Looking for advice...

[trillium]

I am looking to upgrade my entire system, so basically build it from scratch..
I am currently running with an:
Asus K7V MoBo
Athlon 550mHz (Slot A)
512M RAM
PNY Nvidia GeForce 2/MX 4000
Sound Blaster 5.1 Live! MP3
w/ Win2K as an OS.

What I am looking for as far as advice is concerned is what is the best (opinionated, I know) XP + MoBo combo out there...
I've read plenty of reviews but I am looking for advice from those who have actually benchmarked and used these systems....

Thanks in advance

 

[o1die]

I'm using the new shuttle ak31 version 3.1 with the via kt266a chipset. Runs very well. I was able to run at 144 fsb, but with 2 different brands of memory, I had to lower it back to 136 fsb to run stable on the internet. Sisoft memory scores are about 720 and 952 at 136, but I've seen as high as 810 and 1050. Not a bad board for $85-90. With 6 pci slots, 4 ddram slots, and all overclocking adjustments in the bios. The cpu is mounted sideways, which means that some heatsinks are a tight fit. Also no raid available. But I've already upgraded the bios for the xp, and can't wait to try it. If you need to upgrade your power supply, I recommend sparkle in 300 or 350. I'm able to run my 1.2 at 1360 with their 235 watt version.