Which motherboard & CPU to buy for a Thunderbird System?

[theanimala]

Ok, I was never considering going with AMD but with the recent price drops, I can no longer go with Intel. I was going to get the ASUS CUSL2 and a P3 700 or so originally, but now I want to go with an easy to overclock AMD system.

I definately want a t-bird system, maybe around 800mhz or so, with 128MB of ram (should I go for PC150 over the PC133?). I also plan on getting the Geforce MX card.

Hopefully someone can help as I have never had any experience with AMD before, so I know I am asking for some pretty basic stuff. I just want a fast and stable system.

 

[FarENheiT]

Ooo, if only I were in your situation....

I would look at the Asus A7V (pro) for the mobo. Asus rocks, I've always had an Asus since my Cyrix and P1 days and they still perform. Overclocking is easy with their boards. Theres no exception with the A7V. Mmmmh overclocking goodness. I can smell the home cookin' now!

As for the chip, it depends on how much you want to pay. The sweetspot seems to be tbird 800. But with 900's going for $170 now, thats tough to pass up. Ohh what a good time it is to have an Athlon system! I never thought this would happen, it was my dream!

"It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up magazine! Salt n' Peppa and Heavy D up in tha' limosine!" - Notorious B.I.G.

 

[MagnumCWN]

Just my opinion, but if you look over these threads you will see many have the same. Go with the Abit KT7 which is the best board for o/c and very stable. You can pick up a t-bird 800 for around $170 and the mobo for around $150. There are many sites that will help you with the overclocking procedures. www.overclockers.com being one. As far as the ram goes. I think that the "Quality" of the Ram has more to do with helping your o/c than the whether it is 133 vs 150. Munchkin seems to be the best bet.

 

[Liquidh2o]

what magnum said , good post, words to go on.

 

[office boy]

Have people had problems with kingmax?

 

[Vpham97]

You can pick up a t-bird 800 for around $170

Check Pricewatch.com, T-bird 800 are $130 and dropping. Duron 700 are $60 and dropping. Ask them to send you a blue chip instead of the green.

Asus A7v rock, but it's not rock solid.
Check my signature

 

[MagnumCWN]

Well excuse me for my mis-quote on prices Vpham97..I truley hope he isnt psychologically impaired in any way or suffer any long term harm from my mistake......

 

[Stout]

LOL...

I am on the same boat as theanimalalooking

So is the Abit KT7 more stable/OC friendly than the ASUS?

An 800MHz a "smarter" buy than a 900MHz? All T-Birds are "unlock

Thank DUDES!

 

[Dark4ng3l]

the asus uses dipswitches on the mobo to overclock and the kt7 uses the bios. The a7v is somewhat(not by much tho)faster and more stable(2-3%) The a7v can have integrated audio. The kt7 can be a raid version for ide raid. All t-birds are unlockeable since they are the same cpu's but only at diferent clock speeds(some t-birds are copper(blue core) and some are aluminium(green core)) the blue core should help o/c higher. The lower clock speed you buy the larger the increase in clock speed you can get because you are further to the max the cpu design can take.

 

[MikeHelvey]

KT7 and the most processor you can afford after buying quality RAM. 800 is a good baseline.