Building a New Comp - Which CPU?

[Zrl201]

I was going to upgrade my pc - currently an AMD 1600+, 1 GB of Crucial PC2100 RAM, Liteon drives, ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, 200GB HDD, Msi KT266A motherboard, a plain HP-looking type case that is starting to rust.

but decided I might as well build a new pc and port some of the hardware over so all I need to buy now is a new cpu, motherboard and ram.

I'm not sure what I want to do. I want an AMD 64 cpu but I want it to be more widely adopted first i.e. cheaper price. I'm also looking at the Mobile 2500+ or 2600+ Barton as an alternative but I don't know how to overclock.

I might also consider a P4 because of HT technology but P4's are expensive and I have a limit of 300 dollars for the max that I will spend.

As for the case - most likely the Chenbro Xpider.

What do you guys think? AMD or Intel? and which motherboard for your suggested CPU choice? This is my first time building my own pc so I'm very excited and would like to know where to find guides on building it and overclocking. My current system is very noisy but very stable. However, my motherboard only supports 2x AgGP so my 9600 is going to waste. Any opinion will be useful. Thanks for reading.

I know this is question might not belong in the CPU section but this forum seems to be more active and knowledgeable. Thanks again.

 

[ZombieJesus]

Give us a price to work with and we can tell you.

 

[colonel]

I will pick a full tower case, those spider cases are good looking but small.

 

[Zrl201]

I already said I have a limit of 300 dollars to spend but i think that might be a tad low so maybe 300-400 dollars in total.

I'm thinking I'll get the AMD 2600+ and slowly read up on overclocking. I have to learn sometime.

If I do get the AMD 2600+ or 2500+ Mobile, what motherboard do you guys suggest?

 

[Falloutboy]

your best bet if you budget is 300-400.

Mobile 2600 $100 (last I checked)
NF7-S $95
PC3500 2x256mb $140
SLK-947 HSF $40
good 92mm fan for HSF $10

this setup will give you plenty of headroom overclocking and should get you too 220-225fsb. and proubly 2.4-2.6ghz depending on what voltage you put thru it. for a newb to overclocking though I wouldn't push the voltage past 1.85

I know the ram is a step back from what you got, but I guess if you through your extra components left over from the upgrad. Old Ram, Proc, Motherboard you should have enough to get a couple good sticks on 512mb.

 

[RussianSensation]

XP Mobile Barton 2600+ $99 OEM
DFI "NFII Ultra Infinity" Nforce 2 400 $92 OR Abit NF7-S $95
TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 2.5-3-3-8 $88 x 2
Total Price: ~$370
a) this leaves you $30 for a cooler of your choice depending on the motherboard it might differ (like Zalman 7000A-AlCu / Cu doenst' fit on the Abit one)
b) you could get a cheaper motherboard but these 2 should be very good for overclocking.
c) you can get 512mb of ram but I recommend 1 gig for the future
d) you do not have to get the S version for Abit if you dont want SATA or Firewire or Soundstorm 5.1 sound

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
XP Mobile Barton 2600+ $99 OEM
DFI "NFII Ultra Infinity" Nforce 2 400 $92 OR Abit NF7-S $95
TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 2.5-3-3-8 $88 x 2
Total Price: ~$370
a) this leaves you $30 for a cooler of your choice depending on the motherboard it might differ (like Zalman 7000A-AlCu / Cu doenst' fit on the Abit one)
b) you could get a cheaper motherboard but these 2 should be very good for overclocking.
c) you can get 512mb of ram but I recommend 1 gig for the future
d) you do not have to get the S version for Abit if you dont want SATA or Firewire or Soundstorm 5.1 sound

Make sure to change the RaM latency to x - x - x - 11 for best performance and keep the first 3 numbers as tight as possible if you can. Abit NF7 allows for changing the multiplier higher than 12.5 so you could do 13 x 200FSB if you wanted to or how high the processor will get.

 

[Anubis]

Mobile Barton 2400+ - 77$
Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400 - 60$
TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 x2 166
SLK-947 HSF - $40
Vantec Tornado - 12$

Total = 355
with 512 ram thats only $267
and this will OC just as well as the other ideas posted and be just as fast

 

[Falloutboy]

another thing to keep in mind with timings is on athlons a higher fsb with loose timings is almost always faster than a slower fsb with tight timgins. 200@2 2 2 6 compared too 225@3 5 5 10

 

[Falloutboy]

Originally posted by: Anubis
Mobile Barton 2400+ - 77$
Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400 - 60$
TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 x2 166
SLK-947 HSF - $40
Vantec Tornado - 12$

Total = 355
with 512 ram thats only $267
and this will OC just as well as the other ideas posted and be just as fast

good setup but one downfall of the AN35N is very little ram overclocking options this is fine if your sticking with a 200fsb but if you want to push it up toards 220+ you need a better board. and considering a NF7 non S is only 15 more its not much to pay for the flexability

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525

Originally posted by: Anubis
Mobile Barton 2400+ - 77$
Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400 - 60$
TwinMOS 512mb PC3200 x2 166
SLK-947 HSF - $40
Vantec Tornado - 12$

Total = 355
with 512 ram thats only $267
and this will OC just as well as the other ideas posted and be just as fast

good setup but one downfall of the AN35N is very little ram overclocking options this is fine if your sticking with a 200fsb but if you want to push it up toards 220+ you need a better board. and considering a NF7 non S is only 15 more its not much to pay for the flexability

what ram OCing options does that NF7 have that the AN35N does not?

 

[Falloutboy]

it allows more voltage to be dumped into the chip which made a big difference for me. 2.9V compared to 2.7V I had a AN35N and couldn't get my ram past 170fsb at 2.7 I can get it to 185 at 2.9V

 

[Anubis]

ahh well thats good to know ill see what i can get it to do for me, if i cant get it as high as i want ill get a NF7 then

 

[RussianSensation]

Here is a link for the less known DFI "NFII Ultra Infinity" board I posted about earlier as many keep recommending ABIT NF7 (including myself). Here XP2500+ Mobile hits 2572mhz with Zalman 7000Cu. Review

So now that $30 I told you...you could pick up Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu $29. Shipping should be $5 at most and that board hit 233FSB easy. Later in the review it shows the speeds the cpu was able to reach using various voltage setting on that board.

 

[Zrl201]

You guys are great. I'll be reading up on these options and should make up my mind soon. Thanks for the help. I'm defintely going to get the Barton 2600+ with probablt the Abit motherboard. Thanks for the RAM options as I didn't know what was best.

 

[magratton]

I was going to also suggest that the Abit NF7 (non S) version can be had for $75. Doesn't have Soundstorm nor SATA but if that is not a big deal then you can save yourself another $20 that way.

 

[Zebo]

These guys are overpriced. I have a $5 coolermaster on a 2400@ 2.34Ghz

Mobile Barton 2400+ - 77$
Shuttle AN35N Ultra 400 - 60$
2 x 256 MB TwinMOS PC-3200, Model M2G9I08A-MK $88
Cooler Master Copper "CP5-6J31C-01" $9


Total $234 and will kick just a much ass as thier overpriced setups. I gig of ram is a waste IMO. I've never used over 440 mb so to me it's a waste.

 

[Zrl201]

Which do you think is better?

AMD 2400+ or 2600+? The 2400+ is 20 dollars cheaper and potentially OC just as well. I'm not going to go crazy over OCing to the max, just maybe a tad higher.

 

[Zebo]

2600 no doubt. I've had all of them and two 2600's. the 2600's allow higher clocks at at Vcore.

 

[Kip82]

Zrl201, I would definatly go with the 2400 mobile since you are not going to overclock to the extreme. I have seen the 2400 hit overclock speeds right up there with the 2500, and 2600 mobiles.

 

[vlsi54199]

Does the Mobile 2600 have "barton" core?
what's the main difference between Mobile and non-mobile version?

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: vlsi54199
Does the Mobile 2600 have "barton" core?
what's the main difference between Mobile and non-mobile version?

Yes the Mobile 2600 is identical to all the desktop bartons in core. The main difference is thier multipliers are unlocked for powernow useage on laptops. This has an added attraction in the overclcokers community in that you can overclock a moblie with muliplier ajustments instead of just FSB as is done on desktop bartons.

Another signifigant bonus about these mobiles is they are hand picked to run at low Vcore or less power consumption in laptops. This also has an added attraction to overclcokers in they are really creme of the crop chips when full desktop barton Voltage is applied to them and will run well over 2.2GHZ trivially unlike the hit or miss desktop counterparts.

 

[Zrl201]

Guys- Thanks for all the replies and helpful comment.

I ordered from Newegg and received my:

- Silver Xpider Case - looks good but I kinda wish I went with the Sonata but if I send it back, the shipping will kill me

- Abit NF7-S - looks nice

- Kingston 2x 512 mb pc3200 ValueRAm from Kingston (cheap ram but $120.00 for 1Gb is not bad)

- My Arctic Silver 5


Oh yes, I left out something - My CPU. I didn't order a new CPU becasue in a fit of guilt at my spending, I decided to use my old 1600+ cpu.

That turned out to a mistake as I think it's best to order a new CPU. The Mobile 2400+ as I won't be overclocking much and I need to save some money for a good heatsink.

Which HSF do you guys suggest? I want the best and it has to be pretty easy to install as I'm a newbie to all this.

The thermaltake SLK-947 looks good but looks kinda weird. Where does the fan go?
since I'm not going to OC like crazy - maybe 500 mhz max - what do you guys suggest?

TIA

 

[Kip82]

The fan attaches to the top of the SLK-947 with pins. So you have to buy the heatsink and a fan, such as a Vantec Tornado or a quiter one if thats what your looking for.

By the way, where on NewEgg did you find 1GB of Kingston PC3200 for $120? The price I only saw was $198 for 1GB.

 

[Falloutboy]

yeah also would like to know on the ram that is a killer deal.

also on the hsf defenetly go with the 947 www.svc.com has it for 29.99 right now.