Help me with some upgrade choices

[rcurley55]

Here's my current rig:

AMD XP1800+ on an ECS K7S5A Pro MB (I think that's the board - it was one of those Fry's deals)
512MB of PC133 ram (I know but it was a hold over from an old P3 setup)
WD 7200rpm 2mb cache drive and a WD 10gb 2mb 5400rmp drive
Liteon CDRW and DVD drives
GF2 64mb AGP card and a GF mx440 (I think) PCI card that I run dual to a pair of Sony G200 17's at 1600x1200 each
Antec case and power supply (350w) with antec fans

Right now, my system is rock solid. I'm planning on doing a dual boot to Linux (I'm a newb there). This is not a system I will OC (but I want to try to soon) or really play games on. It's used primarily for surfing, some graphics and CAD and other office applicaitons. I also want to use it to rip my audio collection to MP3's.

Here's my gripes:

1. it's not the fastest, not bad, but a small performance increase would be nice

2. that MB is fine, but I'd like something better with onboard Firewire and possibly more OC features. I also tried to put a stick of DDR in there, and it didn't work...I don't know if it was the board or how I had things configured...basically, It wouldn't pain me to dump it.

3. THIS THING IS LOUD AND HOT!!!! How do I quite it down. I have a generic cooler and HS on it. Can some one link me to what I need to be cool and QUIET for case fans and a HSF!! I'd like a reasonably priced solution...I've done a ton of searching, and all I do is scratch my head!

4. The video performance isn' the best...perhaps it's because the vid cards are not that great. I know the monitors are pretty good, even at it's max resolution.

5. I want to be sure it's good for ripping audio cd's to MP3

And that's about it. I think the 1800 is good enough for what I need/want it for. I would like a ram and MB upgrade. I just got a new Maxtor 80gb, 8mb, 7200 rpm IDE drive that I will be using.

Sooo...with that said, any recommendations for an upgrade path with these things in mind (especially the loudness of the system) that I can do for around $200-$400?

The other option is to scrap this setup to move to a totally new system...if so, around $600 with these goals in mind please...I'll give this setup to my brother, parents, or grandparents.....

Thanks in advance, sorry so long, I just wanted to provide a clear picture of my scenario

 

[busmaster11]

Getting a new mobo for this is a waste of money. Anything thats compatible with this CPU won't be compatible with a CPU you would like in the future.

If anything, goto Crucial.com or something, and invest in a stick of 512 meg PC3200 for this machine and because its likely to be compat with that you might want in the future. When you're ready to move on, just stick the PC133 back in and keep the DDR.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You could get an Asus mb, A64 3000+, 512 PC3200 for around $400 or a bit over but you'd get some money back for your 512 PC133, CPU and mobo. I'd guess speed will be double what you have now for MP3 encoding (ripping itself won't speed up since it's limited by the CD drive not CPU)

It doesn't make much sense to get some $200 upgrade (to say an XP 2500+) that's not much faster than what you have now. So I'd vote for either a full mb/CPU/RAM swap or the new system.

 

[Metron]

Rcurley55,

Biggest sources of noise are usually:
1) Power Supply
2) CPU HSF
3) Case Fans

My brother pointed me to EndPCNoise about a year ago, and I commend it highly to you.

I highly recommend the 20 dBA Nexus 300 Watt power supply... ultra quiet. I have one in my P4 system. My brother recently picked up the 19.2 dBA 350W Nexus power supply, another good choice.

For the HSF, go with the 20 dBA Zalman 7000A. Looks cool too if you have a clear sided case.

In terms of case fans, I suggest either 12 dBA 80mm Pabst 8412NGL case fan or a 26 dBA 120mm Pabst 4412FGL mounted in the front of your case. I run 2 80mm Pabst 8412NGL's, one on the side and one on the back.

After making these mods, the sound coming from my system is barely perceptable. I don't turn on my Athlon box much anymore... it's too loud! (though I have plans to build an ultra-quiet Athlon 64 3000+ soon) Try just those 3 changes, and you'll be amazed how much more quiet your system will be.

Metron

 

[rcurley55]

thanks for all the suggestions..I'll look into my options tonight....