Need help on upgrade

[zuffy]

I'm planning to upgrade my system. So far, I'm looking at the Athlon XP 1800+ and 1900+.

Which motherboard is better?
Abit KG7 RAID or Abit KR7A RAID

Any recommendation on a video card? Looking for a card with DVI output for the near future if I'm gettin an LCD and good image quality. IS it true that ATI has better video quality than Nvidia video cards?

This computer will be loaded with Windows XP Professional, used mainly for internet surfing, watching movies, and Photoshop editing. I'll leave the gaming part to my current machine (I don't play games much).

 

[Boonesmi]

the older nvidia cards had relatively poor 2d image quality

but ive used a couple geforce3 cards and they had very nice picture quality its all relative but most will probably say ati is a little nicer.

im not a big abit fan, personally i wouldnt pick either of those boards... the kg7 is a little older and a good bit slower, but its a very tried and true chipset

on the other hand the kr7a is based on the via kt266a chipset (which in my opinion is the best choice right now)

if i needed a new board for myself today it would definiatly be based on the via kt266a chipset, i really like the soyo dragon plus and the epox 8kha+

 

[dunkster]

The KG7A has an excellent rep for build-quality and reliability.

I bought Abit KR7A/Raid board for for the chipset and it had few RAID-enabled competitors at the time. It's running fine, but I think it's over-priced.

If I were buying today, I'd buy the Shuttle AK35GTR. Same features, lower price and great reviews.

Hope this helps!

 

[o1die]

I really like my gainward geforce 2 ti 500 (only $99 refurbished at newegg). The default settings are 261 (chipset) and 472 (memory); the highest I've ever seen on a video card. I would go with the kr7a, either with or without raid. The shuttle ak35gtr is a great value, and runs about as fast as the abit, with premium sound and ata 133 support.

 

[johndoe52]

Go with the Abit KR7A. As far as video card goes, the gf3 ti200 seems to be a nice buy.

 

[zuffy]

Thanks for the inputs guys. Now I wish the DDR memory would be cheaper. I need 1GB RAM like how I currently have in my system. Stitching 14-16 2MB in Panoramic Factory can take forever.

 

[zuffy]

Any particular brand I should go with if I want a GeForce3 Ti200?

 

[eplebnista]

Abit KR7A-133 Raid and Gainward GF3 Ti200.

My $.02,
eplebnista