Upgrade CPU or scrap BX mobo?

[DanJ]

I'm thinking about maxing out my BX6 2.0 with the rare 1GHz Slot-1 (100MHz bus) version of the P3. This would run me $220 (lowest I've found).

My system runs rock solid. I've just added a raid card and dual 40 gigers running in RAID 0 for a "scratch drive" for video captures.

My question is, in everyone's humble opinion, would it be better to just scrap this old trusty mobo and go the way of the athlon or just add the PIII 1GHz and call it a day.

Right now I'm running the ol' Celery 300A @ 450. I spose I could Flebay the old components for probably around $80-100 in total if I went the way of the Athlon.

Whatcha think?

 

[ElFenix]

newegg pricing

$188 for p3
-$20 for celeron
so $168

or

$79 Athlon tbird 1GHz/266
$104 K7T turbo no raid
-$60 for bx6
-$20 for celeron
so $103.

 

[ledzepp98]

personally, i would go AMD...but i will admit i am a bit biased and i won't try to hide it. you say your system is stable as a rock...well, except for the intel people that will try to scare you you can set up a rock solid amd system as well. as for price...

a 1ghz to 1.33ghz cpu will cost between $110 and $160 including hsf and shipping (give or take) depending on speed/retail vs. oem/hsf choice

a good ddr mobo (i like epox personally) is in the $115 to $140 range depending on brand/chipset

256meg ddr ram is ~$50

basically, after selling your stuff you will get a faster setup for less or a little more, depending on how much faster you want to go.

edit: also, i'm using realistic prices that include shipping and then i bump them up a bit for the "worst case" scenario.

 

[DanJ]

Good ideas here guys...I wouldn't go DDR since I have 940 megs of PC133....

What to do..what to do..

 

[DanJ]

What's the best non-RAID, non-DDR Athlon mobo? I've got experience with the IWill KK-266...seems like a nice board...anything since then come out that is a lot better? (or just better)

 

[ledzepp98]

<< Good ideas here guys...I wouldn't go DDR since I have 940 megs of PC133.... >>

well now...that is a compelling reason to stick with regular sdram. as much as i would like to tell you to go AMD, i wouldn't recommend making the switch without going to a ddr platform (ooohhhh...it pains me to say it, but i'll be honest). maybe you should try to either unload that pc133 (then maybe go AMD?!?!?!)....or, settle for a slot1 cpu in the 700-800mhz range which will give you a definate boost but will save you some money for a future system overhaul. or...just buy the 1ghz p3 and force yourself to be happy for another year when the p3 and pc133 ram will be easier to accept parting with.

 

[DanJ]

Hehehe...god I hate waiting...

I got this RAM via Dell a week ago for like $50 for 768 megs of PC133....so tough to part with it

Just wish the danged PIII 1GHz would drop to under $200...but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Could get a 900MHz Celeron...but I do a lot of video editing and converting and I'd like the added boast from the PIII itself, and then the nice extra instruction sets, or an Athlon of course...

 

[ledzepp98]

as far as a good, inexpensive sdram athlon mobo, i would get the epox 8kta3 from newegg ($101). otherwise, depending on brand it could cost up to $140. since you paid very little for the pc133, i take back what i said before. i was assuming you accumulated it when the price was higher...but since you just got it for close to nothing, sell it and go t-bird/ddr

 

[LucJoe]

Have you looked into the Asus A7V133? I've heard nothing but good things about it and have been told its the best sdram Athlon board

 

[Athlon4all]

I've always been a beliver in the BX, and loved it, but I'd have to say in this case go Athlon. If it must be SDR, then go Asus A7V133. It's one of the top KT133A boards ever made, if you need a bit more ocing, then go IWill KK266-R.

 

[TRUMPHENT]

I upgraded my Celeron 300A @504mhz with a P3 900E and MSI slocket adapter. I have an AT style board so I would have had to replace case and powersupply too. My Tyan S1830S mainboard accepted the PC133 Kingston valueram but won't allow me change the fsb speeds like the PC100 memory did. So now I have 384mb ram and 900mhz P3. The down time was minimal and the upgrade was very easy. I dread building a new computer from scratch. I run Win2K with no service paks and have a totally reliable system. Anything less would be a disappointment.

 

[Helznicht]

I know this wont be a popular answer, but if your stead fast on staying with PC-133, I would go P3. But probally go with a 800, cheaper and easier to find, then oc to 900~1000.

The performance diff between P3 &amp; Athlon both running PC-133 is not that wide.

A much simpler and cheaper solution.

 

[LarryJoe]

If you are looking for the easiest way to juice up your existing box that you seem to be happy with and have put the time into a solid raid config and lots of RAM, you may want to consider popping a PIII700e(CCO) and running it at 7x133. They are around $90 and almost guarenteed to do 933. There is also a proven advantage in running a BX board at a 133mhz fsb.

A $90 PIII700@933/133 will blow away a PIII1ghz/100. If your ram can handle 133, then do it. No reformatting and reinstalling. For reference, I am running this setup (over a year now) with a GF3 and all benches are pretty dam close to the latest and great T-Bird/P4 scores.

LJ

 

[cockeyed]

Your current system is a Cadillac with a 4 cylinder engine. Get yourself a V8 (P3-700 to 850) for $100-$125 and you will see a major bump in performance. The P3-700 can OC to 933 or just get an 850 with no OCing. Personally, I would get the PIII-750 (no OCing) for $90 (best value) because the real world difference is slight between it and the 850. I suppose the PIII-1ghz would be fine if you don't mind the extra cost.

If you just want a &quot;rock solid&quot; fast machine, stay with what you have, but give it the V8 engine it needs.