Good choices?

[elite0n3]

ive been considering upgrading my computer for awhilie now, right now I have a custom built pentium 2 300mhz and any upgrade is sure to bring improvement to it, however I dont know how I should upgrade. I was thinkin about upgrading to the following parts

Mobo: Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
CPU: AthlonXP 2500+ Barton 333fsb OEM
Memory: 1 OCZ Enhanced Latency 256 DDR PC-3200

Right now I'm looking to upgrade for a cheap amount of money, but I also want a good system that will run most stuff good. I have in the past had Asus mobos and have had a great experience with them, as have I had great experience with AMD. Actually my old AMD 266 seemed better then this system. Any suggestions as to my selection, and although I will not originally overclock this system I would like to know a cheap solution for cooling if I decided to overclock it to a 3200+ which I heard was possible? The memory I also hopefully obtain another stick of in the future for using the dual-channel feature however I was wondering if anyone knows how it performs, also I am not familiar with OEM processors and what is needed for installing the cooling. Any help and suggestions are welcomed tia dave

[greffov]

one thing about the mobo, make sure it DOES dual channel. I got one close to yours and it doesn't

Remember your CPU has an 333FSB, while your ram runs on 400FSB. You might want to consider a CPU that does 300FSB.

Don't expect your PC to be stable when you overclock it. I got the 2500+ myself, believed the tale as well that it could be overclocked to 3200+ Yes it runs, but not for long, as it crashes once it does 100% CPU usage for a minute or five

Welcome Dave

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by greffov
one thing about the mobo, make sure it DOES dual channel. I got one close to yours and it doesn't

Remember your CPU has an 333FSB, while your ram runs on 400FSB. You might want to consider a CPU that does 300FSB.

the delux is dual channel, its the only one of the A7V8 series that is.

good selection of board, as you can tell from my sig, im a diehard ASUS fan

Remember your CPU has an 333FSB, while your ram runs on 400FSB. You might want to consider a CPU that does 300FSB.

or get the 400mhz cored barton, but they aint the cheapest option.

Welcome to the forums Dave

[elite0n3]

thanks for the quick replies I was under the impression that its possible to run the ram at 333 alongside the cpu, or did i mis-understand something...and I think that the mobo is supposed to do dual channel...i seem to be asking alot of questions but would i be better using my sohoware 10/100 nic and disabling the on-board lan, as I dont know if the onboard lan would introduce a decrease in performance in multi-player games? thanks again, dave

[elite0n3]

Originally posted by RipperRoo
the delux is dual channel, its the only one of the A7V8 series that is.

good selection of board, as you can tell from my sig, im a diehard ASUS fan



or get the 400mhz cored barton, but they aint the cheapest option.

Welcome to the forums Dave

yeah I seem to like ASUS better then the other boards I've used.. people seem to like some of the Abit boards..but frankly I had problems running just about anything on the mobo and heh.. I just found this forum today lol so yup glad to be part of the forums

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by elite0n3
thanks for the quick replies I was under the impression that its possible to run the ram at 333 alongside the cpu, or did i mis-understand something...and I think that the mobo is supposed to do dual channel...i seem to be asking alot of questions but would i be better using my sohoware 10/100 nic and disabling the on-board lan, as I dont know if the onboard lan would introduce a decrease in performance in multi-player games? thanks again, dave

yes, you can run the 400 ram alongside the 333 cpu, but you may get better performance running 333mhz ram as its matched to the fsb of the cpu.

i think you will find that the onboard nic on that motherboard is a 10/100/1000

[elite0n3]

Originally posted by RipperRoo
yes, you can run the 400 ram alongside the 333 cpu, but you may get better performance running 333mhz ram as its matched to the fsb of the cpu.

i think you will find that the onboard nic on that motherboard is a 10/100/1000

actually about the onboard nic there is actually two a 10/100 and also a 10/100/1000 which i thought was pretty nice.. thanks for the info on the memory..i'll look into that, would it be better to go for a cheaper memory with a higher latency or does the latency affect performance enough to notice it?

[RipperRoo]

Latency is particularly important in CPUs and RAM. While CPU clock speed and RAM data transfer rates have improved ten-fold over the last few years, RAM latency has actually got worse—this means that when the CPU requests information that isn't already in the cache, there is a long pause while it waits for the RAM to start sending.

http://www.redhill.net.au/glos.html

[elite0n3]

Thanks RipperRoo very helpful information you gave me, I think I pretty much know what I'm going to be getting now, just gotta wait on money sucks lol...but I'm gonna hafta look around for a nice heatsink and fan for the cpu..too bad a new case is out of the question actually a suprise this system hast gone...its runs all the time without any cooling whatsoever anybody out there have any suggestions on quiet case fans to check out?

[RipperRoo]

thats easy, for the heatsink its gotta be one of these:
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/m...oduct_sp97.htm

and for a fan on it one of these:


YS-Tech FD9325 92mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-009-YS)
The high output YS-TECH FD9325 92mm fan produces a massive 50CFM airflow. This makes it ideal for case cooling applications and is fitted with a 3-pin speed sensing connector. Also suitable for use with the Thermalright SLK-900 heatsink.

- Speed - 2400RPM
- Output - 50.0CFM
- Decibels - 31.9dBA
- Dimensions - 92x92x25

and for case fans
YS-TECH FD8025 SILENT 80mm fan - 4 Pin (FG-008-YS)
The super quiet YS-TECH FD8125 80mm fan produces a very respectable 27CFM airflow. This makes it ideal for case cooling applications where quiet operation is preffered. Fitted with a 4 pin molex plug with pass through (for connecting directly to the PSU).

- Speed - 1850RPM
- Output - 27CFM
- Decibels - 20dBA
- Dimensions - 80x80x25

[elite0n3]

Hey thanks for all the help RipperRoo..but i have one more question sorry bout the trouble.. would you know where I could locate those YS-Tech fans online for fairly cheap? tia dave

[RipperRoo]

where are you uk/usa? you dont list a location in your profle.

[elite0n3]

yeah..oops that'd be the us sorry bout that..

[RipperRoo]

hum, i can only seem to find uk supplyers, but if u cant get those specific fans, this page is DEFINATLY worth a look for usa purchce/delivery

http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/home.php?cat=80