Computer Upgrade

[biochemist]

I figured I would get some last minute advice before ordering parts to upgrade my computer. I am going to reuse my CDRW, DVD-ROM, 80 gb wd IDE hard drive, floppy, speakers, monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. I am thinking about purchasing: (from newegg)

Antec Sonata Case (has psu)
Thermal Take 120 mm case fan - 2nd fan for hds
MSI K7N2-Delta ILSR Mobo
Athlon XP 2500+
Refurbished Asus V9280TD Ti4200 128 MB 8X agp graphics card
Corsair TwinX512-3200C2 - 2 x 256 MB PC3200 RAM
Cooler Master Thermal Grease to replace pad on retail heatsink

Any compatibility issues or poor choices there before I place the order? Thanks in advance.

 

[CJP]

That's a fairly fast system. It will play current games fine. However new games over the next year or so might not run that great. The Ti4200 is only directx8 and directx9 games will be coming out. Also 512mb ram is ok but alot of people are moving to 1024mb as the norm.

 

[biochemist]

Yeah, I am on a rather strict budget, which is why I am not going for better graphics, an A64, or 1 gig of RAM. I am currently on a Athlon 800 MHz with a nVidia Vanta 1x AGP card, so this will be a tremendous improvement. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[Trashman]

Ti4200 is not a bad choice @ all on a budget, but i'd think twice on a refurb, if you could swing a few bux more, get new one.

 

[WRXFanatic]

 

[WRXFanatic]

sorry about that empty post


i'd get an Abit NF7-S instead of that MSI board

either that or the Asus A7N8X deluxe

both have better overclocking options and are from reputable brands

 

[MrCodeDude]

MSI K7N2-Delta ILSR Mobo

You're paying $116 for this motherboard. For $100, you can get the Abit NF7-S 2.0 or for $70 the EPoX 8RDA3I. Both are great boards that are better than any board MSI puts out. I'm not saying MSI is crap, I'm just saying, they're in the middle, nothing they make is crap, but then nothing they make is great.

Cooler Master Thermal Grease to replace pad on retail heatsink

Just go with the good stuff and get some Artic Silver 5. I don't know how well Cooler Master's Thermal Compound performs, but OCZ Thermal Compound HAD NO SILVER IN IT. Makes you think twice about who you get your thermal grease from.

 

[biochemist]

The Epox $70 board doesn't have firewire or SATA support, which I don't need right now, but would like to have for expansion/upgrade in the future. I am looking at the Abit board, it has very good reviews at newegg. As far as the thermal compound, I had a friend recommend the Cooler Master, its the Shin Etsu compound, not sure if it has silver in it or not. But certainly for maybe $1 more, I will go with the proven AS5. Thanks.

About Graphics cards, I am having second thoughts about the refurb (and its out of stock now). Are the Jaton cards any good? I have never heard of them.