New MOBO etc

[~Lazarus~]

Guys,

Seriously considering upping my machine.

Currently have an AMD Duron 900Mhz machine (Compaq Presario) which is starting to "grind" away.

Can you give me some help in choosing a new Mobo & processor (pricing guide would be nice too)

Never done this b4, so treat me as a noob.

 

[Will]

Originally posted by ~Lazarus~
Guys,

Never done this b4, so treat me as a noob.

Tempting...but I'll be nice.

Are you after a whole new self-build, or do you have some parts you will be reusing?

 

[~Lazarus~]

Will,

Intend to replace / upgrade the mobo/processor in the machine I have, so reusing everything else. (unless memory is different for the MOBO - current using SDRAM)

have helped others do this, but never went through it personally. Whwn I did, theres a GLUT of boards out there which just totally confuses.

Intend to stick with Athlon / Duron.

 

[Will]

Ok, that's a little easier. You'll have to get new RAM, SDR is so 2000.

How about Abit NF7-S nForce2 with Athlon XP 2600+ 333FSB and Corsair 512MB DDR XMS2700 TwinX (2x256)?

£424.35...maybe I should have asked for a budget first.

 

[~Lazarus~]

Originally posted by Will.

£424.35...maybe I should have asked for a budget first.

Let me see.

Take the number you first thot of.
Divide by 2.
Take off 3 times my age - now you are getting closer

seriously, not wanting to spend a fortune, 150 max (cringe)

 

[Will]

I don't think I can manage that I'm afraid...well, not in that shop.

At Dabs, you can pick up an Abit KD7-E (listed as SoA VIA KT333 ATX on that page) for £61. Back at OCUK, an XP 2000+ can be yours for £65, though I happen to have one going spare myself. And 256MB of Crucial RAM can be yours for £51 (thats PC2700, though look on Crucials own site, you may get a beter deal).

 

[~Lazarus~]

Thanks for the effort Will,

Can you cast your educated wye between the mobo you linked to and another which was "recommended"

Whats the difference . which is "better"

Yours

Other

 

[Will]

About £30.

The difference is that the mobo I gave you is based on a VIA KT333 chipset, while the other is on the more recent Nvidia nForce2 chipset. But that first mobo I found you was on the nForce2 too.

Which is better...I have a mobo based on the KT333, and it is good enough for me. The nForce2 is faster, but costs more, and to take advantage of it properly, you need two sticks of RAM, as it does dual channel trickery.

 

[mookie]

ECS k7s5a good solid cheap amd mobo, sis735 shipset, it'll take all of the athlon 266fsb chips with a bios flash, and it'll take SDRAM or DDr. good for keeping your SD till you can afford the good stuff.


44 quid at aria

 

[Wilier]

Originally posted by ~Lazarus~
Thanks for the effort Will,

Can you cast your educated wye between the mobo you linked to and another which was "recommended"

Whats the difference . which is "better"

Yours

Other

Blimey Laz, you have some really nice friends m8.

 

[WPKenny]

Originally posted by Will.
The nForce2 is faster, but costs more, and to take advantage of it properly, you need two sticks of RAM, as it does dual channel trickery.

Partly true. In benchmarks though it makes very little difference whether you have one or two sticks of ram. Maybe this will improve with BIOS revisions or something.

So yes, it is faster, but not by a hell of a lot at all.

 

[Will]

Ironically, my Abit KT333 is slowly dying on me, its BIOS has become fried during a power-cut, and I'm replacing it with the motherboard I recommended to Laz...the KD7-E. Hopefully I should have better luck with this one.

 

[Furr]

Just get one of those Novatech or Dabs powerbundles, Processor, mobo and ram.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

Originally posted by Will.
Ironically, my Abit KT333 is slowly dying on me, its BIOS has become fried during a power-cut, and I'm replacing it with the motherboard I recommended to Laz...the KD7-E. Hopefully I should have better luck with this one.

I've just bought a belkin surge protector to protect my abit kx7r for £17 upto 33k amps don't know if that will be enough.. should have bought really a UPS really, but that's too many £'s considering I may never need it.

 

[Will]

I have a surge protector, but you have no idea how bad the wiring in this flat is, when the fuses tripped about 10 times a few weeks ago, things got damaged.