Upgrade Paths etc.

[pike]

Help an old gizer with his old equipement!
I'll tell you what i have at home, what i'm thinking of doing and tell me if it makes sense or what would make more sense, please.

Because i've started a slow process of upgrading my home pcs. This is what i presently have:
- Epox 8KTA+/duron 750/256 pc-133/20gig ata-33 5400/tnt2/56k soft modem/ob via sd/52X cd/usb logitech corless optical/ps2 kb,...
Win98 SE
(this is mine but will be going to my 11 year old)
- Digital Celebris xl 133 socket 5 dualie with 1 cpu a PowerLeap K6-2 400 adapter combo/256 L2 cache/64meg edo/2.1gig scsi-2/4X scsi-2 cd/32X ide cd/voodoo3 2000/56k winmodem/acer nic 10-100/dlink 10-100 hub/sb-128 pci/ps2 kb & mouse
Win98 SE
(this is my 11 year olds actual sys - going to my 8 year old)
- Basement sys: Asus P55T2P4 V 3.1/K6-2 500+ (oc to 83 fsb)/512k L2 cache/128 edo/5.1 wd pio mode/40 or 42X ? acer cd (noisy as hell)/Lg 12X-8X-30X "not sure of the cd read speed?" /tnt-1 16meg pci/56k winmodem/pci to usb card/sb live/usb HP printer 815 "whatever?" / usb ms natural internet kb pro/ serial ms mouse/parallel scanner/Intel usb microscope/ Mattel serial kids digital camera
This last sys i hesitate to touch any more, it's seems maxed out way past it's normal capacities and since it's stable i don't touch.
Win98SE
- Asus P55T2P4 V 2.1/p-133/64 edo/2.1 pio4/1.1 pio4/ati mach 64 4 meg/4X cd/56k winmodem USR/Win98 SE (this is at the moment my 8 year olds' but is pretty much a done deal cause it's probably going to my brother)
- 486 100 (ok we'll forget this one) but it's my 4 year old's
So then, wy do i need another sys?
Well my wife would say, "you don't".
You see i have 4 main sys (not counting the 486) in 4 different rooms. I move 2 too 2 different rooms, 1 leaves the house , i'm left with one room with no pc and that is pretty much what this damn essay is all about. Sorry to have you read all this :-(
Was thinking of getting a good mobo for upgrade paths (even thinking nForce) plus a Athlon 1.1 socket A 200fsb for my Epox 8KTA+ before these cpu become too difficult to find, my actual Duron 750 could "temporarily" go in the top noch mobo. In time a "proper" cpu could be put in the top noch mobo and the Duron cpu could be housed in a recouperated older mobo at that time ...
Any advise would be appreciated, thanks
Danny


Are we really ready for "contact" ?

 

[camieabz]

It kinda depends on what you want from your new mobo. DDR memory? Onboard RAID? Onboard anything?

If you're looking for an inexpensive mobo with room for upgrades, you might want to look at the ECS K7S5A. It's good for all durons and athlons.

You can use that old duron of yours or get an athlon 1.1 or go up to XP+ CPU of some kind.

The mobo doesn't come with a whole heap of accesories, but set-up is easy and has onboard stuff if you want to hold back on the PCI cards.

See it <A HREF="http://www.ecsusa.com/K7S5A.cfm" target="_new">here.</A>

<b><font color=blue>The Cisco Kid</font color=blue></b>

 

[pike]

Ya, that mobo has had more written about it in this forum that any other i beleive. The general consensus at this time seems to be that the QC level for ECS is now at a level that the K7S5A that is bought with the latest revison (whatever that # is) has a "good chance" of not being DOA.
Makes sense?
For the Epox EP 8KTA+, socket A, FSB of 133, is it the Atlon of 200FSB i "have" to get or the 266FSB would also do.
This point still eludes me. Is it simply that if you put the mobo FSB at 100 you use the Athlon 200FSB and if you set the mobo FSB at 133 you then use the Athlon 266FSB.

Are we really ready for "contact" ?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by pike on 02/03/02 10:57 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[camieabz]

Yep. That's the case. I'm not familiar with that mobo, but if it offers 133 FSB, then use it.

The price differences between 200 and 266 CPUs are negligeble anyway. You'll also be getting the most out of your PC-133 RAM.

<b><font color=blue>The Cisco Kid</font color=blue></b>

 

[pike]

Are we really ready for "contact" ?