Technical Question Hardware:AMD Athlon/Duron/Mainboard??

[compme101]

Hi everyone, ok i have been having trouble with my AMD ATHLON K7(Classic) cpu and microstar amd 750 irongate chipset... Where i need to upgrade to something that DOESNT FREEZE when loading windows and playing games, and every other application i try running.

so heres where i neeed your help, what cpu and mainboard are the BEST reliable and compatible and wont cause problems with these components

PC133 256 micron tech. RAM
ATI XPERT RAGE 128 chipset 32mb AGP
CREATIVE LABS SOUNDBLASTER LIVE!
19.1gb drive
SONY CD-RW
DVD DRIVE
and a 300watt power supply


and also whats the difference between socket A and slot A? can slot a fans work on socket A cpus? please tell me what cpu/fan/mainboard to get for the cheapest price that works very well. thank you.
i have a 3 packed fan for my athlon 950mhz slot a now, that wont work on socket a then right? and umm i have no clue on how to install mainboards or there software like BIOS and drivers, is there a site that can teach how to install slot a and socket a boards and cpus and the fans and all or could you possibly help me install one ?

 

[vancur]

-You asked quite a few questions in your post. I'll try to answer as many as I can...
The mobo you have should work with all of your components. I would guess that the probs you're having due to else. It might be as simple as updating your bios and via drivers. Another words, try to save what you have before you run out and get a new mobo, unless of course you need something faster.
-Slot A is completely different from Socket A, with socket A being better and smaller. While I don't know for sure, I'll bet that you can't use a slot A fan with a socket A cpu.
-Best MB/CPU? Heck check out what Anandtech says, but I'd suggest the MSI K7T pro2A with a TBird. Hope this helps.

 

[Castellan]

Funny. I build a comp on a K7 pro (MSI Slot A board) and it was fine for a year and a half. Now it refuses to boot. DLED shows all red, but if you let it sit for a few hours, it will boot right up. Several people had this problem on the MSI message boards, but there was never a solution posted.