/h, mainboard, RAM, and PSU.

regards, Peter

 

[Boonesmi]

athlon cpu's are not nearly as fragile as some people would have you belive

you can get a pretty good hsf for less then $10 and as long as you use a little caution while installing it you wont need to worry about damaging the core, nor will you need to worry about the heat

what is your current power supply? how many watts? also how many amps on the 5v and 3v rails? (this info should be printed on a lable right on the power supply)

 

[LilSweetPea]

Originally posted by: tuki99


So, it looks like I need to consider mobo, CPU, heat sink/fan, memory, power supply and graphics card. Anything else? Sheesh...this isn't going to be cheap, no matter how I slice it.

OK, so how about something in the mid-price range??? Can I do it all for under $500?

Definitely possible under $500.
Was recently able to get Abit KR7A-133 mobo, Athlon XP 1600+, plus hsf for under $160 (prices may have dropped more)
I suggest you buy an Antec powersupply, very reliable--I estimate <= $50 for that if you look around online.
Graphics card depends what you are looking for. Have seen Geforce3 Ti500's around for under $100 the past week or so.
DDR memory, just go with a 512mb. Around $100.
So if you shop for deals online, you can prolly get all that for around $400ish.

Good luck

 

[tuki99]

Thank everyone for your feedback and suggestions.

I've pretty much decided on an Intel D815EEA2LU mobo, mainly for the onboard LAN, and solid, if not screaming, performance. I've seen an OEM board at Banana PC for $84, and thenerds.net has one for $94, boxed.

Can anyone tell me why I would want to pay the few dollars more for the boxed version as opposed to the OEM board?

I believe this board supports the Tualatin version P III. Has anyone heard differently? I'll go for the retail version, for the 3-yr warranty and included hsf, just not sure how fast yet.

Your comments are always welcome. Thanks again.

Joan

 

[Peter]

GNNNNN ... investing in outdated technology?! Why on earth would you want to do that? I mean, that board is some $30-40 more than, say, an ECS K7S5A w/ onboard LAN and sound, and P-III CPUs aren't exactly cheap either ... and with their 133 MHz bus, you'd again be unable to run your existing RAM.

Again, get a K7S5A for around $50, a Duron for $30-$50 depending on the speed grade, a $15 fan/heatsink, and you're set!

regards, Peter

 

[DieHardware]

I agree with the rest of the people here...K7S5A is one of the few solutions(ASUS A7A266 is another) for keeping your RAM and allowing good budget performance now and a good upgrade path later(i.e. Duron then AthlonXP, PC100 then DDR). But, if you have your heart set on an Intel CPU a(hate to say this) 1.8GHz Celeron and a 168pin SD RAM P4 motherboard would still be alot faster than a 500MHz PIII...and allows you to switch to a P4NW CPU later.