What power supply needed

[dtp]

I'm thinking of building amy first system (actually taking an old system for its parts and moving it to another case with a new motherboard and new processor)I recently took my old comp.(with alot of help from some of you on here)and added a new hard drive-more memory-new sound & video card.But now im thinking of putting all them parts in a new case with a new mother board and cpu heres what I picked out for parts-
Motherboard-Soyo K7VTA
Chipset
- VIA KT-133A + 686B AGP chipset
Front Side Bus
- Available FSB options of 100/ 133MHz
Memory
- Three 168-pin SDRAM DIMM sockets Support up to 1.5GB
- PC100/PC133 Sdram DIMM support
This I found on Tiger Direct-$170.00 plus shippimg
The case I was thinking about is:
ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES Model# SLK2600AMB w/ANTEC SMART POWER 300W P4/AMD POWER SUPPLY ATX12V -
From newegg.com-$59.00 plus shipping
The reason I picked this motherboard is that it supports the sdram memory I already have. As for the case it just looked easy to work in.I was wondering if the power supply would be enough?
I have heard that some of the chipsets are better (more stable ) than others.I guess what I'm looking for from any of you is some feedback (positive or negetive)on the equipment I'm looking at, and if the 2 companys are good to deal with.Also I read in some of the other post that you need to do a clean install of your O.S. after a new motherboard replacement, does this mean that I will loose every thing that I have on the harddrive now? If so is there a way of saving it and reinstalling it after the new install.As always all your input is appreiceiated.Thanks

 

[marneus]

well, it is certainly limiting any furute upgrasdes for your system... I dont think for a base system like this you need to worry about the PSU, as long as it is 300W ATX it should be fine as long as it is a recognised make (like Antec...)

And yes, a clean install means you wipe the contents of the HDD B4 installing the new OS (you dont want drivers from the old board causing problems with your new board)

have you a 2nd HDD you can back data onto or a CDRW or tape drive ???

no-one shouts louder than someone who is being ignored, or in the case of techies, to be heard over the noise of their PC's ;-)

 

[dtp]

What do you mean by limiting any future upgrades to the system? I thought that I read that the motherboard was upgradable to an XP 2000 AMD Athlon processor,or are you talking about the type of Ram it takes PC100 or PC133? I realize that there is faster Ram out there but this unit is going from a pentium II 400 CPU up to a 1700 ( that I think runs at about 1.5) like I mentioned above this is my 1st motherboard & CPU replacement if you can suggest a better set-up for around the same $$'s that is more upgradable in the future I'm open to all suggestions, the way I look at it a comp. is like a motorcycle the more power you have the more you want. How about the chipset in this one or the motherboard itself is it a dinasour that this company is trying to get rid of or is it a fairly new board? I have been readig up on them both but couldn't find any reviews on them. .Thanks again for all you input every little bit helps,will be checking back for replys.

 

[dtp]

Sorry I forgot to mention that I do have a CD burner on this unit to back stuff up to but Im not really sure how to back up programs then reinstall, the two main things I would like to get off there is my scanner stuff and the kids are big Kazaa fans so I would like to preserve there music if possible,also while Im at it the video card-(Nivida TNT2 M64 32MB) and audio card I have in there I bought B4 Windows XP come out and if I run a clean install will the drivers that come on the original install disc (for the 2 cards )work with XP? Also will Windows XP upgrade work or will I have to spend the xtra $$s for the whole package?Im currently running Windows 98.

 

[mrwhipper]

dtp. there is a way to install a new mobo and CPU WITH OUT reformatting your hard drive but I need to know what OS you are using. I have done this a bunch with Win 95 and 98. Take care.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[dtp]

I currently have windows 98 on the hard drive 40 gig with 2 20 gig partitions

 

[mrwhipper]

Ok.. this is not a hard thing to do.
1. make a folder and put the new mobo chipset drivers in it.
2. restart windows in safe mode. (reboot and keep hitting F8)
3. right click on "my computer" choose properties
4.choose device manager
5.double click on system devices
6. remove all starting from the bottom (do not reboot until you are done)
7. reboot
8. windows should find most drivers
9. install chipset drivers that you put in the folder you just made.
10. tada. you should have it.

If this dosent work don't panic. Just reinstall windows on top of what is there. I never had a problem. Good luck. post your results. Im going to post another message. I'm going to copy a posting from crashman on this very subject. Read this one also.


Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[mrwhipper]

Q. After changing motherboards my system has problems in Windows.

If you have upgraded you motherboard to a new board with a different architecture or chipset you will, at minimum, need to install the appropriate drivers for the chipset.

Sometimes you may need to fully reinstall the OS to regain a completely fast and stable system, but you should try installing/re-applying the chipset drivers first.

In Win9x the easiest way to make a new board work is to:
1. Copy the new drivers to your hard drive before you change boards, because the CDROM will not be accessible until the drivers for the new IDE controller are loaded.
2. Copy the OS directory (Win95, Win98) from the CD to a file on your hard drive.
3. Go into safe mode, remove all installed drivers from the control panel, and remove all devices from device manager.
4. Install the new board
5. Start the system, and when the new devices are detected, use the “browse” button to locate the drivers/files you saved in steps 1 and 2.

Additionally, with a new motherboard, you may have moved to a new CPU or memory type that has placed a greater, or unsustainable load on your power supply.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[dtp]

Thanks again mrwhipper for the post,like I said all information is welcome Im gonna Paste these 2 articles to my wordpad for quick access when I need them I will keep checking back here for more post, I have to make up my mind on what chip set to go with on the motherboard I had a VIA board picked out but went looking at some of the post on here last night and I saw some bad reviews on that chipset. Any ideas on a chipset? Will probably go with an AMD processor cost wise is why, first time doing this so wanna keep the $$s down incase I screw something up.Thanks again.Keep the post coming.

 

[mrwhipper]

The VIA 133A chipset is not too bad. I do know that some boards with 133 chipset had trouble with 4X AGP. (I found out the hard way) But If I'm not mistaken, I thik that they resolved it with the 133A. Other than the AMD chipset (which I dont think is any better in your situation) I cant thik of any others. I'm sorry I cant help you to much more with this. I wish I could talk you into an XP chip, mobo with 266A or 333 chipset, and DDR ram. I think you would be MUCH happier with out too much more cost. 1700+= $59.00 US, Gigabyte 7VXR = $79.00 US, and 128Mg 333 (2700) DDR ram = $58.00. www.pcprogress.com I have delt with them many times with very good results. I think that woud be the best way to go. Good luck.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[mrwhipper]

One more thing I wanted to say. I have purchased stuff from Tigerdirect and had very good results also. I think you can do better on the power supply though. Look around. Take care.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[marneus]

Quite simply, the chipset would be future-proof if you got a KT333 board...
KT133A is old, also it doesnt have DMA133, Integrated USB2, support for faster memory
Also most KT133As will only support the Tbird class Athlon & The Duron ie 1400Mhz max... (Epox boards using the Kt133A chip dont)

I would suggest A budget ECS SIS735 board, it supports a wider range of AMD CPUs for DEFINATE, it will support SD-RAM & DDR-RAM & its performance is better that the KT133A chipset... just make your PSU is a good one as it can get tempremental when hooked to a el cheapo PSU... at least 300W if poss...


no-one shouts louder than someone who is being ignored, or in the case of techies, to be heard over the noise of their PC's ;-)