Need Help picking out a Mobo, Proc and Ram

[Zarick]

Heres the thing. I had some money to upgrade. Was gonna spend 500-600 bucks and a mobo, proc and ram. Had them all figured out pretty much. Now.. unemployment has taken its toll. At most I can spend 300 bucks, but in all honesty I would love to keep it around 250, but will go up to 300 if necessary.

What I need is a gaming rig. I am carrying over everything except the motherboard, processor and ram(I will also need the hs/f for this so retail may be better). I need something that is going to last a while. I know I can't get the latest and greatest, but I also know that there are people here who know how to build a kickass system cheap. So help me out please.

Also.. I don't overclock so I need it to be a good system in of itself.

The only thing I really want to avoid is the via chipset. I would love to go intel, but they are cost prohibitive usually so will happily continue with amd.

 

[dmw16]

Looking at newegg right now and you've got a few nice options:

1x Retail XP1700+ (includes HSF) - $43
2x Simpletech 256MB PC2700 - $56 (they also have 512MB for $52, but the nForce2 chipset gives you dual memory controllers so i figure use them)
1x Epox EP-8RDA motherboard - $85
total: $184

OR

1x Retail XP2100+ (includes HSF) - $79
2x Simpletech 256MB PC2700 - $56
1x Asus A7N8X (which supports the new 400Mhz bus, so it gives you the upgradability) - $116
total: $251

OR

1x Retail XP2100+ (includes HSF) - $79
2x Simpletech 256MB PC2700 - $56 (they also have 512MB for $52, but the nForce2 chipset gives you dual memory controllers so i figure use them)
1x Epox EP-8RDA motherboard - $85
total: $220

Any of those would be a nice setup. The 2100 is the best bang for your buck and all but that one keeps you under $250. Let me know if you have any more questions.
-doug

 

[Corporate Thug]

hand picked 1700+ @ excaliber = $72 (will oc to 2500+)
NF7-s v2.0 @ excaliber = $120
120+72= 192 - 7 dollar combo discount = 185
256 corsair xms pc3200 @ newegg $60
grand total= $245 (+ tax and shipping)

 

[paperfist]

From NewEgg.com:

Epox 8RDA+ (nVidia nForce2) $89 OR if you need/want more bells and whistles: Abit NF7-S (same chipset, more features) $124

AMD Barton 333/2500+ (Retail HSF) $128

KINGSTON 256MB DDR333 KVR333X64C25/256 32x64 PC2700 DDR RAM $33 each OR CORSAIR MEMORY 512MB PC2700 VALUE SELECT. DDR RAM $50

So with the basics & 256MB RAM that's $250 plus shipping. If you can swing it 512MB of RAM would be a lot better for gaming and that's $267 plus shipping.

Just out of curiosity what kind of gaming do you play and what kind of video card are you carrying over? It's possible to build a descent gaming rig with a AMD 2100+ ($75) and some DDR266 (256MB/$28) but I don't think it will last as long and since the RAM prices are pretty close for DDR333/266 you're really only saving on the CPU. Could always get the faster RAM, Epox MB, AMD 2100+ and get a faster Barton later on...

 

[dmw16]

I had forgotten about the barton. Paperfist's recommendation would be a good way to go if you wanna hit the $250 mark. You did say you didn't want to overclock, so Shady's wouldnt really be the best way to go.
-doug

 

[Zarick]

Excellent suggestions.

Just one thing.. I really would like to stay with 512 ram if I could.

Also you guys have meantions 3 boards.
Abit
Asus
Epox

I noticed that Anandtech gave the asus the silver the epox the gold and the abit got and honorable meantion. Can someone comment on the boards? Which one is best and why?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Zarick
Excellent suggestions.

Just one thing.. I really would like to stay with 512 ram if I could.

Also you guys have meantions 3 boards.
Abit
Asus
Epox

I noticed that Anandtech gave the asus the silver the epox the gold and the abit got and honorable meantion. Can someone comment on the boards? Which one is best and why?

The Abit NF7-S is the only nForce 2 motherboard from the list that is "officially" Soundstorm certified It will also support 400FSB cpu's. Yes I am partial to Abit; after all I use the same board in my rig.

 

[Zarick]

As for sound.. I have a Audigy 2 that Im gonna keep. So I don't care so much about onboard sound.

Corsair 2700 Cas 2 OEM 2 x 256= 98.00
Epox Model# EP-8RDA+ Retail = 89.00
AMD 2100+ Retail = 79.00

Total = 266

This is only 16 bucks over 250 and shipping is free.

However, One question. Would it be beneficial to me to get the 2400 proc for 103 instead? That pushes my price up to almost 290, but if its worth it I might want to go that route.

 

[paperfist]

All 3 are very good boards. I personally use the Abit also, but I've heard good things about them all. The Abit, Asus and Epox all have basic and 'deluxe' versions. Abit has the NF7 & NF7-S, Epox has the 8RDA & 8RDA+ and Asus has the A7N8X and the A7N8X deluxe. They all should support 400MHz FSB as long as you get a 2.0 revision. The basic boards are pretty much the same between all 3 and the 'deluxe' boards have all the goodies; the Asus has an extra LAN port (2) over the other boards and they all have Soundstorm execpt for the Epox which is a interface card short of offical Soundstorm support.

Anyway I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, but if you search the motherboard section of the forums you will find plenty pro/cons threads on those boards. The Epox got the Gold because of it's tech support if I remember correctly and the Asus got the silver because of it's poor tech support. I don't remember why the Abit got honorable mention, but it's a great board. I bought the Abit after having used Asus boards for years and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Zarick]

I really have heard good things about the Asus nforce, but I honestly could live without asus for a while. My first asus board wouldnt take a nvidia video card because it was under voltaged. They gave you a way to cut and solder a wire to make it work, but it wasnt worth it to me.

My current one is the a7v133. I really am not fond of it. First off I can't have 3 ram chips in it because the board locks up for some reason. Second I have revision 1.04 which means I cant put in the faster chips.

I know almost nothing about the abit board... is it worth the extra 30 bucks?

 

[Zarick]

Bump for more Brainpower.

 

[dmw16]

As was said before, all of the brands are good. The epox is the best value, but for the best board it would be a battle between abit and asus. I have always been a fan of asus - although I have an Epox now because I am a poor college student. If you don't mind the extra cost the asus is the best choice. I think of all that has been suggested here, paperfist had the best one. Spend the $267 and get the 512MB of RAM. If it were me I would want 2 sticks of 256 in an nForce2 motherboard, but thats just me.
-doug

 

[Tavoc]

Heres what I just helped my friend build, so I know it works well together:

Epox 8RDA+ = $89
Kingston Hyper X 512 MB (2x256) PC-2700 = $90
Athlon XP Barton 2500+ Retail = $128


All from Newegg including shipping

Total = $307

Its more than you wanted to spend, but its a very solid setup, and the Barton can be OC'ed very easily to above 2800+

 

[Zarick]

Is the Barton worth the Extra 25 bucks over the xp2400+?

Is the Abit board worth the 30 bucks over the Epox?

Also any thoughts on HyperX ram by kingston vs Corsair ram? The HyperX is 45 bucks while the corsair is 49.

 

[Zarick]

Out of Curiosity.. Can Anyone put together a comparable Pentium system?

 

[Mikie66]

Hummm P4 would less cost effective but what about this.... all From NewEgg....

Intel P4 Motherboard D845PESVL For P4 (478) Processors 533/400MHz $106.00

CRUCIAL MICRON 512MB 64x64 PC 2700 DDR RAM - OEM $62.00

Intel Pentium 4 2.4BGHz 512K 533MHz CPU Northwood P478 Processor Retail Box $163.00

 

[waylman]

Originally posted by: Zarick
Is the Barton worth the Extra 25 bucks over the xp2400+?

Is the Abit board worth the 30 bucks over the Epox?

Also any thoughts on HyperX ram by kingston vs Corsair ram? The HyperX is 45 bucks while the corsair is 49.

The Barton is worth it, especially if you are running at stock speeds.
I have an Epox 8rda+ paired with a Barton 2500 and 1GB PC 2700 HyperX all running stock speeds and I am VERY happy with it.

 

[AthlonXP]

Just get what everyone has gotten:


Epox 8RDA+/Abit NF7-S
XP1700/XP2100 Tbred B
SLK800 w/YS tech TMD fan or TT SmartfanII
Corsiar XMS 3200/Hyper-x pc3000/3200

 

[paperfist]

>>>Is the Abit board worth the 30 bucks over the Epox?

They are pretty much equal boards except the Abit NF7-S has Serial ATA and offical Soundstorm support, the Epox 8RDA+ doesn't have those. I'm not sure if Epox has the latest 2.0 revision of nForce2 chipset yet, the Abit does. Don't let the cheap price of the Epox fool you, it's a good board, it just doesn't have all the features that the Abit or Asus have for that matter.

>>>Also any thoughts on HyperX ram by kingston vs Corsair ram? The HyperX is 45 bucks while the corsair is 49.

Corsair is a solid, overclockable RAM, the HyperX chips are pretty new, but Kingston doesn't make a bad RAM stick. I'd go with the Corsair personally

 

[Zarick]

How important will serial ata be in the near future? As for the sound support.. I can live without that. Im pretty happy with my audigy 2 for gaming.