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Need some compatibility advice!

D

DarkLich

n00b
Joined
Feb 4, 2004
Messages
2
Hey fellas, I'm a first time poster... needed some advice, and a friend pointed me here and said the kind folks would assist.

Anyways, to the scenario. I've got 550 dollars to spend on a new computer, and I'm stripping all the external parts from my current (monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.) as well as the hard drive. In all simplicity, all I need is a new Motherboard, Tower, Processer, Fan, RAM, and video card.

So, my first idea was to get the following...:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...s.asp?EdpNo=623825&Sku=S450-4100 R&CatId=1218

The Mobo details for those who don't feel like clicking:

Soyo SY-KT600 DRAGON PLUS
The magnificent SY-KT600 DRAGON Ultra Socket A Motherboard is an impressive board that boasts a high level of flexibility, offering AMD Athlon and Duron microprocessor support.

- Via KT600 Chipset
- Supports AMD Athlon XP processors up to 3200+
- 400MHz Front Side Bus
- 3 DIMM Sockets/Supports 3GB
of PC3200 DDR 400 Memory
-IDE and SATA Controllers

As for the processor, I haven't really chosen one yet. But a friend suggested that I get an Athlon 2400+ and overclock it. However, someone else says that an Athlon won't be compatable with the mobo. So, I'm in a rut.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=520706
For RAM... pretty expensive for 256, but a friend says it's good. Now, my question for this, is... is it better to have a powerful 256, or a high amount of mediocre ram?

For video card, I'll probably get a Radeon 9600 Pro. Unless I'm suggested to get something else, of course.

So, my questions are:
Will an Athlon 2400+ work with that Motherboard, or am I better off getting something else?
Is it better to have a lower amount of high performance RAM, or strictly more RAM?
Is there a better videocard I should get?

Any help would be greatly appreciated... and if someone can point me to the describes parts that are compatable and total up to under 550, I'd be very very thankful.

Regards,
DarkLich
 
I don't know what one of your friends is smoking, but the Athlon XP 2400+ works with that motherboard.

I personally would not get a Soyo motherboard, for AMD I'd tend to stay with Asus or Abit mobos, but $130 for the mobo and case isn't bad I guess.

However, instead of a 2400+, I'd go for a Barton 2500+ ($90 at Newegg). It has a 333 Mhz FSB and 512K L2 cache.

For the RAM, I don't think I'd trust that RAM, one because I only heard of it recently, and two because I've never heard any experiences or used it myself. You'd do best to stay in the Corsair, Mushkin, Kingston circle (there are other brands, but I'm not familiar with, say, Geil and Buffalo). If you're not overclocking, I'd say get Crucial.

Anyways, in terms of how much RAM, it's better to have more RAM than to just have less of performance RAM. More RAM makes the system perform better since you can have more programs open and such. I'd say go for 512 MB of RAM, especially if you're a gamer.

Processor - Barton 2500+ Athlon XP
Case/Mobo/PSU - you can keep that if you want, it'd be more expensive buying the stuff separately, but I don't know about the PSU
Vid Card - 9600 Pro is good, depending on budget, you might be able to squeeze a 9700 in there
RAM - try to get 512 of RAM, maybe Mushkin Special 2-2-2 PC3200.

Try looking at Newegg too to buy the RAM and proc.

I think all in all, the cost of these parts (if you kept the soyo) would be around $500.
 
welcome to the forum :)
i'm not quite sure what your friend is thinking - the athlon 2400+ will work perfectly in that board. It's remotely possible he's getting confused with the Athlon 64, but that's unlikely (the slowest one is a 3000+ -- and they use a Socket 754 instead of the regular athlon's socket 462 (aka socket A)).

If i had 550 bucks i'd probably get ...
Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB (150)
DFI nForce2 Ultra 400 Infinity motherboard (90)
AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton Core - OEM (85)
Mushkin 512MB PC3200 Memory (80)
socket A heatsink (30)
New Case and Power supply - whatever. i'd spend maybe 70.
shipping/taxes - the rest
prices from www.newegg.com -imo much better than tigerdirect
 
Can you send me an order of what your friend is smoking? I have paypal... :p
 
Thanks a lot for the help, guys!

As for the guy who said it was incompatable, I didn't know him. And this is exactly why I was eager to get a second opinion... which I got.

Again, much thanks, and I hope it works.
 
I'll second the advice to stay away from tigerdirect, I've heard nothing but bad things from them and when my girlfriends brother (I'm taking him under my wing in 1337ness training :p)ordered from them he got screwed with RAM twice never sending him the right things.

Just go with NewEgg if you live in the states, so much better and they have the full support of the [H]

Peace
 
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