Quick Buying Advice Please???

[kovert]

Well I am finally taking the plunge and buying a new system. I am looking to put together a new MB and CPU combo into my current system. I have enough components to use my old BX and make a decent linux system.

My dilema is this. I am looking at picking up a ABIT KT7A Raid board and a Thunderbird 1.2ghz 266FSB chip. I figure it will run me around $400 total for this and I was wondering if anyone can suggest anything else?

This will be installed in an ANTEC Server case (4 fans SX1030), and will have 256 mb PC133 Cas 2 Ram. Also an SB live and for now a TNT2 Ultra. (probably a GeForce MX soon).

I would like the RAID since I always seem to have extra HD's around that I would like to put in, and with my CDRW, DVD, and 30 gig ATA 100 drive I had, I would want room to expand.

So in conclusion, does this sound like my best bet?

Thanks

BTW - I am upgrading from a P2 300 (which will be replaced by a 700E eventually for the Linux Box)

-kovert

 

[chrismcclellan]

I'd ask these questions first: are you going to run dual monitors or Win2k? And if you're running Win2k, are you going to do gaming?
If you're going to run one monitor or Win2k with a dual boot of 98SE/ME for gaming, then get the Radeon LE. It's cheaper and faster than a MX, especially in 32 bit color. ATI's drivers do leave a lot to ask for in Win2k gaming though. Or if gaming isn't a big concern, the Radeon VE does dual monitor but is crippled for gaming.

 

[arod324]

Man, you should save yourself some money, and buy a cheaper processor and overclock it. Youc an get the Abit KT7A Raid for about $150, and get a Tbird 850 for about $105 or so. If you have the $$$ though, I guess your mobo and cpu will work perfectly fine. I would not recommend getting the G2MX. The Radeon DDR LE will completely crush the MX in 32 bit color and highs resolution.

 

[kovert]

Yeah I thought about it, but I think this time I might jump towards the head of the back. I always seem to buy a few steps back and end up regretting it later.

The other thing is I could always attempt to overclock the 1.2 266 even higher. I'm sure it won't hit much higher but it is worth a shot I guess. Hell, or if someone else is selling a CPU that is tested (compuwiz) I might even be interested in that.

About the GeForce Radeon thing. Well that won't be for a while so I am not too concerned with it. Basically I will play games on this machine, but I have never had a GREAT machine so games were never that important. Now I figure I'll start getting into more multiplayer since I got my SDSL installed.

-kovert

 

[SammyBoy]

correct me if Im wrong guys but wouldnt you have a better chance overclocking if you bought a Tbird B chip (200mhz fsb) and overclocked that. I am sure that that chip would do 133mhz fsb, and probably at a higher multiplier than 9 too!