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Help selecting a MB/CPU/MEM

N

Nightmare

n00b
Joined
Apr 1, 2001
Messages
43
It is time for me to upgrade my old system. I am in the market for a new MB/CPU/MEM combo that I am able to OC but won't cost me an arm and a leg. I am on a tight budget so I am going to have to be somewhat selective.

I have been out of the loop for several months (years) now and I have no idea what is going on as far as CPU/MB/MEM combos are good or bad.

This is what I know as of now.

nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing


AMD or Intell?
333 or 400 FSB?
Mobil technology or Desktop technology? (I heard that the AMD mobil processor were easier to OC because they require less voltage)
Raid or Non raid?
Corsair or Crucial?

Would like to keep it under 400 for the combo.

Any help appreciated

Thanks
 
P4 is still the speed king, unless you want to go to AMD64 (not within your budget). AMD is still the price/performance champ.
Go for the Athlon XP mobile Barton ($75-$95). Opinions differ on whether the 2400+ or the 2500+ is the better. It is low heat output, but more important it is multiplier unlocked. AMD has locked the multipliers on the other AthlonXPs, but can't on the mobile chip because of the power management requirement.
For a motherboard, I like the Abit NF7-S (< $100). Opinions differ here as well, but most people recommend the Nvidia Nforce2 chipset boards for AMD. Choose your own favorite manufacturer.
For memory, the best value is Corsair Value Select or Kingston Value RAM (512MB PC3200, <$100). You can get top quality 400 MHz RAM at a decent price, but you won't get the ultra low latencies of their performance lines.
 
He says less than $400 if possible, and for that an AMD is much recommended.

CPU - AMD Athlon XP Mobile 2400+ - $80
Mobo - Abit NF7 - $80
Memory - I'd go with either Mushkin, Corsair, or Kingston HyperX if you want some OCing and better timings. Crucial is good for stability, but the timings aren't exactly mind blowing.

As for RAID capabilities, that's more of what you actually do with your comp. If you want onboard SATA RAID, get the NF7-S Abit motherboard, which costs $100.

You'll still have plently for RAM.
 
I read elsewhere that the Mobil 2500 were locked as were the 2600. Only the 2400 were unlocked. Is this true?
 
All mobile bartons are unlocked for power management.

Note: prices in my post above are Monarch Computer for CPU, ZipZoomFly for mobo & Mem. Prices include shipping. You should also add a good HSF (Zalman CNPS 7000A/AlCu for quiet, SP-97 w/ panaflo fan for performance).
 
Thanks but if I had another 150 to spend then I would have said 550 not 400.

But thanks anyways...
 
I'd definitely get a Mobile Barton, an NF7-S or DFI NFII Infinity (watch out for this one, poor RAID performance... but it seems it can be fixed with driver/firmware/bios updates), and 2x512 of some high quality RAM. Just make sure it's decent timing PC3200.

Bump the multiplier up, and keep the FSB at 200MHz. I've seen some go up to 2.7GHz on air ... of course that's an extreme, but I bet you 2.4-2.5GHz isn't rare.
 
2400+ mobile, NFII Infinity, and whatever RAM, I dont know what to recommend :D
 
Another question on memory.

Should I get

2-3-3-1T @ 200 / 2-2-2-1T @ 166

3-3-3-8 @ 200

CAS 2.5

Which is the memory to go with?
 
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