Upgrading Hardware-Need some suggestions

U

UofEEE

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Okie dokie, here's my current hardware config.
ASUS K7M Slot A Motherboard
AMD Athlon 800 Processor
250 Watt Power Supply
512 Megs PC100 SDRAM
eVga Nvidia GeForce 2 MX-400 64 Meg
12X DVD-ROM
Lite-on 16x10x40x CD-RW
56K Modem
3Com NIC
ESS Solo PCI Soundcard

Okay, I'm planning on buying one of two motherboards:
ASUS A7V333 or
Gigabyte 7VRXP w/ Athlon XP 1900+ (ThermalTake Volcano 7)
and this hardware
512 Meg stick Corsair PC2700 DDR
Enermax 350 Watt Power Supply
MSI GeForce 4 MX440 64 Meg w/ TV out.


My questions are: Which mobo would you recommend?(They're both close in price). I've heard the Gigabyte is faster, but I'm also looking for a good fast/stable configuration. Also, would Samsung memory work just as well as Corsair (and save me 30 bucks). Also, my current eVga graphics card is alright, but I have problems with XP rebooting (infinite loop issue) and I'd like to have a stable, well built machine. One last thing is, do I need a larger power supply with the new processor? I was told I could use my 250 watt and be fine. Okie dokie, the thing I need here is SPEED and STABILITY. I'm a casual gamer that would like to keep his computer up and running all the time, not resetting every five seconds like my current config. I'm buying all these parts from: www.goroyalpc.com. Thanks alot! I'll have pics of the finished product once I'm done. Also, do I really need a new graphics card? Just checkin. I need lotsa input. Thanks everybody!
 
Also people look here and check my post about the power supply. I really need some input on this too.

Thx.

UofEEE, you only need a new GFX card if you intend on playing games on your new PC, esp. new games such as GTA3
 
Also, I'm looking to move to Thoroughbred processors sometime in December. Will the two boards support the upcoming Athlon processor's voltage?
 
ok concerning power supply's.. you will probably be needing 300+ watts to run your system smoothly...i.e. MINIMUM to stop it from crashing/resetting automatically and so on and so forth... to power all your little devices....

my mate is running his 1800+ xp cpu on a 300w powersupply and so far no issues... hence the whole minimum thing...

check out this site... www.mpcomp.com and you will find some decent prices for various devices incl. your PS's...

about the boards... I Would go with the asus... only because it is a better known board... gigabyte is good too... no doubt... but asus can be overclocked mad and all my mates have either an MSi, an Abit or and Asus board and none have failed yet even with overclocking...

your card should last you but you could go with a little higher depending on what your monitor is... also don't go for a g4 mx version... its basically a glorified version of what you have with more memory... go with the ti version...

you can buy the 64 meg ti 4200 version for around 140 or so at some websites... with shipping... check it out...

system should be pretty stable with what you have and with the correct drivers the infinite loop will also be solved :)
 
just went to a website... someone might need to correct this for me...

this is the biostar board...

:) please read ALL THE WAY to the BOTTOM... I Don't know if it means you have to use reguistered ddr only or have to fill all slots like in RDRAM systems...


:)
1 Year Warranty
KT333 has arrived. Support the latest and hottest in DDR, PC2700. Blazing DDR performance, reaching a new standard of PC performance with Biostar value! Supports all the latest 200 and 266FSB Athlons, Athlon XPs, and Durons
CHIPSET


VIA KT333
CPU SUPPORT

All AMD Athlon, Athlon XP and Duron SocketA up to 2100+ @ 200 and 266 Front-Side bus speeds
EXPANSION SLOTS

4 DDR DRAM slots (3.0Gb max), 5 PCI slots, 1 CNR slot, 1 ACR slot and 1 4x AGP slot.
FEATURES

(2) UDMA133 channels, for a total of 4 UDMA133 devices, (2) 3-wire fan headers, ATX Form factor, integrated AC97 stereo sound, Retail box
Detailed Motherboard Specifications
Product specifications may change without notice. Registered DDR RAM required to use all 4 memory slots. No front USB header
:)
 
I have the asus k7v333 with a 512 2700 samsung chip...no probs what so ever fast and reliable...I LOVE IT..i also have the exact video card you are lloking to get so i dont see any conflicts for you...just my 2 cents...
[edit]
Today i just bought the volcano 7 and arctic silver 3...later on im taking my case out to dinner...and hopefully ill get lucky..cause im in love!
 
just want to stress some things:

no more buying video cards with "MX' in their designation.. please. :) their just easy money for these companies. geforce3 ti200 (faster/better/cheaper than gf4 mx 440) can be had for less than $100 and gf4 ti 4200 for less than $160

yeah, 350 watts for an athlon xp and decent video card. don't want to shorten their lives (or anything else's) with undervoltage. enermax is #1, too.

that asus a7v333 is awesome. good brand + kt333 chipset = can't go wrong. usb 2.0, raid, and decent onboard sound, too.

have fun spending money... i'm envious. }:\
 
I'll second that one...

I agree.. Don't buy MX cards, I've never had so much trouble as I have with my GeForce 2 MX..
 
heh i got mine for free...lol last card i bought was my 3dfx 5500 right before they went belly up =(
 
An advice for me.. Do not go for a card that end up with MX...

Actually the GeForce4 MX 440 is like a pre-GeForce3 ...
 
I got a GeForce 2 TI, v good card, not too expensive. I am also wanting to Upgrade, but so far I am only planning on New Keyboard Mouse, Logitech Optical Cordless, New PSU, Enermax Whisper Series 350W, Tower, not sure yet, 3R Systems or Chieftec though.

I am holding out on Mobo, and CPU til Thoroughbred and mobos with USB2.0 have come out. Will wait a bit after that till the two have been proven enough for me.
 
yeah, i just recently upgraded the proc on this system... trying to let this 3-year old system carry me on until drastic new technology in processors (faster fsb's), harddrives (parallel instead of serial), etc come out.
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
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Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
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