Moving To Athlon Combo, Help?

[Jfilez]

Guys, I'm moving my main gaming system to an Athlon based system and need some direction. Right now I have a P3-800EB on an ASUS CUSL2-C board which I love but I am moving that to be a server and am building a new gaming system. Here are my questions.

I know there are so many different Athlon processors (Thuderbird, Athlon-B, etc) and not sure what the differences are, I want to get a 1.2Ghz chip. Regarding motherboards and memory, I want DDR memory (I guess that's the fastest) but which motherboard and chipset. AMD chipset, VIA chipset??? I really like ASUS motherboards and would like to stick with one if possible but I've also owned some MSI boards which I liked as well.

Thanks...Jfilez

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Many questions deserve many answers...
There are essentially four different Athlons available. The first was a slot A processor running at 200 (100 double pumped) MHz FSB. The second was a socket A processor also at 200 MHz FSB. The third is a socket A processor at 266 (133 double pumped) MHz FSB and the last one is not available yet for regular desktops. this last one is Athlon 4 and is available for multi-processor systems and laptops up to 1.2 GHz speed. It should be available later this year for desktops at speeds of 1.5 GHz and up. I would advise you to find an Athlon C. The best price/performance ratios on those right now are in the 1.2 GHz area. If money is no object, go for the 1.4 GHz. BTW the T-bird name covers both the Athlon B and C. DDR memory is a good choice now since it is not any more expensive than SDR memory. I would advise a chipset with the AMD northbridge as it is the only one currently available that gets any benefit from DDR. ASUS and MSI both make solutions with this chipset, but ASUS is always more expensive than competitors.

 

[heffe734]

Why don't you find the middle ground between the 1.4 and the 1.2...and get a 1.33 AYHJA. Order from newegg.com...i think most of their 1.33's are AYHJA steppings...this will help OCing. For mobo...i recommend the Epox 8k7a...and of course...get your RAM from crucial...like 50-60 bucks...who knows how low it is now.

So...from newegg.com
1)1.33 T-bird 266 FSB = 135.00
2)Epox 8k7a mobo = 120.00
3)DDR Ram from crucial.com = 55.00 or so.

That's 310 dollars give or take a few bucks for tax or if not shipping. You can OC these 1.33's pretty well...ppl are avging around the 1.5's. You just need a 400 + W PSU (enermax), and a good HSF. Good luck...i have the same exact setup that i recommended to u and i hit 1.610 and running stable.

I was a Asus Man myself...but Epox has really impressed me with their mobo. It's yummy. I'm not the only one who feels this way...most of the forumers would prolly agree too...i've gotten all my friends to switch from asus to the epox and they ain't regretting a single moment.

 

[HansXP]

IMHO, this is what you should do:

Get yourself an Asus A7M266 motherboard. It has 2 DDR DIMM slots and supports up to 2 GB of RAM. Very stable, uses the AMD 760 chipset.

Get yourself PC2100 Cas 2.5 DDR SDRAM from www.crucial.com Best RAM out there, and very cheap too

Get yourself an Athlon-C Thunderbird processor. These will be listed as having a 266 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). Make sure you are NOT getting a 200 MHz FSB version (Athlon-B)

 

[heffe734]

save money by going with the epox...just as stable as asus a7m...most ppl prefer it cuz you get the same performence and pay a lot less. With the money you save...get a nice HSF like a swiftech mc-462a or taisol's if you wanna go cheaper.

 

[heffe734]

Also, i heard you can't change the multiplier settings on the Asus a7m which kinda sucks cuz all you can do is push FSB. At to high FSB you can fry your cards or HD or it'll just be unstable. So having the option to raise the multiplier is good...Trust me...EPOX 8k7A...i have not heard one complaint.

 

[Jfilez]

Here is a dumb question. Are these motherboards you guys are recommending also built on the ATX form factor as far as a case goes?

 

[amb#cog]

Yes all ATX, and as much as I like all the Asus mobo's I've owned. I would not buy their DDR one, because of the price, and lack of multiplier settings. I bought the Epox, and love it, although there's a Gigabyte (forget the model) that is very comprable to it.

I didn't touch a thing on my Epox, but the multiplier dipswitch, and turned my 1.2 into a 1.4. Works for me.