Tax refund MB quest

[Zeppy]

OK...I've just done my taxes and discovered that I'll be able to do a nice upgrade to my system, but I seem to be stuck making the right decision.

I've done a lot of reading over the various chipsets and boards and I think I know what I want to do, but I'd feel better with some feedback.

Currently I have a fairly old system running an AMD Duron 900 on a MSI KT7PRO2A. It's got a Geforce2MX for video and a SBLive! for audio.

I want to keep the existing HD, but replace the MB, CPU and Memory. From what I can tell, an NVIDIA chipset board with IGP is the way to go. AT the same time though, it seems a smart move would be to find a board with at least a 400FSB. Obviously getting something like the MSI K7N2G-L would be a massive upgrade from what I currently have, but would it hold up for future processor upgrades? Also, am I better off sticking with the SB for audio, or is the onboard good enough? I know I can upgrade the video later, but for now it would be a much better scenario than I have now right out of the box.

Also, if I go with the MSI board that has the dual DDR, would it be pointless to go with two sticks at 333 or would it still be better than one stick?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Just bare in mind that I'm limited to about $400.

 

[Zeppy]

How about if I say please?

 

[Fern]

How about an ABIT board?
I'd suggest something from the NF7 series, depending on the features you want/need.
As far as ram, I'd suggest at least DDr400 (pc3200 or up)
CPU Barton 2500+ (with the abit board and good ram you should be able to jump ther FSB to 200 and get the cpu running at 3200+ speeds.

Last I checked the Abit NF7-S was $99, the retail Barton (comes with adequate heatsink and fan plus longer warrenty than OEM) was $90. Good ram s/b about $120-140 for 512mb dual channell kit. All within your budget!

Good Luck

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: Fern
How about an ABIT board?
Last I checked the Abit NF7-S was $99, the retail Barton (comes with adequate heatsink and fan plus longer warrenty than OEM) was $90. Good ram s/b about $120-140 for 512mb dual channell kit. All within your budget!

Good Luck

Dual channel "kits" are for suckers. The minimum I would do is:

XP2500 - $90
nForce2 w/400mhz fsb support and Soundstorm - NF7-S - $100
512MB pc3200 - $75
ti4200 - $50-$75

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Buffalo 3200DDR 2x256mb=$84
Abit NF7-S=$98
Barton 2500+ Retail=$90
BFG 5600Ultra rev.2 $120, 9000pro 128mb $73, used ti4200 128mb approx. $75
total= $392 w/5600U, $347 with other vid cards

If you don't intend to overclock just run the 3200DDR@2700 speed as the performance from running synch will be be better than 333fsb/400ram. Also, that way you have the ability to hit higher fsb&memory speeds than the 2700 if you choose to overclock or upgrade to a faster FSB CPU down the road, giving you a better bang for your buck since the price between 2700 and 3200 is only a couple $. The 5600U with 400/800 speeds will overclock well just by using coolbits to "unhide" the clock frequency tab in the nVidia control panel and choosing auto-detect. Along with the 53.03 Det's this becomes a good card for the money as it will certainly run at least 450/900 speeds thanks to the ram sinks on both sides of the card and nice GPU cooler. If you want to save more on the card pick up a used ti4200 128mb used in the FS/FT forum and overclock it, or grab a 9000pro for $73 and you will have an all around fast system which can handle gaming with moderate resolution and settings :beer:

Any of those cards along with the NF7-S will destroy the IGP board and since it has SoundStorm you can sell your old CPU, RAM, Board, vid card, and SBLive! to recoupe some of the expense.

 

[Zeppy]

After the thoughts here and from some other locales, I've decided basically to go with this setup:

ABIT NF7-S V2 (gotta love that sound!)
XP 2500+ Barton with retail fan and heatsink (no OC'ing)
Kingston ValueRAM Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200
GAINWARD GeForce4 TI4200 Video Card, 64MB DDR, 128-bit, 4X AGP, Ultra/650 Golden Sample -RETAIL

This seems to give me the best bang for the buck at around $365. I don't plan on OC'ing the Barton since I'm going with the retail fan and heatsink, but I may with the video card since I hear it really screams when oc'ed without extra cooling.

Any additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated. In the mean time, I'll be waiting for Uncle Sam's check.