Recommendations for a good non-overclocked cpu/mobo

[dakata24]

im sort of tired of the overclocking and was wondering what a good cpu/mobo would be good. i dont have much to spend. i want to spend between $200-300. Im not sure if this is feasible or not. i really havent been tracking cpu/mobo prices lately. what's the best bang for my buck. Duron?/ celeron2? What can i use that will work with my PC100 SDRAM?

Right now, i have a celeron466 o/c to 525. appreciate any advice. thanks

 

[Jhhnn]

Sure is possible. Either a MSI 6309 or a Soyo sy7vca and a p3e 550. M-Wave.com has the boards, check pricewatch for the best price on the P3e. Add an aftermarket HSF from somebody like 2cooltek. Might even be able to get a Voodoo3 to go along, all for about $300.

The coppermine and boards are good overclockers, if you so choose, and the memory options in the bios will let you run your PC100 memory, even with the processor set to 133fsb. Many 550e's hit 733 like ringing a bell, and both boards are known for stability.

Not the hottest thing out there, but damned tough to match or beat for the money.

No mention of your current board, it might well accept an even less expensive upgrade, or your vid card, which may be perfectly adequate.

 

[dakata24]

oh really, i didnt know their was a mobo that let's you use pc100 sdram with a cpu at 133fsb. cool, that gives me more options then. is the msi the only motherboard that let's you do that. what about Abit/Asus motherboards?

the motherboard i have now is a abit bp6 with a geforce1 ddr. i tried using a neo s370 adapter to run a celeron 2 but was a no go. wouldnt boot up at all. i was kind of disappointed when i found that out.

thannks alot for the advice.

 

[Jhhnn]

Looks like you won't be needing that voodoo3...

Any of the Boards with the Via Apollo Pro 133a chipset support the memory feature. Depending on the southbridge chip, they also support ATA66 HD's. Abit and Asus offer Via boards too, and there are new boards with the similar featured Intel 815 chipset. All these options are more $$.

Try the Anandtech main page, then reviews, then motherboards for a wealth of information. They liked the soyo, kinda panned the msi, but that's just one review...I mentioned them both because the have solid features & stability at a low price. The soyo has award bios, and the msi has amibios, just a little different.

 

[Mem]

This is easy a Duron with a MSI K7T PRO board,btw I`ve one it`s rock solid & Anandtech use them for there servers.