Building a new pc

[MajorC]

Looking for some recommendations. I currently have a SOLTEK SL-75DRV4 with an AMD XP 1800

I'm looking to upgrade both the mobo and the cpu.

 

[techfuzz]

It would be nice to know what you plan on doing with this new PC before we can give you any recommendations.

techfuzz

 

[MajorC]

you mean a little info?

Primarily for gaming, but also for some photo editing.

 

[Zoey]

I got a P4 2.4b 533 with a Gigabyte 8pe667 ultra, antec true 380 psu, samsung 512 pc 2700 mem, sb live, Win xp pro (must have), Abit Siluro MX-8x 64m video. It is rock solid and a easy oc to 2.7g with stock hsf.
Xp took a little getting use to. So did the video card after updating the latest drivers. It adjust two different places. One effects the screen only and the other the video while playing dvd's. What I have is not the latest and not the greatest, however with the WD 80g special edition HD it seems fast enough for me. Good luck.

 

[KidChaos]

What's your budget for the mobo and cpu?

Any possibility of overclocking?

What's your RAM situation - details? How much? What Brand?

What's your power supply situation?

What's your current graphics card?

 

[MajorC]

Right now I have
(2) Micron PC2700 512MB sticks
400w power supply
ATIradeon 9700
Case with two fans with room to add two more
WinXP Pro.

Budget is around $800. Looking to get the best bang for my buck and honestly 80% of the time the computer is used for games.

Other details maybe irrelevant - 80GB 7200RPM EIDE Western Digital Hard Drive, Surfboard Cable Modem, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 6 channel DSP, Harmon Kardon surround sound w/ subwoofer.

 

[KidChaos]

You are in great position to strengthen the parts that hold the 9700 back:

Abit NF7-S Revision 1.2 w/ BIOS survival Kit $132
AMD Athlon XP2600+ 2.08GHZ 333MHz FSB TBred Processor $243
HAC-V81 Heatsink+Fan $12

Get the Heatsink+Fan only if you're using stock (retail) cooling now.

If ya overclock, get this processor instead. Here's a overclocking guide.

 

[BarryAZ]

I guess I'd go with a motherboard/CPU combination that works with the newer AMD Barton CPU's -- you can track down the 2500+ from New Egg at a good price -- match it with a decent motherboard (I like some of the KT400's -- though I know they are out of favor here).

One thing in my view, (I suspect shared by others), NEVER purchase the fastest newest CPU out there -- way too much price premium for that. I am moving from XP1800/XP2000 systems to XP2200/2500 these days.