Need fast answers, please.

[Michael_Myers]

Howdy. Ok, I am going to list some questions here. If you know the answer to some please feel free to jump in. I need to order parts tomorrow. thanks.

1) Best place to mail order the Abit KT7A Raid board?

2) Does the motherboard come with a factory ready BIOS/CMOS?
(bitch slap the newbie later/ I NEED to know)

3) Will "regular" ram work in that board?. I have 128mb. I know there are two kinds. Dimm/Simm.
One is very old standard. One is newer standard. I don't know which is which, but I KNOW mine is the newer standard. (yes I am sure) It's PC-100 I guess??
(2 64mb sticks)

4) Where is the best place to mail order the T-bird 750 chip?

5) (very important question) I have a Gateway 2000 P2- 300 mhz machine right now. It has a true "tower" where all the parts go. Stands about 2 1/2 ft' tall, about same length/ front to back. Can the new mobo fit in that tower? If it CAN fit, WILL IT fit properly? Are there towers made JUST FOR that board? If yes, where to get them, and choices please.

6) I am going to call about my power supply tomorrow and find out what it is. (i don't know the wattage) from gateway. Could I use it on the KTA board? If yes, what is the minimum power you would go with?

7) I asked this on another post but never got an answer I understood. (sorry) Can I take my existing Hard Drives out, and "plug them in" to the new KTA board? They are the 5200 (or is it 5400?) Rpm kind.
(i will upgrade but it will be christmas =7200 160Mb data transfer)


What I mean on #7 is this: On some boards I believe you have to order or put in "hard disk controllers". I don't know what it is, but I assume it handles your HD, your CDrom/DVD and your floppy drive. Does the KTa board come equiped with THAT "handler" or do I need to order that?
on question 7 if the answer is "yes", do I have to format the Hd's again, and install the operating system all over for everything to "recognize" everything properly, or will it just plug in and work, "just like that?"


Ok, thats enough for now. Thanks.
PS....win98 OS. Not SE. Please help..........

[Ridenow]

1. http://www.pricewatch.com

2. Yes, it is part of the motherboard. Mine came with WW version. SLAP!

3. For this board you want PC-133 DIMMs. PC-100 DIMMS should work, but will not give the performance that the faster PC-133 will. Also Abit boards have a reputation for being picky about memory. I have not had any trouble, but others have.

4. same as 1. Also check them out before you order on http://www.resellerratings.com

5. There are basically only 2 types of towers, AT which is the really old style and ATX. It has more to do with the connectors on the power supply than anything else. With a P2 in it I bet it is an ATX case and probably will work with the KT7. The KT7A-RAID is a slightly large board and needs a large case.

6. 250watt minimum, 300watt or bigger is better. It is usually written on the power supply what the wattage is. With prebuilt systems like your Gateway I would guess it is around 200Watts. Yes it would work, but not recommended.

7. They would be 5400. Yes, they will work, but I recommend a format and reinstall of the operating system. With a new computer you would need all new drivers. If you try to run with the old computer's drivers you can get it to work, but you will get lots of error messages while you try. It is usually not worth it and better to wipe and reload.

[Ridenow]

I missed the last part, I was trying to type quickly as requested. The KT7A-RAID acually has 4 IDE hard drive *controllers* built in. Now it is rare to find a board that does not have 2, the last one I saw was running a 386 chip. If you get this board you will probably have questions about the Via drivers. Read the manual, it is pretty good at answering questions. And if it does not answer your questions, you know where to ask.

[Slake]

Hay Jack! Welcome. Ridenow gave some excellent answers. Those links he posted will lead you to a good deal. Check out the CPU database and see which boards work best for your chip. One thing you really really really should do is read the beginners guides available on the overclockers.com home page. After reading them (they are fun to read, not tedious) you will know a whole lot of the basics and be able to begin to understand some of the terminology you will see in the forums. The number one thing to remember in overclocking is Heat is the enemy so read all you can find about cooling the case and CPU. You are embarking on an adventure that will likely become an obsession. So take it slow, the thrill and pride of a successful overclock is wonderful. Conversely, frying components
by rushing and taking shortcuts is agonizing.
Good luck!

[Ridenow]

What CPU cooling are you planning on using? If you have not decided then tell us what goals you have for overclocking, then we can suggest something.

[ken257]

This place is the greatest where else can you get good answers like these with people taking the time to help the "new guy"

When you are looking on pricewatch take note of the shipping charges. The cheapest place isn't always the best deal. Also try to find a dealer that has both the cpu and mobo to save on shipping.

Do yourself a favor if you can afford it get some good PC133 memory for the system. The stuff from Crucial is very good and reasonable to.

Oh yea 1 more thing give yourself an additional SLAP for me....make it a good thrashing! :)

[n2]

i think all your Q's got answered, if not, post back...
my thoughts on the ordering, check egghead.com
i just got my iWill from them, AWESOME company!!

next, consider the iWill boards, due to the price and reviews it gets.
i was set on a ASUS then i went this route, glad i did.

PC100 will work, at least get another 64mb stick to give ya 128mb PC100
its hella cheap! PC133 is better tho, and not much money. 128 for like $70 at compusa if ya need it quick.

you want 300 but 250 watts will suffice a bare minimum system to get ya started. i get mid-tower cases w/300wt for 42.00 local dealer.

read the guides and study hard before you overclock!!!! please! it's the best investment you can make right now!

the hard drive is fine, do start fresh tho. reinstall windoze clean.

make sure to post back or e-mail me n2iq2@yahoo.com if you have unanswered questions... we're all glad to help

[n2]

oh, and pretty much every board nowadays has IDE controllers built in, so don't worry about adding a controller, it's like obsoleted.

a DVD, CDRW, CDrom, Floppy, HDD, MoBo, CPU cooler, Case fan, RAM
dude, thats way too much to try using an OEM Mfr Pwr supply.
i think i'm accurate in saying so, slap me if i'm wrong. these socket A chips need power. also, i hope the power supply is ATX type!!!!! not AT or some strange crossbreed system specific deal.

i think perhaps you should take this a bit slower, and get a few things to square away the stuff to support your good mobo.

case w/pwr, cooler, memory.<$120 maybe>.. those are important things that should be as good as your board and chip!
you could save cash buying a Duron700=$40 and utilize those savings to increase the things which will, in the end, hamper your performance.

you can get 30gig Maxtor HDD ATA100 7200 at compUSA for like $100
and you should get Win98SE in my opinion, but i dunno, i have and like WinMe...

any Q's?

[stool]

An easy way to tell if you have an AT or ATX board is to count the slots on the rear. Usually an AT will have 8 slots for cards, whereas an ATX will have only 7.