Need a recomendation on upgrade

[Guest]

1.33 Athlon, GF3 card, 512 ddr memory. Im no expert about hardware but I hate going to a computer store and fool with a salesman. Could someone recommend an upgrade for me? I'd like to keep it in the $400 or so money ballpark.

Scott

 

[Matisaro]

Is what you listed what you have?


If so, you can pop a 1700+ axp in the motherboard for about 100ish.


If not, the best system to buy right now, if you do not want to overclock is the following.


Ecsk7s5a(cheap and fast and stable)
256 megs micron ddr
athlon xp1800+(or 1700+ if you want to save about 10-15 bucks)

Total cost is about 280ish.


enjoy.

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[Guest]

Yes..I have a 1.333 athlon and geforce 3 card. How can I tell if my mother board will support a athlon xp 1700? Also..could you explain to me..I have a 1.333ghz..why would i want to buy a chip thats 1.47ghz? Is the XP athlon different? I have an FIC AD11 motherboard, will that support a higher processer? Im a newbie sorry for being so dumb.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Scottyl30 on 04/02/02 04:40 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Matisaro]

If your motherboard is a kt133a or later, the odds are it will EASILY support an athlon xp, you should check your motherboard vendors website to make sure, then it is a simple matter of popping the new chip in.


As for a videocard upgrade, you dont really need one, but go gf4, its the most powerful out today.




The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[Matisaro]

here you go, looks like your motherboard is compatable with a bios update.


<A HREF="http://www.athlonxp.com/compatibility_mb.html" target="_new">http://www.athlonxp.com/compatibility_mb.html</A>

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[Matisaro]

Also..could you explain to me..I have a 1.333ghz..why would i want to buy a chip thats 1.47ghz?

Yes the xp is different, it is about 10-15% faster clock per clock than the tbird, this is due to sse hardware prefetch and better tlb's.

the 1700+ is the equalvalent speed for a tbird, so think of it as upgrading from a 1.33ghz to a 1.7ghz(tbird), you can go all the way to 2100+ but that is about 300 bucks. The 1700+ will do you fine and you will notice an improvement. Furthermore, the 1700+ is nicely overclockable so later in its life you can plunk down for a good heatsink and overclock it to 2100++ speeds.


Win win IMO.

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[Matisaro]

PS: your the one who asked about upgrading, with a budget of 400 this is probably the only route you have.

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

Well Mat, seeing how he wants to upgrade and he HAS 512MB of DDR already and a GeForce 3 and a motherboard that already supports the XP chip, and a budget of $400, why not go the extreme and get the Athlon XP 2100+ =)

Thats what i recoemnd if you want to upgrade.......get the latest/greatest Processor for your MB........well within the limits of your budget =)

-MeTaL RoCkEr

My <font color=red>Z28</font color=red> can take your <font color=blue>P4</font color=blue> off the line!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all teh feedback. I checked the FIC website and it says my motherboard will support a 1700. Is there a way to get my motherboard to use the 2100 chip? And one last question...lol.. How much of a difference will i see going from a 1.333ghz chip to the 2100 chip that is 1.7ghz?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Scottyl30 on 04/02/02 11:50 AM.</EM></FONT></P>