Looking to upgrade, please help.

[jimmyz989]

I am finally ready to retire my Cel300a system and move on to a new Athlon T-Bird system. I know what chip I want, but I've been out of the hardware thing for a while and am a bit confused with all the new lingo. I'd like to buy an AMD Athlon 1.2GHz T-Bird w/266MHz FSB. What motherboard would you all suggest, I'd like something reasonably priced but with great performance, and also what kind of RAM (256MB) to go with it? Also, will my Matrox G400 function ok under an AMD processor? I had a G200 on my old K6-2 system and it was nothing but trouble!

Thanks,
jz989

 

[Redstar7]

I don't know about your Matrox G400 but I'll tell you this: I recently upgraded my system from a P2 450 to the same cpu you are going with. For motherboard I went with the Iwill KK266, and although I've nothing to compare it to personally (this was my first rig assembly), I'll say I am thoroughly happy with Iwill's board. Installation went without a single problem, it's only 1 week later now but heck I've still not encountered one problem.
Here is a link with some excellent info on the Iwill board (take note of all the shiny reviews at the bottom of the page) Iwill unofficial FAQ. Or check this link for further Iwill talk Iwill forum

For HSF unit I went with a ThermoEngine and 7k fan review of ThermoEngine

Definitely check that Iwill FAQ link though, for me it clinched the deal on the big motherboard decision!

Redstar

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

jimmyz989,

The Epox 8K7A seems to be all the rage right now ($130 at Newegg). It's a DDR mobo (motherboard) and the DDR RAM will set you back about $125 for 512MB...that's right this stuff is dirt cheap! So that's $368 for the whole shebang...not too shabby. Especially since you can overclock that juju-be to about 1.4Ghz.

 

[jimmyz989]

Alright, thanks. So, does anyone have any good or bad experiences to share about the Iwill KK266 or Epox 8K7A? I'm definitly going with a 1.2GHz Athlon 266MHz FSB and at least 256MB Crucial PC2100 SDRAM. Anybody have any other motherboard suggestions?

Thanks,
jz989