Upgrade options - need opinions

[Andy74]

This is mostly MB related, so I hope it's the right thread.

I need some suggestions on my upgrade options. Currently I'm running P3 550 @ 733 on a BX2 motherboard. It's been a while since I followed every article posted on this site, I'm out of the loop and need some help. I'm considering the following:

1) AMD CPU (1800+ or within that range). What MB do you recommend? Currently I have 4 IDE channels on Board (for up to 8 IDE devices) which I'd like to have (but it's not critical). I would like to have on board NIC & no other on-board devices.

2) Case - can I re-use the existing ATX case? I have an ASUS (forgot what model) w/300 W P/S.

3) Memory - I would like to stick to SDRAM at the beginning, with an option to upgrade at a later time. I'm using PC133 now. Is there a MB that will support both?

4) Any other suggestions? I do an occasional video editing (using a firewire card - DV raptor, which worked flawlessly with Intel Chipsets. Are there any chipsets that are more likely to cause problems?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Should I just get a P3 1Gig and leave the other options alone? Currently this CPU will cost me approximately as much as an AMD 1800+ with a MB.

Thanks for any suggestions, Andy

 

[Boonesmi]

i would get an epox 8k3a+ (the + version has raid controller, meaning it will support up to 8 ide devices like your current board)
the 8k3a+ is based on the via kt333 chipset which is currently the fastest/newest chipset for the athlon

yup you can use it in your existing atx case... you may want to check your current power supply on amds power supply list to be sure it will have enough juice to power a athlon 1800xp (but to be fair most generic 300w powersupplies will be fine)

the 8k3a+ only supports ddr (no pc133 slots) there are a few boards out that do support both sdr and ddr ram, but they are a bit older and not as fast as the current ddr only boards... (but if you really want sdr and ddr slots look at the ecs k7s5a and the asus a7a266-e)

or you can always sell your current ram in the for sale/trade forum and buy some new ddr

 

[gaidin123]

There are a slew of motherboards out there that will fit the requirement of Athlon compatible and between 4 and 6 IDE channels. Finding one with an onboard NIC only will be a bit harder. Most any boards which have onboard LAN will also integrate sound as well though that is easily disabled via a jumper on the mobo or a BIOS setting.

With the DV Raptor card I'd check the manufacturer site to make sure that they guarantee compatibility with 3rd party chipsets. The Via and Sis chipsets are cheap, and great for their cost imho but they have had some issues in the past. It's always a good a idea to check compatibility before buying if you have any hardware outside the norm. But if I had to take a guess I'd guess that your raptor card will work fine.

Also, toss your SDRAM. I know it's hard to do but you will be crippling the performance of a faster CPU with SDRAM. You also will have a hard time finding decent newer motherboards that will have SDRAM slots on them. Some of the Sis and Ali chipsets have support for both but if you can afford to get some more RAM, buy some quality DDR.

With that said, I'd say get an Athlon board with the KT333 chipset like Boonesmi recommended. It's currently the newest, latest, and greatest from Via for AMD CPUs. I have the KT266A based Epox 8kha+ board and have been very happy with it. The 8k3a+ seems like the newer version of this board with RAID. The Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra board has integrated LAN, hardware sound, RAID, and seems good as well. I haven't heard much about the new Abit KX7-333 but it looks like all their other boards. Nothing's integrated but knowing Abit it is probably a pretty good board. For massive amounts of IDE devices and no legacy ports Abit also offers their AT7 which has support for 12 IDE devices, onboard firewire, a ton of USB ports, and LAN.

Gaidin