Need Advice On Upgrade

[Epif]

Hi. I just joined here today, hope you guys can help me figure out what to buy to upgrade!

Right now I have an AMD Athlon 3800+ Socket 939 in an MSI K8n-Neo4 Platinum SLI mobo (never used SLI... heh) with 1 gb of DDR-400 value ram and an 8800gts.

I figure I need to get a new mobo, processor, and ram. I want to spend less than $300 before rebates. I'm not afraid to overclock and plan to (hopefully I can figure that out ). I have some parts in mind already but I would like some feedback.

For a motherboard I'm looking at the Abit IP35-E. Is this a good board that will allow me to overclock well? Will I be able to run both my PATA hardrive and cdrom drive on the single PATA port? Also, will I be able to upgrade to the new Intel processors that come out next year, or will that require another new motherboard?

As for a processor, I've heard good things about the E2160 and E2180. Is it worth the $10 to get the 2180 instead of the 2160? Are there better CPUs out there at a similar price range? Also, how much can I expect these chips to overclock? Will I want to spend money on a separate heatsink and fan for them?

I need 2 gb of ram. I'm looking at this and there was also a few other kits earlier today at Frys that are gone now. Any other kits in this price range would work out too.

And finally, I need to know if all this will run with my 8800gts on my 500 watt Antec Basiq power supply. That should be powerful enough, right?

Thanks!

 

[o1die]

I doubt the basiq power supply will handle the 8800 gts plus some overclocking. A good power supply will set you back $75 or more, which might break your budget. You'll also need a decent heatsink for overclocking. You might want to consider the 4200 dual core at newegg for around $82, last time I checked, or save some more money before switching to Intel.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Epif
Hi. I just joined here today, hope you guys can help me figure out what to buy to upgrade!

Right now I have an AMD Athlon 3800+ Socket 939 in an MSI K8n-Neo4 Platinum SLI mobo (never used SLI... heh) with 1 gb of DDR-400 value ram and an 8800gts.

I figure I need to get a new mobo, processor, and ram. I want to spend less than $300 before rebates. I'm not afraid to overclock and plan to (hopefully I can figure that out ). I have some parts in mind already but I would like some feedback.

For a motherboard I'm looking at the Abit IP35-E. Is this a good board that will allow me to overclock well? Will I be able to run both my PATA hardrive and cdrom drive on the single PATA port? Also, will I be able to upgrade to the new Intel processors that come out next year, or will that require another new motherboard?

As for a processor, I've heard good things about the E2160 and E2180. Is it worth the $10 to get the 2180 instead of the 2160? Are there better CPUs out there at a similar price range? Also, how much can I expect these chips to overclock? Will I want to spend money on a separate heatsink and fan for them?

I need 2 gb of ram. I'm looking at this and there was also a few other kits earlier today at Frys that are gone now. Any other kits in this price range would work out too.

And finally, I need to know if all this will run with my 8800gts on my 500 watt Antec Basiq power supply. That should be powerful enough, right?

Thanks!

Board will work with PATA optical and HDD. No problem running the new 45nm Peryn CPUs.

E2160 is a better choice. You should be able to push a good CPU beyond 3.2GHz with the HP DDR2 667 RAMs at hot deals forum ($22AR/GB). I would get a Big Typhoon or equivalent if you plan to overclock the CPU. BT is often on sale at NewEgg for $18 plus ship.

I don't see any issue with the Antec PSU. It's probably a Fortron unit.