upgrading hardware

[lucrioual]

alright, so i've gotten tired with my msi kt266pro2 and amd athlon xp 1600+ and figured it was time for a little upgrade


this is basically all im willing to put into it, money wise
here is what i spec'd out after doing some research
tell me if you think its enough of an upgrade

(prices from newegg)


ASUS "A7N8X-X" nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL - $69.00

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM - $80.00

ZALMAN CNPS7000A-AlCu Aluminum + Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 462/ 754 and Intel Socket 478 -RETAIL - $35.99 (cause im tired of my 38dB vantec, lol)

tell me if its worth it
ends up costing me 188 bucks, with shipping

thanks in advance

 

[nick1985]

motherboard $58

CPU $77

use the HSF you already listed $35.99

Total: $170.99 + S@H

1 question though, what kind of RAM do you have? if you dont have at least pc-3200, i suggest buying a stick of RAM to so you can get a great OC on this 2400.

 

[jpeyton]

Great heatsink choice. They are quiet and efficient.

Do you already have PC3200 memory?

You want to replace the desktop Barton with a mobile Barton, found here: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?catalog=343&DEPA=0&submit=property&mfrcode=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=4181

The Mobile 2200 or 2400 are better overclockers than the desktop Barton. And they are multiplier unlocked, so they can accomodate you if you don't have PC3200 memory. You should overclock them into the 3200-3400+ region, which is a big difference from your 1600+.

Go for it.

 

[lucrioual]

yea, i have 512 of pc2700 and 384 of 2100, lol
and no money to upgrade it all


edit:: what do people think of the shuttle board posted above??

 

[jpeyton]

Well I'd suggest keeping the PC2700 for now and hocking the PC2100. What brand 2700 is it? Some can manage 3200 speeds with a little voltage/looser timings.

At minimum, getting a mobile Barton, you could run it at 12.5 X 166 which is almost 2.1GHz. It can only go up from there depending on your memory.

 

[lucrioual]

pny

 

[lucrioual]

bump

 

[jpeyton]

what are the markings on the memory chips

 

[lucrioual]

let me look, lol

all of the stuff or something specific?

 

[lucrioual]

wait... i don't see why i should upgrade my ram though, cause it says it will support all 200/266/333/400, so why would i be needed to upgrade

and is the mobile barton any better than the standard besides ease of overclocking, which im not even planning on doing at this point in time

 

[So]

Originally posted by: lucrioual
wait... i don't see why i should upgrade my ram though, cause it says it will support all 200/266/333/400, so why would i be needed to upgrade

and is the mobile barton any better than the standard besides ease of overclocking, which im not even planning on doing at this point in time

If it supporst 400, then it's PC 3200

 

[lucrioual]

wait... i meant my mb specs, the new one, says that it supports that