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Thread ID: 30812 2003-03-04 00:02:00 Upgrade, Chip/Mobo, (types of AMD) Nigel Thomson (629) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
125369 2003-03-04 00:02:00 OK I am upgrading/building a system, I have asked before and have been looking everything over, and basically it comes to the selection of chip and mobo.
I decided on AMD
The chip
Looking at AMD XP 1800ish region, I realise the 'real' speed is 15.3Ghz but I notice that the FSB speed varies between 133 & 266 as well as some mention 256 cache. What do I want out of this chip as the price variations seem to be very slight, (aiming about $150-$160 with Fan)
Motherboard
One that will handle the above chip and take DDram (as it seems to be a similar price to SDRam) preferably including on board sound and Lan and graphics(although this isn't crucial), i have looked at various motherboards such as this one here (www.qmb.co.nz) and similar ones, are they any good?, i will hopefully be getting a graphics card, (G force four of some description) so I don't need everything integrated but cost saving is important and all my current components are ISA
Any help would be appreciated
And i hope this is a bit more precise than last time
Nigel Thomson (629)
125370 2003-03-04 01:55:00 i would personally go with P4, but AMD 1800 is ok... price isnt too bad either. As for the mobo, the one on the hyperlink, looks like a really good deal, with the 56k modem and the office suite... that would most definiley have onboard sound too.
as for the GF4, atleast consider an ATI radeon 9700pro!!
javoyle
javoyle (2120)
125371 2003-03-04 02:06:00 I find my GF4 MX 440 Fine!

Runs even better in Linux under WineX :D I get a very good FPS @16Bit @ 1024x768 in UT 2K3 etc.

AMD1700+ is what Ive got, and its great, outperforms a friends P4 1.53Ghz in most things. I'd highly reccommend them.

DDR-RAM - Very cheap in some places, try qmb.co.nz and they have 256MB DDR for $5 less than their 256MB SD-RAM, now only about $52!!! For 256MB!!! Cant go wrong there!


Cheers


Chilling_Silence
Chilling_Silence (9)
125372 2003-03-04 07:37:00 Hi

The PC Chips board takes sdram and the agp slot is an optional upgrade. Have a look at an Asus A7N266-VM or a Microstar 6390, Asrock (Asus) K7VM2 or Gigabyte 7VKMP. All very reasonabley priced with the right slots to upgrade as $$ become available.

Some new DDR boards still sport an ISA slot but you'll have to search them out to get the other specs you want. Only way to go if you have a good hardware modem you don't want to retire and DSL's not an option.

You should be able to get an xp1800 retail pack with fan for about $140-ish.

Cheers

Murray P
Murray P (44)
125373 2003-03-04 19:05:00 The chip is good, the mobo is crap, if ur looking for a decent mobo with most things intergrated try the Asus Nforce 2, very good motherboard with quite a good intergrated graphics card, other wise try another asus mobo and a GF4 or Radeon and you're machine will fly and for at *least* half the price of the equivilant P4. I have an Athlon XP 2000+ with an Asus A7V333 and its great, its a bit loud with all the fans but with a saving of at least $300 to get a decent P4 mobo and 2ghz chip i'm willing to put up with it!

- David
DangerousDave (697)
125374 2003-03-04 19:43:00 Thanks people
The asus mobo looks much better than the initial one i picked, so i have decided to go with it,
one further question what is wrong with seagate harddrives as they seem to be a lot cheaper, than most others on the market.
seeya later
Nigel Thomson (629)
125375 2003-03-05 02:38:00 Look here pressf1.pcworld.co.nz

I have 3 of them an older 8.2GB (I think) an 8 or 9 40GB 5400rpm & an 40GB 7200rpm. haven't had any prob's. Nice quiet drives. Avoid the batch mentioned in the post above.

Cheers

Murray P
Murray P (44)
125376 2003-03-05 03:12:00 I would go for the AMD, they ROCK!!!!!

> I find my GF4 MX 440 Fine!

Don't go for one of these (girls only card!!) ;\ Get the G4 Ti they kick butt.

> AMD1700+ is what Ive got, and its great, outperforms
> a friends P4 1.53Ghz in most things. I'd highly
> reccommend them.

And so it should!
Jack Jackson (1052)
125377 2003-03-05 19:59:00 So is mine rubbish?

Board: DFI AD70-SC
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 02/08
Thomas (1820)
125378 2003-03-06 02:05:00 Check the warranty on the seagates before you buy one.

I went with a maxtor because the seagates only have a 1 year warranty now instead of 3.

Also, if you like quite make sure you get a drive with fluid bearings.
bmason (508)
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