processor and motherboard

[tree hugging hippie crap]

I've been looking into building myself a computer. I've upgraded my current pc about as much as it can go. i currently have a 633mhz celeron processor with a max ram of 512 ( of which i currently have 192 ). I've been considering getting a new motherboard which would hold something much larger than my max processor of 667mhz. I just have a few questions...

1) aside from the processor having to match the slot on the motherboard, do some processors run better with certain motherboards? I'll prolly go with the AMD line....

2) which ram do i want the motherboard to house in terms of price and capacity? i dont do any extensive gaming. I play a few games, but i dont think my pc is overheating from it or anything.

3) For basic gaming, watching a few movies, and saving clips from digital camcorder, would i need a 64 mb vid card or would 32 work? right now i have a fact vid card (prolly 4mb *ouch*).

I wanna build something about 1.0 - 1.5 ghz....512mb - 1gb ram. I know i'll get some good feedback from you guys.

BDub

[Krell]

OMG . . . well you've gone and opened this can of worms again, brace yourself.

The things you need to look at first are, can I reuse my case and power supply? Will my power supply handle a newer MB and Proc? If so, then a MB, Proc,and RAM are all you need.

Then, find a bundle where you get the MB, Proc and maybe RAM together. I wouldnt advise you to get more or less than 512 Mb ram.

Newer MB's also take a different AGP card for video. Your old one may not work. You may want to consider getting a MB with everything built onboard, the sound, networking, video etc, will still be better than what you have now.

Finally, dont be in a hurry, and dont try to examine this thing to death. Find a solution you can afford, read the fine print, go for it.

.

[Krell]

You raise a good point, and in the past, that was certainly true. The Asus MB, like the TUSI-M, are good, Aopen, etc also make good solutions. I have built a number oif these systems, and I never have a hickup, in fact, I am impressed with the benchmarks.

In many cases, you are actually better off, because the chipset and components are already designed to be compatible. Where as integration of seperates can cause conflicts, and for the basic user, that delivers a less than desireable computing experience.

I like these systems, because when i put them together, i never have to baby sit them again.

.

[tree hugging hippie crap]

Thanx Krell. I'll try pricewatch to see what kinds of deals they have going on. any other good websites to check prices on this crap ????

[chipperrox]

I heard for some reason, it is really bad to just change your mobo and processor- without getting other new stuff... is that just a dumb rumor or is there something conflicting when you do that? Does your os recognize the new shit? or will it still say the old speed etc

[Psilaxs]

if you do buy a new video card (Which i would recomend since you get so much more performance over onboard) new 128 meg cards are going pretty cheap, my Radeon 8500 128 meg was 150 when i got it, now it is down to about 100 or less.

And for capturing video, graphics memory is very important

[Induna]

My advise would be to upgrade everything, in other words build a new P.C.

Go to a computer fair for the really cheapest prices. Usually the traders will sell a Motherboard and Processor together for a cheaper deal. They sell AMD chips that go with the boards. (AMD chips are much cheaper than Intel Pentiums).

Just ask for a 1.5 Athlon (it will say 1500 because that is ther performace level, not the clock speed but it runs just as good as a Pentium at 1.5 Ghz).
Look for the chipset of a motherboard, make sure it supports the lastest RAM speeds. Look for 400 or 333. If price is an issue get the 266 boards. Make sure it can take DDR memory. Forget SD-RAM, it's old. Also look out for USB-2 compatability as USB-2 is about 40x faster than USB-1. (though a 266 board will most likely only have USB-1).

Get DDR memory, clock speeds dependent on what Motherboard you have bought. You can get a 256MB stick for £45 at a computer fair. If you want a lifetime guarentee you'll have to get Kingston RAM which is twice the price, personally I wouldn't bother.

Get a 128DDR Graphics card (it will make a difference). You can get the cheap nVidea MX variety for £50.

Get a case with a decent Power Supply Unit (I'd say at least 400Watts) Again, you scould strike a deal with a case and PSU.

All that's left is a CD burner or a DVD Burner. I'd say a CD burner as the DVD burners are still quite expensive.

Sound card, a Soundblaster Live should be adequate, unless you want surround sound with all the bells and whistles.

You could get all this for under £300.

[Krell]

You can beat these prices if you are tenacious about it, this is just an example to start with. Just dont buy the cheapest you see off pricewatch.com.


Asus A7V266-C Via KT266A Athlon (XP)/Duron Skt A ATX Motherboard w/Audio
http://www.asus.com/mb/socketa/a7v266-c/overview.htm

MB price
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=240401


AMD Athlon 1.3GHz Socket A 266Mhz Processor
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80235

AMD Athlon XP 2100+ 1.73GHz Processor Retail
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80163-R

Cooler Master HSC-V62 Cooler for AMD XP up to 2600+
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370622

Kingston 512MB DDR266 PC2100 CL2.5 Memory Retail
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80387-K

Abit Siluro GF4 MX 440SE GeForce4 MX440 AGP 4X 64MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out $62.99
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/graphics/gf4_mx_440

For basic gaming, watching a few movies, and saving clips from digital camcorder, this will do fine.

Abit Siluro Retail
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=324015

Antec Solution Series SLK3700AMB Super Mid Tower Case Retail
w/350W Power Supply
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=140018

Unless you are running some hello peripherals, 350watts is enough, I prefer to buy my case, then add an Enermax PSU to it.

[celticone]

Hi

After reading the messages above I am considering upgrading my motherboard & processor.

My original PC is about 3 years old, with a PIII 450 processor. I was recently given a PIII667, and after installing the upgrade - the speed noted at the boot up screen was only a 500E processor.

I downloaded the Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility and it gave the following:

Expected Processor Frequency: 667 MHz
Expected System Bus Frequency: 133 MHz

Reported Processor Frequency: 497 MHz
Reported System Bus Frequency: 99 MHz

Motherboard Chipset i440BX.

Is this as fast as my PC will go? Should I be looking to upgrade the Bios? Or should I look into a new motherboard & processor?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[Induna]

Could be the jumper settings on your motherboard. You can't just bang in a new CPU and hope for the best. You need to check the clock multiplier and also the voltage.

If it's an old board you have to physically change the jumpers that are usually dotted all over the board. You may need a torch for this.

Check the tables on the board for the correct CPU speed, clock multiplier and voltage with the corresponding jumpers, usually marked JP1, JP2 ect.

Newer boards, you can change these settings in the BIOS.

[celticone]

I changed the jumpers to their max settings - on, on, off, off but the system still says 500E as the processor speed. I’ve also checked for newer Flash BIOS upgrades but can’t find anything later than the year 200 0 BIOS I already have.

Grateful for any advice you can give. I think I’ll need to upgrade the whole motherboard.

Cheer, in advance.