Upgrade ???'s - What'll US$300 get me?

[mtngoat]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

Here's the thing:

I recently sprung $260 for an ATI-built AIW 9600XT. It won't work in
my motherboard. Went thru 3 RMA'a and finally got ATI to admit "there
were probably some incompatibilities out there. But we can't test
everything."

Uh-huh.

So I've resigned myself to upgrading the rest of the system since I
really want this card. I'll be offering up for sale (not here, of
course) a KT7A rev. 1, AMD T'Bird 1.2Gh (unlocked) and 1 GB pc133
SDRAM from Atlas Precision (guaranteed compatible for this board).
Carefully maintained, never over-clocked.

I've got ~$300 budgeted for this upgrade. I'll need memory, a mobo and
CPU. I like the SoftMenu option on Abits so I'm probably sticking with
them. And I'm partial to the AMDs so I'd like to stick with them.

So far I've been looking at the NF7-S (my soundcard is not long from
the landfill as well) but today it seems the Socket A is going the way
of the Dodo. I keep my stuff a while and need something more current.

It's taken me long enough to catch up with the whole DDR thing, I'd be
pretty burnt catching up on the different CPU sockets, etc. I'm hoping
for some real-world, been-there experience.

Anyone want to offer up some advice?
Thanks in advance.

Chuck

 

[bill]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

In article <i582a0tvgil9i1a6qr4ulg23o1ka29i02d@4ax.com>,
NotGiven@InPublic.org says...
<Here's the thing:
<
<snip>
<
<I've got ~$300 budgeted for this upgrade. I'll need memory, a mobo and
<CPU. I like the SoftMenu option on Abits so I'm probably sticking with
<them. And I'm partial to the AMDs so I'd like to stick with them.
<
<So far I've been looking at the NF7-S (my soundcard is not long from
<the landfill as well) but today it seems the Socket A is going the way
<of the Dodo. I keep my stuff a while and need something more current.
<
<It's taken me long enough to catch up with the whole DDR thing, I'd be
<pretty burnt catching up on the different CPU sockets, etc. I'm hoping
<for some real-world, been-there experience.
<
<Anyone want to offer up some advice?
<Thanks in advance.
<
<Chuck
<

If you're not going to go Socket A you're going to need more than
300 dollars. Just check www.newegg.com for prices and see what I
mean. You may even have to upgrade your power supply.

OTOH, you could still put your present processor in an ABit NF7-S
and a Gig of good DDR ram and have some change left over, save yout
money for a while and then upgrade to a 64 bit system. A bunch of
new motherboards and other goodies will be announced in the next
few months that you might want, and the price will have dropped on
what's presently available.

Bill

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

"MtnGoat" <NotGiven@InPublic.org> wrote in message
news:i582a0tvgil9i1a6qr4ulg23o1ka29i02d@4ax.com...

" I've got ~$300 budgeted for this upgrade. I'll need memory, a mobo and
CPU. I like the SoftMenu option on Abits so I'm probably sticking with them.
And I'm partial to the AMDs so I'd like to stick with them. "


Is your PSU good enough for a substantial upgrade? Probably not. Anyway,
without the PSU I can recommend the following options. They are based on
quality ABIT motherboards, bang-for-buck CPUs, and 512MB Kingston ValueRAM.
Kingston is the cheapest option out of all the *quality* brands, and you can
easily add another identical stick in the near future. If you wanted to
overclock, you might need to spend more money on a brand like Corsair.

You can have the following Socket-A setup for $298.00 with the NF7-S, or for
$308.00 with the AN7. You can compare both motherboards at
http://snipurl.com/6bh1 , and both have the ability to upgrade to a 400FSB
Athlon XP 3200+

- ABIT NF7-S v2.0 ($95.00) http://snipurl.com/6bey or....
- ABIT AN7 ($105.00) http://snipurl.com/6bh3
- AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 333FSB ($80.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf2
- Kingston 512MB PC3200 KVR400X64C25/512 ($123.00) http://snipurl.com/6bfp

You might feel the need to jump to the Athlon64, so you can have this
Socket-754 setup for $419.00, with the ability to upgrade to an Athlon64
3400+

- ABIT KV8-MAX3 ($140.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf8
- AMD Athlon64 2800+ ($187.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf9
- Kingston 512MB PC3200 KVR400X64C3A/512 ($92.00) http://snipurl.com/6bfb

I only checked the prices at Newegg, and I haven't included delivery. You
might be able to find things a few dollars cheaper elsewhere, but then you
could have three seperate delivery charges on your hands.
www.pricewatch.com is always a good place to start shopping.

 

[Chuck]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On Wed, 12 May 2004 01:19:25 +0100, "Cuzman" <cuzNOSPAM@supanet.com>
wrote:

>"MtnGoat" <NotGiven@InPublic.org> wrote in message
>news:i582a0tvgil9i1a6qr4ulg23o1ka29i02d@4ax.com...
>
>" I've got ~$300 budgeted for this upgrade. I'll need memory, a mobo and
>CPU. I like the SoftMenu option on Abits so I'm probably sticking with them.
>And I'm partial to the AMDs so I'd like to stick with them. "
>
>
>Is your PSU good enough for a substantial upgrade? Probably not. Anyway,
>without the PSU I can recommend the following options. They are based on
>quality ABIT motherboards, bang-for-buck CPUs, and 512MB Kingston ValueRAM.
>Kingston is the cheapest option out of all the *quality* brands, and you can
>easily add another identical stick in the near future. If you wanted to
>overclock, you might need to spend more money on a brand like Corsair.
>
>You can have the following Socket-A setup for $298.00 with the NF7-S, or for
>$308.00 with the AN7. You can compare both motherboards at
>http://snipurl.com/6bh1 , and both have the ability to upgrade to a 400FSB
>Athlon XP 3200+
>
>- ABIT NF7-S v2.0 ($95.00) http://snipurl.com/6bey or....
>- ABIT AN7 ($105.00) http://snipurl.com/6bh3
>- AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 333FSB ($80.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf2
>- Kingston 512MB PC3200 KVR400X64C25/512 ($123.00) http://snipurl.com/6bfp
>
>You might feel the need to jump to the Athlon64, so you can have this
>Socket-754 setup for $419.00, with the ability to upgrade to an Athlon64
>3400+
>
>- ABIT KV8-MAX3 ($140.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf8
>- AMD Athlon64 2800+ ($187.00) http://snipurl.com/6bf9
>- Kingston 512MB PC3200 KVR400X64C3A/512 ($92.00) http://snipurl.com/6bfb
>
>I only checked the prices at Newegg, and I haven't included delivery. You
>might be able to find things a few dollars cheaper elsewhere, but then you
>could have three seperate delivery charges on your hands.
>www.pricewatch.com is always a good place to start shopping.
>
>
>
>
Wow, thanks, (to Bill too). Actually the PSU is a Turbo Cool 510
ATX-PFC. not likely gonna be a problem. And there IS a compatibility
issue between the Radeons and VIA.that's all too often passed off as
insufficient power. I've been submerged in the subject for the last
couple weeks. ATI finally admit it (albeit off the record), Abit
won't..

Anyhoo, some great ideas here. I'll look closely at the Athlon64 since
I'll be keeping for a while.

C.

 

[bill]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

In article <9rr2a0d70fonfrf4iee19mn7m4v3em3kqj@4ax.com>,
NotGiven@inPublic.org says...
<
<snip>
<
<Anyhoo, some great ideas here. I'll look closely at the Athlon64 since
<I'll be keeping for a while.
<
<C.
<

If you don't need all the bells and whistles of an Abit NF7-S an
Abit NF7 will save you 20 some bucks.

Bill

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

"Chuck" <NotGiven@inPublic.org> wrote in message
news:9rr2a0d70fonfrf4iee19mn7m4v3em3kqj@4ax.com...

" Actually the PSU is a Turbo Cool 510 ATX-PFC. not likely gonna be a
problem. "


Quality

 

[Chuck]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On Wed, 12 May 2004 12:42:05 +0100, "Cuzman" <cuzNOSPAM@supanet.com>
wrote:

>"Chuck" <NotGiven@inPublic.org> wrote in message
>news:9rr2a0d70fonfrf4iee19mn7m4v3em3kqj@4ax.com...
>
>" Actually the PSU is a Turbo Cool 510 ATX-PFC. not likely gonna be a
>problem. "
>
>
>Quality
>

Now you're getting my drift. Best bang for the buck and I won't
tolerate shite.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On Tue, 11 May 2004 18:51:56 UTC in alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit,
MtnGoat <NotGiven@InPublic.org> wrote:

> It's taken me long enough to catch up with the whole DDR thing, I'd be
> pretty burnt catching up on the different CPU sockets, etc. I'm hoping
> for some real-world, been-there experience.

Unless you spend vast amounts of money, whatever you buy now will be out
of date in 6 months time. And even if you do spend vast amounts of money
you'd be able to buy the same thing in 6 months time for about half the
price and in another 6 months it'd be obsolete again ;-)

Going from an Athlon 1.2 to a 2500+ would be a reasonable speed increase
and would be the cheapest option. 2500+'s are also meant to be good
overclockers - mine seems to happily run everything except burnk7 when I
up the FSB from 333 to 400 and run it as a 3200+. It's not something I
do as a matter of course but I had to try it as part of burning the
system in ;-) And that was at default voltages so I might have been able
to fix that stability problem with burnk7 if I'd tried.

--
Trevor Hemsley, Brighton, UK.
Trevor-Hemsley@dial.pipex.com

 

[Chuck]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (More info?)

On 12 May 2004 14:13:08 GMT, "Trevor Hemsley"
<Trevor-Hemsley@no.spam.dial.pipex.com> wrote:

>On Tue, 11 May 2004 18:51:56 UTC in alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit,
>MtnGoat <NotGiven@InPublic.org> wrote:
>
>> It's taken me long enough to catch up with the whole DDR thing, I'd be
>> pretty burnt catching up on the different CPU sockets, etc. I'm hoping
>> for some real-world, been-there experience.
>
>Unless you spend vast amounts of money, whatever you buy now will be out
>of date in 6 months time. And even if you do spend vast amounts of money
>you'd be able to buy the same thing in 6 months time for about half the
>price and in another 6 months it'd be obsolete again ;-)
>
>Going from an Athlon 1.2 to a 2500+ would be a reasonable speed increase
>and would be the cheapest option. 2500+'s are also meant to be good
>overclockers - mine seems to happily run everything except burnk7 when I
>up the FSB from 333 to 400 and run it as a 3200+. It's not something I
>do as a matter of course but I had to try it as part of burning the
>system in ;-) And that was at default voltages so I might have been able
>to fix that stability problem with burnk7 if I'd tried.

Heh, you blokes need more sunlight...but you're right. I'm right now
feeling the sting of this video card thing; I have a mobo rated for
AGP4x. I have a video card rated at AGP4x (and 8x). They should get
along peaceably. But I'm told my board's 'old'. Guess I should plan on
another fire sale next year about this time.