Need to upgrade... Help me out. (NEWBIE)

[neomits]

Ok. Here's how it goes. I currently have Pentium III800 that came with my computer I got from Dell. I've had it for about 2 years now and seeing as I can't fully utilize my GF3, I'm thinking about upgrading. I've been recommended and heard that an Asus A7V266 board with an AMD XP chip is a good combination. Now here are my questions.

First of all I've never replaced a mobo or CPU... I've done HD's, ROM drives, PCI cards and RAM but that's it. So I'm new at this.

Would this be a good setup for me to go with or is this TOO much for me and is there something lower?

How much would this run me? I'd like to keep it at or under $300.

Whats the difficulty level of putting something together like this with what I already have (HD, DVD, CDROM, Vid card, sound card, etc.) Is it a lot of work with all the jumpers and stuff? If so should I look for a place that will get it ready for me so that all I have to do is connect a Hard Drive and I'm ready to go?

Sorry for being a newb but I guess thats how you learn... Thanks for your response in advance.

 

[RJS1000]

First of all its dead easy as long as you do it slowly... also these days there shouldnt be any jumpers on a motherboard you need to touch - all done through the bios... All you need to do is - undo the screws holding the board in - then take it out - maybe reposition some supports - and then screw in the new one - connect power lead - drop in memory, cpu (make sure you get a new heatsink), ram & graphics. (turn it on to check it works) - then stick the rest in....

As for price - have a look around... there is a price comparer on Anandtechs homepage i think...

Asus should be a good board - but also consider the Abit KR7

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Hi, I'm pretty much a newbie too and am in a similar situation, although my own computer isn't in that bad of shape now (athlon 1.4 tbird). I'm thinking of upgrading too and have found a case, power supply, motherboard, and processor all with good reviews that sounds about your price range. I assume you're going to be keeping the guts of your computer now and just upgrading these components. You might be able to keep your case and power supply, check here for amd's approved power supplies. Newegg is a great place to shop online if you're planning to do so. I picked up a retail Athlon XP 1800+, an ECSK7S5A motherboard, an EVERCASE E4252W005A, and a Sparke FSP300-60BTVS (300 W amd approved) shipped to WI for about $280. I've heard great reviews from this combo as long as you get a good power supply to go with the board. The board seems like a good one for someone on a budget as it supports SDRAM as well as DDR if you want a chance to move to DDR later, but don't want to right away. I also have a linky here that gives a 15% discount to anandtech members that I found in here a while ago (sorry I forget who to give credit to).

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

That discount is for crucial memory (I forgot to say what it was for) if you feel like upgrading your ram along with processor. Also I forgot to mention that the ECS board is not very overclocker friendly if you're into that.

 

[Epsil0n00]

Hey guys,

I just built an Athlon XP system and have the details listed at THIS thread.

You might want to check it out as the prices I found are good, and in my opinion, the components chosen are great. You can get an Athlon XP 1800, Abit KR7 (VIA KT266A) mobo, and the Alpha PAL 8045 HSF for about $350 tops. This would be my recommended setup. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions...

Epsil0n

 

[neomits]

Yeah I will not be planning on overclocking (which I guess the Asus is good for) so any other board recommendations would be good.

 

[Dreadogg]

Does your case support a ATX motherboard? If not you'll need that also and a decent powersupply!