I'm toying with getting a new AMD XP CPU, looking at the 1500 which I've seen for around £120 inc vat..

Been a while since I've been involved with hardware as I don't like getting my hands dirty anymore :D, I was wondering what other bits I'm going to need to upgrade my existing system

I'm running a PII350 with an Aopen BX mainboard, running 133mhz.

If I upgrade the CPU to an AMD which mainboard would I be best to go for? Also am I right saying I need DDR memory? And will my existing PSU be ok?

My list so far is

AMD XP1500 CPU
Asus or Jetway Mainboard (not sure which one model I need)
512DDR 2100 memory

Cheers

John

I've just put together a new system.

I ended up with an Epox 8KHA+ as it gets good reviews. I bought 512MB of Crucial DDR memory online as it was cheap with quick delivery, its now gone up nearly £20 (just in time for XMAS) a stick. XP1600 processir and Akasa Silver Mountain heatsink and fan - loud! All powered from an Enermax 431W PSU. Graphics card is a Geforce3 by Elsa.

Couple of places to look:
[url=http://www.crucial.com/uk/{/url]
[url]http://www.scan.co.uk]http://www.crucial.com/uk/{/url]
http://www.scan.co.uk
http://www.tekheads.co.uk
http://www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.amdworld.co.uk/
http://www.amdmb.com/vb/index.php

Some of the sites above have forums, which make for good reading too.

Right......

Some of the contenders for Motherboard, all DDR-Based:

Abit KG7 Series. Very highly acclaimed boards, running hybris AMD/VIA mixed chipset. Very reliable, strong performer. Superceded a tad performance-wise by the KT266A-based Motherboards now available.

Epox 8HA+. VIA 266-based chipset. Good performer and can overclock like a champ, which normally points to superstability running stock. Have built one of these recently for a aolleague. Very impressed with it, bar the old ' no matter what way around I set the bios and swap the cards, I can't get the irq's quite how they should be' :rolleyes:

Msi K7T266 Pro2-RU. Basically a good 266a-based performer, relatively standard performance, but has a promise IDE RAID controller on it and integrated USB 2.0 support.

Asus A7V266-E. Running out of time, so cant give any info......


Yes you will need DDR RAM for any of the above boards, unfortunatly you ar a few weeks too late, as the price on DDR RAM has gone right up!:(

Crucial CAS2.5 DDR 256MB stick ar the way to go. Again, overclock like a champ, so very stable in normal use. Also RUN CAS2 absolutely perfectly. Proven in many reviews and used in that config by me.


Chances are that your PSU will not be upto the job. You need a 300Watt PSU that can actually do that, not some el-cheapo attempt at one. A macron 300 Watt will do fine. SCAN have the 350ishWatt PSU in and out of their special offer section. Great PSU, but expensive.


Sorry, others have probably answered all of this, as I have had this open for an hour, due to my dual Athlon kit turning up!:D:D


Cheers,



Nick:)

Forgot my preferred current weapon of choice, the Abit KR7A series, again, a very good/poss best of bunch 266a-based board.

Cheers for the info..

Been looking on dabs.com for the bits, just trying to decide if I wanna get the bits to upgrade my system or just bite the bullet and get a complete new setup.

Been looking at Mesh they seem to be reasonable, buy the time I get all the bits I need (my 17" monitors on its last legs aswell) it only come to around £100 cheaper than the cost of a new system :(

Just put an XP1600 and ABit KG7 Raid together.
Parts from www.overclockers.co.uk

512MB DDR memory direct from crucial www.crucial.com

Running like a dream :)

ASUS ASUS ASUS!

I love my Asus..

Asus A7V266-E

just plugged in my upgraded system and here i am back online :D

amd 1700+ :D :D :D ...£122
abit kg7 ddr motherboard....... £85
256mb ddr ram....gone up loads in past 3-4 weeks !! ....£50

and you'll need a 300w psu.....£10 !

all are ex vat prices.

oh and i got a 60gig ide 7200 drive for £100.

:D :D :D

Abit KG7 (not raid).
Athlon XP1600+ running at 1.4Ghz (133Mhz system bus).
512Mb DDR ram running at 266Mhz.
Asus Geforce 3 TI200 (4x agp).
60Gb IBM hard drive (ata100).

Seriously quick (75fps in UT, can't remember resolution).

I have :

Abit KG7-RAID
XP1900
GeForce3 Ti500
SB Audigy
1Gb DDR RAM
2 ATA100 in RAID-0

and unsurprisingly it flies. Fastest machine on I-Chat ;)

Abit motherboard got some wicked reviews. If I had to buy now I'd go for their KT7A-RAID (might have got that wrong) and ATA133 disks.

Since the drive speed interface has moved to ATA133, i'm not quite sure what the fastest type is now, but when I upgraded my system about 3 months back it was the ATA100 IBM Deskstar 7200rpm 2Mb on board cache. This hard drive is as fast as _____. I couldn't believe the speed!!!!! :)

I am running an ABIT mobo with a XP1800, no probs.

Last time I looked only maxtor had an ATA133 drive. The drive you talk about - I'm assuming a 60GXP - I have 2 of them striped together using the highpoint raid chipset. Blows away standard SCSI transfer rates.

faff all difference between an 1800 and 1900 imho.

In realtime stuff I wouldnt of expected any increases really, as the CPU clock difference is that small..........wasn't really worth the extra mulla at the time.

So what do you think of the IBM drives then??!! I couldnt believe how fast they throw data around. I've never been on a PC that is as fast as mine. I'm glad I chose the bits I bought. :)

My IBM ATA100 45 GB, 7200 rpm 2mB cache 75GXP has recently died. (9 months old)

Casting around for a replacement at the moment. A bit reticent to have another IBM but it was certainly quick.

Some of the Western digitals are getting good reviews so I may go that way.

Deano

IBM = best drives u can buy!!!

http://www.storagereview.com
The place to look for the facts about HDD's.
KF.
EDIT: Fluffed syntax

[Edited by KF - 12/24/2001 8:34:33 AM]

The 75GXP 45Gb'ers had a production problem iirc. Whining or bearing failure..can't remember. Didn't seem to affect the other size drives..

I wouldn't say IBM are the best - I just happen to use em cos thats what we bung in our servers - altho the scsi disks have a 5 year warranty :D

its all bullsh1te anyway..boyz n their toyz :-)

As no-one seems to have mentioned it, the Gigabyte boards are excellent and the new 7DXR+ is looking mighty fine. I've got the GA-7DXR with an XP1700 and it's a top combination.

The board is just crying out to be overclocked!!!!!!!!!! and has loads of built in features like on-board IDE raid (ATA133), USB 2, 3 DDR slots, ATA 33/66/100 support etc. etc. etc.

For £120 you should be able to pick up the XP1700 (which is a 1.4Ghz CPU (but slightly faster than a 2Ghz Intel))

Matt :)

P.S. http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/products/7dxr+.htm

since getting my pc back i have had nothing but problems with it... as many of the guys on here will know from my CS experiences since Xmas Eve.

i wish i had never seen an amd processor.

my pc continually hangs and games just dont work without crashes.

no one seems to know why ?

i've read so many forums and problems all relating to AMD / VIA chipset and SB cards. also lot of discussion around Nvidia graphics cards.

i've removed the SB card and still hanging so thats not the issue.

i've tried various graphics drivers, SB drivers, m/b updates etc etc and still even now this morning with the pc in work another techy techy guy is wondering wot is the issue !

i have left him to it cos mr sledgehammer is soon to be visiting my pc.

i wish anyone well if they choose AMD. i am looking to get rid of this kit and buy a P4 1.5ghz instead :D

:D

£5 for the amd Steve :D;)

I'll go to a tenner for CPU,Mem & M/B :)

Ohhh Deano is uping the stakes...

£10 and a penny :D

cant believe i failed to spot that corner :(

shows how upsetting my pc problem has been for me :rolleyes:

keep going guys............

i need lots of money to replace the cheap amd stuff with xpensive Intel :eek: :eek:

£11 ?

Thermal issues Steve?

Alternatively, it could just be that CS is crap - I bet UT doesn't crash at all. ;)

maybe chris, its a bit cold down here so i brought my jacket with me to work ?

Now there's an idea - try setting up the PC in your Garden.

If it still crashes, leave it there overnight and it'll be gone by the morning. Then claim on your insurance for some decent Intel kit ;)

Ok, £11 and a penny ;)

Nice idea.

Where do you live Steve? And is your garden easily accessible? ;)