AMD upgrade concerns

[Guest]

I've been looking over some new hardware to upgrade to, but I want to make sure everything will work together before I order. I've done tons of research about the individual components that I'm looking to get, but I still have one or two concerns. This is my current machine:

Abit BE6-II mb
pIII-450
128mb PC100 (< I think?) Micron RAM
2 Western Digital hdd's
Voodoo3-2000 (PCI)
SBLive! Value (PCI)
3com NIC (ISA)

...and I want to add these in instead:

Abit KT7A mb
AMD Tbird 1.3 Ghz
GeForce2 MX (AGP, no brand yet)

I'm buying the mobo/processor combo through PriceWatch so I'm not worried that they won't work together, which also comes with a fan/heatsink.
What I AM worried about is my memory stick. I've been told that PC100 RAM won't work on Abit's KT7A board because it only accepts PC133. Someone else warned me that AMD chips may require certain types or brands of memory to function. Are these both accurate? I looked up a Micron 256 PC133 stick for $38 on PriceWatch, but I just want to know what extras I'll have to spring for *before* I buy everything else. Also, would I have any problems with my hdd's? Hopefully someone can ease my mind.

Thanks!
m19

 

[wapaaga]

it is usaaly a good idea note to skimp one the ram becuase it can cause a lot of haveiic in the system and it can be hard to figure out what is causeing it

go to curcial.com it is as about as twice as much but it is reall i high quality ram and it is worth

it also comes with a lifetime garutenn on it

 

[Guest]

I appreciate your advice to Crucial, so I'll check them out. But it didn't really answer what I asked, so let me try again. I want to know if I can use my PC100 stick on a new Abit KT7A board, either by itself or with another bought PC133 stick. (Can you even use the two types together?) As for "twice the price," this whole upgrade is happening because prices are *low* enough to warrant half a new system... I don't have limitless funds.

m19

 

[Bud]

Abit kt7a will accept pc100 ram...but pc-133 is so cheap now. If your short on cash you could use your old ram
until you can get the pc-133 though.

ON the Abit,if your CPU runs at 100FSB then set the RAM clock at "HOST CLK". If your CPU runs on the 133FSB, then
set your ram clock at "HOST-PCI CLK"....(it's a stupid way
to say 133-33 or 100mhz), but it will set your ram clock to 100mhz.



I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bud on 06/13/01 11:56 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Ok, that's what I wanted to know. While we're on the topic, since they're so similar, would the KT7E do fine also? I'm looking at both the A and E now... *sigh* The decisions never end.

m19

 

[Guest]

the crucial site has a memory finder where you can input your mobo brand and then the specific model and it will list the memory that they carry that is useable. Just use that and see if any pc100 or whatever chips pop up on the okay list.

 

[dhlucke]

Just a note, and anyone correct me, but Crucial sells Micron memory. A quick check online shows that other vendors sell micron memory cheaper. The difference is that Crucial's website is very helpful and they are an extremely reliable vendor according to everyone.

<font color=red>Amd or Intel? Who cares?? Not me...</font color=red>

 

[btvillarin]

If you're using PC100 RAM, and buy PC133 RAM to add to your old stick, it'll only run at 100MHz due to your slower stick...

I bought my 256MHz PC133 CAS2 RAM from Crucial.com. Great service, and when I emailed for an order change, they responded rapidly. I think the prices are great, considering that they do 2-day shipping for free...

 

[kaz]

Don't most sites sell Micron memory on third party boards? Quality difference???
Although I have this 3rd party stuff with no issues...

 

[killall]

you could use the pc 100 stick if you get the 1.3 200fsb chip but on the 1.33 with 266 fsb it would be pushing it... i think the performance gain you will get is worth the extra $50

you do not strengthen the weak by weakening the strong

 

[RCPilot]

I would qusetion your HDD's. If there 7200 RPM ATA100's, I'd use them. If there 5200 RPM ATA66's I'd think about it.

When I built my first AMD 1 gig I was using my 2 old 10 gig WD HDD's at ATA66 & that slows down the transfers quite a bit. I ended up buying a WD 30 gig at ATA100 to finally get the speed out of the CPU & MOBO that I had bought. You can run AMD's on old equipment, but you'll never get the speed out of what you bought. I've now built several 1.333's & find it's better to get all new equipment, you avoid instablity & get the blinding speed your upgrading for. The machines that I have had instablity problems with, I found was old HDD's, Ram, CD ROM's & floopy's. I just won't put together a machine that way now. Lets face it, I can only make a few dollars building a machine anyway. If your on the phone night after night with someone for an hour or so chasing down problems & find it's the rom, have it brought back to the shop to install the rom that should have been installed in the first place, I've lost everything I made & then some.

That reminds me, the CD rom. Unless it's 50 x or better it will sound like a jet spooling up for take off. I had a 32 x in my first machine & I felt like I should be wearing a shin guard. I thought the rom was going to spit the CD out like a Frisby & implant it in my shin. Once again you won't get the speed out of your CPU & MOBO.

That's my $.02 from what I've learned, hope it helps.

Skinny

How do you eat a elephant? One bite at a time!