K7S5A Upgrade Questions....

[Lordstyle]

Okay, I'm still learning about Motherboards and CPU's. I built my own computer for the first time, and so far so good.

I'm running a K7S5A Mainboard, AMD Athalon XP 1600+, 256 DDR, Geforce 2 200 MX Video, Soundblaster PCI 512.

Anyway, I have a Volcano Heat Sync Fan, and a fan attached to my case cover as well. Very nicely cooled inside that thing even in the summer time.

Now, I got all of this around April or so of 2002. So far as I understand, the Motherboard can support up to an Athalon XP 2000+.

My question is, can I put a 2100 in and if so, what would I need to do as far as telling the bios and maybe getting a better CPU Fan to make it run a 2100?

Thanks in advance. I'd rather not have to buy a new Mainboard at this time. I'm on a very limited budget.

P.S. Or should I just not push it and only go with the Recomended of a 2000 as the manual says.

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo L,

If you are in fact on a limited budget, I would not upgrade your cpu at all. You do not mention what you are using this system for & even if you did the time you would save by upgrading your processor to any faster one would not make much of a difference(you are looking at mere seconds & fractions of seconds faster than your XP 1600+).

If you want better gaming or video performance, now you are talking! Get a better video card. I would get a GeForce3 Ti200 128mb, the Ati Radeon 8500 might be a better budget video card, but nVidia drivers just kick sooo much major butt............yeah, sometimes they don't work, but most of the time, you get a 20% gain in benchmarks.

Again, my take is do not get a new cpu. If you are running Windows XP get a 512mb stick of DDR(good quality CAS 2.0), if you are running win 98(se or me), get another 256mb. If you need a better gaming rig, get a better video card.

Peace Out..............tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Agree with you

Let us know what is the Best Chipset of 2002 in your eye.<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=26410#26410" target="_new"> Click </A>

 

[Lordstyle]

Okay..Sorry. I am using the system for mainly Gaming. I am running Windows XP Pro. I do need to upgrade my RAM from 256mb DDR to 512mb DDR. What is the going price for a 512 stick? Oh, and what is the largest DDR that I can put in? PC2100, PC2400, PC2700, PC3000, PC3000, PC3200, PC3500?

I can only assume that I can use up to PC2700??

As for the Geforce3 Ti200 128mb, I thought the G3's were no longer being made. Other then the Show, where might I find one? Pricewatch also?

Anyway, so you suggest not to upgrade to a 2000 or 2100..Okay..thanks!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Lordstyle on 12/23/02 02:19 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[o1die]

If you have an open slot, get another stick of 256 megs of pc2100, preferably the same brand as your current memory. Don't know about pc2700 or 3200 on the ecs board. I do know from recent experience that mixing different brands almost guarantees windows blue screen errors.

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo L,

The vendor I use for all my online purchases is newegg.com. They have very good prices, and they ship to Vegas in 2 working days on standard fedex(normally), 3 days max.

About your DDR: If you are really on a budget, get Kingston value ram(it goes on sale at Bestbuy all the time) cas 2.5 PC2100- this ddr will run fine at cas 2.0. But like "O" posted earlier, you should most likely get the same brand of DDR as the stick in your box right now.

Due to the fact that your cpu uses a 133 mhz FSB, Athlon's have not shown a big performance increase by going to faster than PC2100/DDR266 ram. Also the ECS K7S5A is not the easiest mobo to overclock mobo. If you plan to come into a chunk of cash soon, you might consider buying PC2700 DDR. I don't think you should though. I feel by the time you are ready to buy a whole new system, DDR II will be the standard & PC2700 will be slow. I also don't think you should consider anything faster than PC2700, because there is no real JEDEC standard for those higher bandwidth DDR's yet, & it may not work in your new system(future upgrade) when you get it.


As for the GF3, yes I believe you are right, they are not being made. You can still get them though. Newegg has a Gainward GF3 128mb golden sample(4ns, very fast DDR-perfect for overclocking) for $105.

The Video card will give you better benchmarks than upgrading your cpu. More DDR will not give you much better benchmarks, but will give you better overall system stability. If you only have around $100, get the video card first.

Peace Out.................tile2


Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Lordstyle]

Thanks. All this information has been very useful. I am going to the next Computer Show here where I live in about a week or so and want to help a friend upgrade his system at the same time I'm thinking of doing a little boosting of mine.

I am going to see what the show has to offer first, but I think I can walk out of there with a new Vid Card and another PC2100 stick of 256mb DDR. Lucky me, I know enough about building that I'll go back to the same vendor as last time with my old 256mb DDR and ask him for another of the same. Lol!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo L,

Cool. Stay away from any GeForce4 "MX" video cards, they are just a little better than your GF2 & cannot run any DirectX 8.0 effects. Also don't let anyone sell you on the fact that their card will run at 8X AGP. 8X AGP has not shown any performance increase over 4X AGP.........& your mobo only has 4X AGP anyway. The cards I would look for are GF3 Ti 200, GF3 Ti500, GF4 Ti4200, GF4 Ti4400, ATi 8500, ATi 9000 Pro,& ATi 9500 Pro. Keep in mind that the nVidia cards will most likely benchmark higher than the ATi cards, due to better drivers. Also check newegg.com for a price references on the cost of the cards so you know if you are getting a good deal. Good Luck

Peace Out..............tile2

Why do you want to believe me?