Upgrade question Please!

Ive got my current system in sig, and I have around $300 to blow. I would like to purchase the IC7 and some PC3500 ram. After reading a few post on this forum it looks like my 1.6a should run with this board. Or should I buy a Radeon 9800np for $250?

Which upgrade should I do, I still have the stupid cold boot problem with my Abit Th7II at 2.4 but at 2.24 it disappears.

I run Enemy Territory, Photoshop, Corel, and Dreamweaver/Flash

Thats about all I do with my computer should I just save my money? You know how it goes I'm getting bored and have a little money but the question is now a good time to upgrade?

I'm a little new to real DDR settings so with a multiplier of 16 how high could this little 1.6a go?

Better keep your money and wait for the prescott with new socket 775 in april which will make every thing before obsolete , even the socket 478 prescott due in november .
i HAD A 1,6A running @2,4 on a th7 II like you and i upgraded the proc for a 2,4 b which run @2,8 but I can't notice any difference in every day use !

Thanks for the advice, and I will wait for next spring to do any upgrading. Maybe its time to water cool my pc.

I forgot to tell you that the last official bios th7 du solve DEFINITIVELY the problem of cold boot i had with the 43a . I waited a long time to flash it as it only go to 1,725v (about 1,65v real )and i needed 1,85v to run my P4 2,4B @3ghz but i got tired of having to boot 2 or 3 times and now it works perfectly , i can only run the P2,4 @2,8 but i can't notice the difference except on benches .

P4 2,4B@2816@1,62v+ Alpha 8942+Delta FFB0812SHE
ABIT TH7 II Bios DU + LEADTECK GF 4200 TI VIVO + 2x256 Samsung RDRAM PC800 @156x3
1HDD WD 1200JB 120 GB+1 IBM GXP 120 GB 8Mo cache
PIONEER dvd 116 +LITEON CDRW 16x10x40
1 Pinnacle PCTV
Lian Li PC 69 case with 2 80mm intake fans+ 1 80mm exhaust + 1 slot fan +Enermax 365 PSU with 2 exhaust fans ,
cpu fan and case fans controlled by homemade diobus.
cpu temp 45°C idle 56°C full load (p95 ) MB temp 32°C idle 36°C load ,case temp 25°C at 20°C room temp.
Triple boot W98 SE, Win 2000 pro ,Win XP pro

Can you run the 2.4B at 3.06Ghz on the TH7II, because I have another system that has the 2.4B, and I have a TH7 II that I am writing with right now, and it has the 1.6a at 2.53Ghz. I think it would be possible to run it at 170fsb but only in 3x on the memory.

Or for that 2.4B that you have, is it a BO stepping or a C1 stepping?

its a c1 and i could run it at 3,06 but with 1,85v and it was not completly stable ,could do all sandra benches but would fail on P95 in 10 mn ;
I really think its not the good time to upgrade for a IC7 and a P4C
as the gain in perf is not very big and the socket 478 will be replaced by socket 775 with the new prescot in april ,that will be a worthy upgrade .

Well, this is a tricky question. Looks like your current system is not too bad, IF you could get rid of the cold boot problem. Definitely try a BIOS update. If that still don't solve it, then you could wire wrap the VID pins to 1.7v (can always use a lower voltage in the BIOS if you want). That will cause the boot up to use a higher vcore. Low boot voltage is usually why the cold boot problem occurs in the first place. Those TH7-II mobos are known to undervolt a lot.

I've had two TH7-II and neither would run much above 150 FSB. I've seen a few people that were able to go higher, but seems like most other folks got stopped at 150 to 157 FSB max. I don't think those old RAMBUS systems liked super high FSB.