Where's the Horizon & What's On It?

[ParatoOptimal]

I haven't been up on my mag reading the last few months.
When and what are the new MOBO's and CPU's hitting the market this year that will drive the prices of everything else down?

I'm itching to buy on the cheap and to put something together.
I want a MOBO that will support 2 optical drives and 2 (more if possible) HD's as well as external HD's via USB2.0.
I understand that some MOBO chipsets don't like external USB enclosures.

I currently have a
P3-500
ASUS CUSL2 MOBO
PC133RAM
Maxtor 120GB/ATA133/7200/8MB
Western Digital 80GB/ATA100/7200/8MB?
TDK CD-RW & other optical drives
64MB PCI TNT (maybe TNT2)

 

[myocardia]

Haha, PC133 ram hasn't been WORTH using for quite a few years now. I think it's time you updated, you don't need to wait for anything.

 

[Corsairpro]

^^^^ He is correct, upgrade now!!!

EDIT: DRAM prices are rising, so upgrade soon or else you'll be paying upto 20% more for your RAM this summer.

 

[Falloutboy]

swap out your board cpu and memory for this and you will be quite happy and not be broke:

NF7-S
AMS Athlon Barton Mobile 2400+
2x256mb ram or 2x512mb of PC3200

should overclock to atleast 2.4 and be quite a system. shouldn't set u back much more than 250 if you go with 512mb total memory or 300-350 if you go for a gig

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525
swap out your board cpu and memory for this and you will be quite happy and not be broke:

NF7-S
AMS Athlon Barton Mobile 2400+
2x256mb ram or 2x512mb of PC3200

should overclock to atleast 2.4 and be quite a system. shouldn't set u back much more than 250 if you go with 512mb total memory or 300-350 if you go for a gig

If you're wanting to hit 2.4ghz, spend a little more and get either a mobile 2500 or better yet, a mobile 2600.

 

[Falloutboy]

I disagree the 2400 shouldn't have any issue hitting 2.4 I've goten 3 and all have hit 2.4 with 1.8V or lower 2 hit 2.5 1.85V and one hit 2.65 1.95V

 

[ParatoOptimal]

You guys rock!
Thanks for the great advice.

Will I be able to use my current PS?
I hear that AMD based MOBO's have a different connector to the PS.

I think I read somewhere that NF7-S boards don't like external USB HD enclosures. I could be wrong.

Excuse my outdated knowledge, but is this dual channel?

Will I be able to run more than one CPU intensive prog at a time?

I've never built AMD. I used one of their first at work ages ago.

Thanks

 

[Falloutboy]

well let me put it this way if your used to using a P500 a Athlon at around 2.3-2.5ghz would feel awsome. as in multitasking, I find that I can usually have a Divx Encode going, work with about 10-20 IE windows (I'm terreble about closing them) run Mp3's and whatever Distributed Project I'm currently working on. granted you notice a slow down but its by no means unusable. My main problem now is ram I only have 512mb and for the amount of multitasking I due 1gig would help

 

[Cheetah8799]

I understand that some MOBO chipsets don't like external USB enclosures.

I haven't heard anything about any onboard USB chipsets not working well with external usb enclosures.

Will I be able to use my current PS?
I hear that AMD based MOBO's have a different connector to the PS.

Most Intel P4 systems require an extra 4-pin power plug thingy from your power supply. Both Intel and AMD use the same style ATX plug for hte main power. Some AMD motherboards also have the extra 4-pin power connector, but not many. If you get a newer power supply you should be fine either way as long as it has the right connector. Sorry I'm not sure of the correct terminology for the 4-pin power connectors...

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525
I disagree the 2400 shouldn't have any issue hitting 2.4 I've goten 3 and all have hit 2.4 with 1.8V or lower 2 hit 2.5 1.85V and one hit 2.65 1.95V

Quite a few people here lately have had problems getting the newest mobile 2400's to hit 2.3ghz, even though they have other equipment that should allow much higher overclocks than that. You realize, don't you, that newegg isn't still selling the older 2400's, 2500's, or 2600's? What someone can do with an IQYHA stepping doesn't concern this guy, since he isn't going to be getting one.

 

[Falloutboy]

that may be true I didn't know that the steppings have changed

 

[ParatoOptimal]

I've seen many posts from people who had problems with external USB2.0 cases and Nforce2 based MOBO's. There was once a thread on AT that got into the specifics on chipsets in external cases and which to look for.

 

[Falloutboy]

from what i've heard the main problem with the external drives is if they pull all thier power from the usb bus instead of having thier own power supply. if this is a big deal I would still get a nforce 2 board its really worth it and get a USB 2.0 PCI card. which shouldn't cost much more than 10-20 bucks

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525
from what i've heard the main problem with the external drives is if they pull all thier power from the usb bus instead of having thier own power supply. if this is a big deal I would still get a nforce 2 board its really worth it and get a USB 2.0 PCI card. which shouldn't cost much more than 10-20 bucks

I agree completely, although I personally would wait to buy a pci card, because you may not need it at all.

 

[JediJeb]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525
I disagree the 2400 shouldn't have any issue hitting 2.4 I've goten 3 and all have hit 2.4 with 1.8V or lower 2 hit 2.5 1.85V and one hit 2.65 1.95V

Quite a few people here lately have had problems getting the newest mobile 2400's to hit 2.3ghz, even though they have other equipment that should allow much higher overclocks than that. You realize, don't you, that newegg isn't still selling the older 2400's, 2500's, or 2600's? What someone can do with an IQYHA stepping doesn't concern this guy, since he isn't going to be getting one.

I ordered my 2400+XP-M thesday night from New Egg and got a IQYHA, guess I am lucky. Also it is at 2250 right now on a ECS L7S7A2 and Im gonna try for faster soon.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

I'd like to hit 2.4GHz.

That would put me in the 3200+ class.

Wouldn't my FSB bottleneck?
I've seen lists in mags of AMD and Intel of same CPU at same GHz with different FSB.

What is the FSB on the NF7-S?
Is that the best MOBO to get?

If this puts me at $250, is one of the P4 Dell rigs I've seen mentioned in the Hot Deal forum preferable for $300?

Money is an issue. The cheaper the better for me.
I was looking to spend way less than $250. Money is very tight now.
I've seen deals on AT for AMD procy with free soyo, via based MOBO's for under $100.
Will they allow me the overclocking the NF7-S allows?

It would su@K to get this setup and find that my generic PS in my CUSA case needs to be replaced with an $80 number.
It would equally Su@k if my 64MB, PCI TNT or is it a TNT2 doesn't fly with this plan.

Is AMD releasing any new CPU's this year?
I thought something would be out to drive CPU, MOBO & vid card prices down further.

Sorry for all the ques. I'm new to AMD. I checked the latest CS and MaxPC but they had little or no info and few ads. I remember when CS was nothing but ads. I've got to get to B&N and look for CPU mag.

So, is the 2400+ my best bet to get 2.4GHz or do I need the 2600+?
I recall someone on AT saying to stay away from the 2500+.

Thanks for all your time and advice.

 

[ParatoOptimal]

Elsewhere in this forum someone mentioned probs with memory and the nf7-s. Something about 2-256 are ok. 1-512 is ok . He found probs with 2-512's.

Which is better and what are they priced...
Epox 8RDA3I nForce 2
NFS7
NFS7-S
Albatron K8X800 Pro II (MaxPC's fave for any non-FX MOBO)

Which will have a longer usefull lifespan?

Will the nForce chipset be gelling with my TNT or TNT2?

What FSB will I get with an OC'd XP-M?

Is this a preferable MOBO?
DFI LANPARTY NFII-B NVIDIA nFORCE2 ULTRA 400 CHIPSET ULTRA ATA133 ATX FORM FACTOR 1xAGP(8X)/5xPCI/4xDDR W/SATA,RAID,DUAL LAN,USB 2.0 & AUDIO (CPU TYPE:AMD DURON, ATHLON XP - 266/333/400Mhz) $129.00 refurb at mwave.com

This site rocks for the NF7 => http://www.lvcoyote.com/
Do I need to put heat sinks on the main chipset?

I don't know who made the PS that came with my CUSA case.
Please note that I have one fan in the bottom front and the PS with it's fan is in the top back.
There are vents on either side of the case.

Thanks


PS:
I did some reading at B&N and online.
The NF7-S sounds AWESOME!!!
The only CPU mag I could find was Computer Power User.