Asus A7V 266 - E + Athlon 1800 - CPUs

h3lm3t

January 27, 2002 10:19:18 PM

Hey thank-you for looking,
I'm n00b at building, and i've been all over getting info, benchmarks, prices etc.
And although i've found most of the answers i'm looking for it's just not the same as asking your own, 8-)

Im gonna buy, (i.e. help the n00b), an ASUS A7V266-E and an Athlon xp 1800, and taisol fan.

What i want to know is :

1. Is this a good starting point ??, i mean combination of these 3 bits? , does the BIOS need flashed on the out of the box version ?

2. Do i have to fit a fan with a big metal heatsink ?, i dont plan in overclocking at any point, or can i get away with something that wont risk me cracking the core.
If so what fans are easy to fit (i.e screwdriver free)?

3. Thermal paste ? or Shim, good idea, bad idea ?

4. Anybody have a good case they want to mention <= $130 ?

5. A PSU am i better getting upwards of 350W ?
(Sparkle brand)

Thanks very much for your help, I just want to get this right 1st time. And you will have good ideas, well better than mine.

Please list what components you would use.

My main reasons for going ASUS are :

Good name
DDR 2100
BIOS tweakable,
on board sound - only for a couple of months
Big board, with space for my n00b hands

Thanks, Regards, h3lm3t.

8-)

More about : asus a7v 266 athlon 1800

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Scout

January 28, 2002 2:58:18 AM

Sure, your three choices are good ones. The A7V266-E is a fine board and works out of the box with the XP Athlon. I've never used the Taisol HSF, but if you've got the CGK7600092 Copper Bottomed unit, it's supposed to be a great performer.

On your other questions, do you need a big heat sink on an Athlon - in a word, "yes" they put out a lot of heat. The XP's are better than the T-birds, but not a lot better! I've never used shims, but definitely recommend pulling off any pad that comes with your HSF and use thermal paste.

As for a good case, Enermax makes some good cases with good power supplies. You don't need to worry about going above 300 watts on the power supply. Most of the "hype" on Athlons eating power supplies I think is something else and the power supply becomes the easiest thing to blame it on. I've run Athlons with no problems on 250 watt power supplies that aren't even supposed to be certified for Athlons... however if buying new, you should get one that specificaly states it's good for Athlons.

Scout

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mbetea

January 28, 2002 5:28:18 AM

you do not need shims. that is what the four little pads are for. to cushion and balance the heatsink so it makes the right amount of contact on the die. if you're not looking to OC there would be no need to even go beyond the retail hsf, it works just fine...i believe that's why amd ships it with the cpu and the thermal pad on there is good enough, with as II you're only going to drop a few degrees, that's nothing significant if you're not going to OC. sparkle is a good brand of psu, but if you want the best then there is enermax to consider. the only thing with sparkles is they don't have dual fans. in-win makes good cases (i have the q500-fulltower) and they use sparkle psu's, might be something to consider and i believe any of their cases can be had for under $100.

happiness is finding a stick of ram in your mail.

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Matisaro

January 28, 2002 6:45:07 AM

Quote:

2. Do i have to fit a fan with a big metal heatsink ?, i dont plan in overclocking at any point, or can i get away with something that wont risk me cracking the core.
If so what fans are easy to fit (i.e screwdriver free)?

Use the retail hsf which comes with the boxxed AXP, no need to buy an additional hsf.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

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