bit of advice please take a look

[ABOU]

ok im upgrading my p3 550mhrtz and i have looked about and found this

gigabyte ga-7n400-li nforce 2 ddr 4x pci 2xmemory (mobo) - £79
256 mb ddr nanya (RAM) - £38
Heat sink + fan £10
Athlon xp 2400+ (processor) - £75
geForce fx 5200 128mb ddr 8x agp (graphics card) - £69

can anyone get any better prices for this or better stuff for cheaper

p.sp needs to ship to UK (specificaly Northern Ireland)

[berks]

ABOU That system sounds like mine

have you tried this site http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/home.php i think they ship over your way now. I recommend them and use them myself.

[LPDad]

I would suggest getting at least 512 DDR RAM (pc 2700)

I am not sure what £38 equates to in $$ but you can get the above mentioned RAM from Crucial for $80.. and your machine will run load faster and run smoother.

[ABOU]

hi LP im starting off with 256mb im on a tight budget and ram can be upgraded for cheap if i got more RAM then i would have to get a slower processor but i will upgrade !!!!!!!

i had a look on jab but the shipping requires a credit card dad is a bit wery of using it on the net thanks anyway

ps lp £1 = ruffly $1.50

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by ABOU
ok im upgrading my p3 550mhrtz and i have looked about and found this

gigabyte ga-7n400-li nforce 2 ddr 4x pci 2xmemory (mobo) - £79
256 mb ddr nanya (RAM) - £38
Heat sink + fan £10
Athlon xp 2400+ (processor) - £75

can anyone get any better prices for this or better stuff for cheaper

p.sp needs to ship to UK (specificaly Northern Ireland)

just over 200 for the above items isnt too hard to beat, try this bundle from novatech.co.uk in portsmouth

Link after delivery it will be about £30 less, and you get 512MB 333DDR RAM (2 x 256MB) intead of just 1 x 256mb pc2700

[igalan]

Originally posted by ABOU
gigabyte ga-7n400-li nforce 2 ddr 4x pci 2xmemory (mobo) - £79
256 mb ddr nanya (RAM) - £38

I would get 2 x 256 DDR 333, so you can use the ram in dual channel mode. Memory is not expensive, and you'll get a real boost with 512 MB and dual channel.

Heat sink + fan £10

Get a quality one, better all copper with 80 mm fan (low noise.)

Athlon xp 2400+ (processor) - £75
geForce fx 5200 128mb ddr 8x agp (graphics card) - £69

Don't get the FX5200, it simply lacks graphical power to run any new game with average detail level (forget running them with high detail and/or AA/AF)... Either get the FX 5200 128 MB Ultra or a FX 5600 Ultra. Be very careful here, because some cheaper cards have slower memory paired with Ultra chip, you should ask for the core and mem speeds:

FX-5200 250 core / 200 mem (400 DDR)
FX-5200 Ultra 350 core / 350 mem (700 DDR)
FX-5600 325 core / 225 mem (550 DDR)
FX-5600 Ultra 350 core / 350 mem (700 DDR)

But you can find FX-5200 Ultra with 200 MHz mem (400 DDR) and many other different combinations. Alternatively you could get a cheap GeForce 4 Ti4200 that will be much faster than any FX5200, and usually faster than the FX5600. If you want to use AA or AF then get the FX 5600 Ultra.

[LPDad]

You are getting good advice all around.

How much difference is price is there between the XP 2400 and the XP 2500 Barton???
I know in the states the Barton is $4 more expensive, and you get a nice 512 cache and lots of overclockability.

worth the extra $4.

[igalan]

Originally posted by ABOU
hi LP im starting off with 256mb im on a tight budget and ram can be upgraded for cheap if i got more RAM then i would have to get a slower processor but i will upgrade !!!!!!!

Ops, I have read the thread too quickly so I also suggested to get another 256 MB . You're good with one stick, but carfully write the brand and exact model so when you want to upgrade, you can get another identical stick and run then in dual channel.

As for the video card, you can get a GeForce 4 Ti4200 for the price of a FX-5200 (128 MB version) which will bring the FX to it's knees...

As LPDad suggest, the Barton XP2500 should be like 2-5 € more and a lot more overclockable. And there's like a 50% chances that you get the models that run cooler and so overclock better. If you don't want to overclock (I don't do) you'll still have a faster CPU and it will probably run cooler.

[ABOU]

As for the video card, you can get a GeForce 4 Ti4200 for the price of a FX-5200 (128 MB version) which will bring the FX to it's knees... As LPDad suggest, the Barton XP2500 should be like 2-5 € more and a lot more overclockable. And there's like a 50% chances that you get the models that run cooler and so overclock better. If you don't want to overclock (I don't do) you'll still have a faster CPU and it will probably run cooler.

i have never seen or heard of that graphics card got a site any more info ??

as for the processor im not sure on price in the shop i may be purchasing from they do an xp2400 then a 2600 for £15 more im on a tight budget so i will see how it goes with the processor i am defenentally not overclocking no i rely on my pc so if it goes i have no more money to repair !!!!!!!!

[ABOU]

hey had a look and found this mobo im not sure how good quality it is - Abit AT7 MAX2 Socket A 266FSB DDR400 8xAGP Serial ATA RAID ATX Motherboard 6 Channel Audio Firewire

are ABIT a good make ??

take a look at the specs

HERE

tell me what you think

[ABOU]

hey igalan i had a look for the graphics card you mentioned it may out perform the fx but it is nearly £30 more so if i was to cut back to get this how much more improved woud the graphics be ??

LP found the barton not only is it faster it is cheaper so im looking in to getting that.

other than that im looking for some cheap cheap RAM any good uk sites ??

[igalan]

1.- The motherboard choice is difficult. I would get the Gigabyte because of the nForce2 chipset. But only because I had a bad experience with VIA chipsets. However the Abit is more feature ritch. If you want SATA then the choice is the Abit AT7 MAX2.

2.- The difference between the XP2400 and XP2600 is very small. I would save money here and use it on other components. The XP2500 is based on the Barton core, which is better than Tbred B and has 512 KB cache instead of 256 KB.

3.- The GeForce 4 line is an older generation than FX line. GeForce 4 are DirectX 8/8.1 cards, while GeForce FX are DirectX9. However the FX5200 is so weak that it will be simply unable to run any DX9 game when they are released. The GeForce 4 Ti4200 is so much powerful that will allow you to run any game at high resolutions with max detail; with the FX you would have to run at lower resolutions and medium detail. AA & AF are much better with the FX line, but to use them you need a faster card like a FX 5600 Ultra; with the FX5200 any game with 4xAA and 8xAF is unplayable (too low frame rate.)

GeForce 4 Ti4200 vs GeForce FX 5800: See how the GeForce 4 performs like a FX 5800 in many tests, and the FX 5800 is so much faster than FX 5200

FX line vs GeForce 4 and ATI Note that here FX5200 Ultra is used.

[ABOU]

thaks igalan i was looking at the gigabyte i may use it instead will the geforce 4 be usable in any new motherboard ?? i have heard good things about nForce 2 so it may be my choice

that is it sorted then i will defententally go for the barton xp 2500

as for the graphics card thought what the geforce 4 did not win but it was the 64mb version i am leaning toward the geforce 4

[igalan]

As I said nForce2 boards also have its own problems, but anyway I prefer them over VIA... And I don't think that you'll be dissapointed by the performance of the Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 + XP 2500 + GeForce 4 Ti4200 + 256 MB DDR RAM 333 .

BTW, since the Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 only supports 1,5 V on the AGP slot, be sure to get a video card that can operate at 1,5 V (all AGP 8x can.)

[ABOU]

well i think that is the setup i am going for mmm i was looking at thwe gigabyte before but the money is tight so i thought i could go for a cheaper board il take another look


i looked at the xp 2500 barton and its clock speed is only 1.83 gig what is goin on with that i thought it would at least be 2.00 ????