Motherboard Upgrade

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my PC's Mobo and CPU (and RAM, HDD eventually).
I've got a new 9600xt GPU although it is broke at the mo. Waiting for an RMA number from seller.

Currently I've got an Athlon 2200xp and a Gigabyte GA7VKML Mobo.
I want this upgrade to be my last before I move into the whole Athlon 64 stuff.
So I'd like this PC to keep me going for maybe 2 years.

I was looking at the following on www.komplett.ie
-Abit NF7 V2.0 Mainboard Socket A DDR
-Asus A7N8X Deluxe/GD mainboard Rev 2.0

I've seen from the forums that these are pretty much recommend.

I'm interested in having a PC geared pretty much purely for gaming.
I'd also like to get an Athlon 2800xp or even a 3000xp cpu.
When you buy a new mobo and CPU do you need to get new fan or heatsink or !?

Also, I'm currently using Win 98. Is it recommend that I upgrade to XP ?
I'm not really looking for a PC that can be OC'd as at the moment I'm not too knowledgeable in that area.

All help would be much appreciated.

Regards.

98 is awful.
If you have any somewhat modern OS run 2K/XP, its a world of difference....

AS for buying a New CPU and needing a new heatsink... It really depends on what your old heatsink is, and if its up for the task of cooling a newer hotter CPU.
If you not planing on overclocking, buy a BOXED CPU and it comes with an OK heatsink. So really, you only need a new sink if you plan to overclock.

As for the motherboard to buy. Personally, i would go for the Abit board. I hvae the NF7-S, and it works great

definetly go with abit on this one. Althoug a long time asus fan and supporter i finally broke my pattern and got a abit nf7-s v2.0.
Best move i made. Abit is phenominal when it comes to featues on this board. Especially when you had an asus. You can literally adjust almost everything. I would definetly choose abit on this hands down.. and purchase your self a new copy of xp..
oh yeah if you have a pair of ram you'll be rocking dual channel in no time.. not a huge difference but STILL !! Crank your fsb up to 400 and bam your talking speed over your old system that you wont believe.. best 90 dollar investment right now for a mobo..

thanks for the help

Thanks.

I've decided (for now anyway) to get ...
ABit NF7-S, 2x512MB PC3200 RAM + Win XP.

Maybe later in the year I'll get a new Athlon CPU.

I've not got any experience of OC'ing. Would there be any easy OC'ing I could do with that new setup ?

Thanks for your help.

thge board makinf overclocking very easy.
Just dont expect too much with an OEM heatsink.
as for CPU's to buy to overclock, 1700+ B's , 2100+ b's and Barton 2500+'s seem to be the chips to buy

2500+'s are mostly locked now.......... but uppering the frontsidebus is still good for a limited OC. Unless you can find an older unlocked barton.

Why they being locked?........main story behind it, it seems, is companys buying the CPU's, OC'ing them and selling them on as higher rated CPU's. There's more to it, but it seems like the main reason most people are talking about.

My opinion is based on what i've read here at the forums, so don't take it as 100% fact.

mobile 2500 is unlocked, abit n2 v.2 an7 is agreat board but be carefull with xp because it records five parts of your system and if u change them like i have .you have to register your copy of xp again and again which realy sucks if u ask me .