Upgrading advice needed

[Abydos]

At the expense of starting a new thread, I hope to recruit the combined experience of these forums in making my decisions. First, here's what I've got:

AthlonXP+2100 (old Palomino core I think)
MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU
3x 256MB (cheap) OC Sysem PC3000
Gainward GeForce Ti4600 128MB AGP 4x
2x IDE 80GB HD's in RAID +0

I'm currently addicted to FFXI and am not performing very well with this setup but I'm not made out of money either. I've been suffering random instabilities/crashes/phantom-reboots and more often, the "blue screen of death"(most commonly mentioning the Nvidia card as the fault) So, it's time to upgrade and improve performance. Here's my choices, and I'm hoping for some feedback/suggestions on this.

AthlonXP mobile +2500
Gigabyte GA-7NNXP or the DFI LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B
1GB of Mushkin PC3200 "222 Special" Dual Pack or something comparable from Corsair or OCZ

I will be overclocking with what I buy. Thank you in advance for any suggestions and feedback!

 

[Abydos]

I apologize for the bump, but I was hoping to order this stuff from newegg in time to build on Saturday. Besides, the wife said I could finally upgrade, so I'd like to do it before she has time to change her mind.

 

[nageov3t]

I <3 that motherboard, but it's a little old... ever consider upgrading?

also, are you using on-board video or what? an upgrade to a Radeon 9xxx might be in order.

 

[Abydos]

I'm trying to hold off on the video until ATI and Nvidia come out with their new GPU's. Sound-wise, I'm using a Soundblaster Audigy Platinum 5.1. This upgrade is geared to address some issues I've had with crashes and a bad case of the "blue screen of death" along with improve FFXI gaming performance. I really get the feeling that my memory is the real problem though. System temps are maintained around 30-36 degrees C.

 

[nageov3t]

which OS are you running? if it's anything other than XP, that could be the problem.

outside of that, consider replacing your ram and/or mobo.

run mem test86 on the ram and see if it finds any errors; if it's failing, you definitely want to replace that ASAP.

 

[Abydos]

Thanks for the good tip. I just ran the test and at about 65% into it, 6 errors popped up. I'm running XP Pro and all of my drivers are current, but as you said, If the memory comes up with any errors, replace it. Time to go shopping! Thanks again. Now I just need to decide between OCZ, Mushkin, and Corsair.

 

[Abydos]

Well, I ordered 2x512MB of that new Mushkin "222" special PC3200, but now I feel a little silly. I was so anxious to upgrade my system that I forgot to thoroughly troubleshoot it. Today I pulled all my RAM and alternated each one into bank 1 on my mobo and ran a test on each one. Slightly to my dismay, no errors on all 3 sticks. Ergot, one of the RAM slots (bank 3) on my mobo is probably the problem. So, I suppose I'm back to square one. I'm seriously thinking about that Gigabyte GA-7NNXP, but I haven't seen anything on it in the mobo forum here and not much info elsewhere. I'm just looking for a rig that I can slap one of those spiffy new AthlonXP mobile's into with my new memory and OC the crud out of it with a water cooler I have laying around. Nevertheless, thanks for pointing me to Memtest86, and if you have any mobo advice, I'm all ears.

 

[Monoman]

"Well, I ordered 2x512MB of that new Mushkin "222" special PC3200"



want to sell them to me

 

[Abydos]

LOL, I just bought that stuff and haven't even received it yet. However, I do have some OCZ PC 3000 256MB sticks... Anyhow, I'm really hoping for some advice on which motherboard to finish it off with. Unless I sell my soul and go with an Intel platform...j/k

 

[Tbirdkid]

dont go to intel.... it wont run as fast.... just a heads up. not to mention... it will cost a whole lot more. Sell what you have and get in on the a7n8x nforce 2 and a barton.... that should take care of your problem. One other thing... that video probably isnt 8x. Maybe radeon wouldnt be a bad way to go?

 

[Peter D]

Well, I guess I'll ask, what PSU do you have?

If you're gunna get a new motherboard, I'd suggest an Abit NF7-S, or DFI Infinity. They're cheaper, and overclock better

Welcome to AnandTech BTW

 

[Abydos]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Unfortunately that money was burning a hole in my pocket all wekend. I spent the better part of last night on e-bay and decided to leave my mobo choice between AMD and Intel to fate. I ended up winning a P4C800 Deluxe for a lot less than Newegg sells em for. Anyways, I'm not too dissappointed since FFXI was most likely compiled on an Intel machine.

My PSU is an Enermax EG465P-VE FCA pushing 465Watts. I'm still thinking about getting a mobile barton while they're still around and throwing it in my MSI setup until I change out the motherboard. I know those motherboard suggestions are proven performers, but I was hoping for one with GB ethernet, and IDE RAID since SATA adapters run about $30 a pop. As far as a new vid card goes, I'm just going to wait for the NV40 and R420 to come out. I figure I'd be spending around $400 on a high-end card anyways, so I may as well wait for the new stuff (besides, I need to save $ for it) I guess all that's left to do now is slap a P4 2.8C and OC it to 3.4. All in all, thanks for the good advice, I'm going to be using some of that this next payday.