Good motherboard? - I'm upgrading

SYNTuesday · 07-31-2002, 06:08 PM

This box I'm on is four years old:
<ul>P2-400
STB Velocity 128 (TNT2 chipset)
64 MB RAM
etc. </ul>I'm looking to upgrade sometime soon as I'm moving it to college with me. Question is: Anyone know a good site that reviews motherboards and whatnot, other than Tom's Hardware? Perhaps you have some suggestions of your own? Anyone know what the deal is with Athlons (XP, MP, WTF?)

How about a good video card that will likely run games well for another two years?

And all this on a budget. Mainboard-CPU combo, video card and memory for $500-$600? Thanks in advance, folks.

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-01-2002, 12:29 AM

Do you overclock? If you do then get Intel, I'm guessing you would cause the p4s overclock like crazy.

If you were to get a p4 1.6, or 1.8 you could get 2.4 ghz + now. With a 2.26B people are hitting 2.8-3 ghz, on stock cooling. Personally, I like AMD, but you cannot deny that Intel has the upper hand now.

(all prices come from newegg-so you have a general ballpark of where it should be)
Motherboard-Abit IT7 $150, you can get a cheaper motherboard if you want but this is one I have and it kicks some major ass. 10 usb 2.0 ports, 3 firewire ports, 10 ide ports, and it is known as one of the most solid boards out there. Abit is coming out with a new revision soon with ps/2 ports(the original is legacy free), and serial ata. I don't know if you need those though.

You can also get an Abit BG7(if you need some extra oc'ing extras like 4:5 memory divider) for $120, or an Abit BD7-II for $106. They aren't as stacked as the IT7 and don't get as many rave reviews but I don't know if you need all those features. Some people like the Asus PS533 for $115 but I have heard of some problems though(and I do feel more reliable with an intel chipset, thats an SiS chipset), all the other ones I recommend are on Intel chipsets. You can get an rdram setup but expect the board to be $170 and unless you want pc800 you will pay up the ass for the ram. Also rdram is being abandoned by Intel so your upgrade path is iffy.

Memory-it depends how high you want you want your memory speed. If you are going to get a 2.26B or a 1.8A you will probably only need good pc2700. Ram prices have really skyrocketed. I remember buying a stick of original samsung(512 megs) for $120, now its up at 160-170.

Video Card-Wait for the Ati 9700 to come out should bring prices. Then get a GF4 Ti4200 128 MB for 150 or so. If you want to go cheaper there is always the 64 MB or an Ati Radeon 8500 or 8500LE. If you want an 8500 get them fast though because they are being discontinued.

Processor-If you want go nuts get a 2.26B for $270 or a 1.8A for $160. A 2.26B will probably go to 2.8-3 ghz with 170-180 front side bus speeds. 1.8A will probably get past 2.4 ghz these days with a 133+ fsb.

Look at the suggestions and see what fits for you. I really suggest pc2700 because on the 1.8A you will need it if you use the 3:4 divider and on the 2.26B if you use a 1:1 divider even(of course this is with overclocking but who doesn't overclock with these intel cpu's).

Hummercash · 08-02-2002, 07:52 AM

uhhhh...... AM, im willing to bet that synt has NO clue what ur talking about in the majority of ur post ;p

my advice: since you seem to lack the technical knowledge (yes, it is an assumption, but probably a correct one) to build your own computer, i suggest going to a computer show where you can get the aZns to build you a pretty good comp for around the price ur asking... they will custom build it, so go in knowing which mobo, cpu, vid card, etc. u want.

i personally like athlons, but if you want a p4 go ahead and get it (it is ur money after all). but either way, i suggest you get an Abit motherboard, just cuz they rock. i also think you should get one of the better video cards... either geforce4 ti4200 or geforce4 ti4400... you should get a good 2 years out of those before they suck Wink

another advantage of buying from comp show is that they usually have a 30-60 day warranty, so if ur mobo, memory, cpu, etc. is bad, they will replace it. and if they don't, u still get the manufacturers warranty to fall back on. building urself u only get the manufacturers warranty.

oh well... just my $.02

.//chris

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-02-2002, 01:43 PM

I did my current system from a comp show but you got to be careful. Those Asians will try to screw you so fucking bad. Like one guy tried to sell me some pc2700 for a p4 system right after he said I shouldn't overclock. Shit I'm not going to overclock I don't your goddamn pc2700.

SYNTuesday · 08-02-2002, 07:03 PM

Actually, I'm capable of replacing a motherboard, a power supply, whatever. I've never built a whole system, but you're right that most of the hardware talk WAS over my head.:clueless:

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-02-2002, 07:25 PM

Ok let's do it step by step. Do you want to overclock or not?

If yes, without a doubt a p4.
If no, just get an athlon xp.

Goatweed · 08-02-2002, 08:32 PM

AM, I like the sound of that Abit IT7 board - what's the max RAM that it can hold? There's a big PC Show this month in NJ that I plan on going to (I always go) and I thought I might go ahead and start buying parts to build myself a monster PC - meaning case, MoBo, CPU and RAM. I've got a spare HD and vid card I can use until I get the $$ for the ones I want (plus it'll give me time to wait out the current GF4 prices).

In case anyone is near or interested in going, the show is at the Raritan Center near Woodbridge. It's on the weekend of 8/17-8/18. If you need directions, just go to pcshow.com. Don't take this post as spam, cause I don't work for the organization nor will I have a table there - I'll be one of the many geeks walking around haggling over prices.

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-02-2002, 09:13 PM

It can handle 2 gigs of ram by what the specs say. But only expect to use 2 dimms on most motherboards these days. They get terribly unstable when 3 ddr dimms are used. And I don't know if you want to pay for 1 gig dimms especially since prices have skyrocketed. I got some good original Samsung pc2700(actually produced by samsung) that was in the older batches that performed better for 120. Holy shit was I glad when I did that. Right now most Samsung 2700 performs worse because most of it is the dtl(Crappy) and not ctl(good) batch. Corsair XMS 3000, and 3200 seem to be the best ram right now. Of course if you dont overclock ram won't matter much.

Goatweed · 08-02-2002, 09:21 PM

2 gigs might be a bit much for me to start out with. I'll have to price it and see. Usually you can go to the tables and haggle their asses off, maybe shave a few bucks if I get a bundle deal. Those chinamen love to negotiate!

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-02-2002, 09:28 PM

Samsung 2700 is very nice. Mine was the ctl batch and I got it for $120. It is without a doubt the best ddr out there. Corsair might have ddr400 but all it is is Samsung with a heatspreader. Right now the Samsung DTL stuff is slower because they're saving up their CTL stuff for their pc3200 line. Samsung pc3200 might be out by that show so you never know. Search online to see the product # for the ctl ram. It's right now without a doubt the best ocing ram out there.

SYNTuesday · 08-03-2002, 01:58 AM

I don't think I wanna overclock. That requires some sort of extra cooling yes? Try to bare with me, I'm not a hardware guy.

I'll go with the XP then, thanks.

AdolescentMasturbator · 08-03-2002, 11:45 AM

You can overclock p4's with stock cooling. Most people can do amazing overclocks with the no extra cooling.