New CPU

[cyberdad]

I am old, and got started late in all of this. so treat me kindly. I have an ABIT VIA KT7A - 266 FSB, AMD TB 1GB, and 2 stalks of Crucial 256MB 32X64 SDRAM . I built this thing for eventual OC (7 fans), but don't know enough about it, and faster.CPUs are pretty cheap. This PC is a little unstable sometimes. I live in a sparsely settled area, and not much technical help here. Question: If I was to upgrade my CPU, what would be the best buy? Would there be any benifit of adding another stalk of RAM of the same kind? Would lowering the FSB help the stability any? I have a good HSF, and don't think that I have a problem there.😱

 

[mechBgon]

Here's the specs for your board: specs They say it supports up to a 1.2GHz Athlon and can support the desirable 266MHz-bus model as well as the 200MHz-bus model. If you wanted to get a 1.2 "Athlon-C" (where "C" means 266MHz bus), they are under $100 (if you can still find one), but is a 20% increase in MHz going to be worth that investment? Also, if you do plan to get the 1.2 Athlon that uses a 266MHz bus, make sure your RAM is PC133 and not PC100, because the 266MHz bus would call for the RAM to run at 133MHz. Maybe your present CPU is already a 266MHz model, but I wasn't positive.

Adding another 256Mb of RAM would probably not make a perceptible difference unless you run programs where the system routinely uses up your 512Mb of RAM, or in the case where you multitask heavily on a Win2k/WinXP machine (in which case the operating system will cache programs in RAM if possible, so they open from RAM the second time you launch them).

As for stability, is your power supply a decent 300W unit or more? At least 180W of combined output on the +3.3V and +5V lines is a good starting point, and more doesn't hurt. Also, if you have poorly-regulated utility power, a line-interactive uninterruptible power supply could be beneficial for leveling out sags and surges, possibly improving your system stability.