Suggestions on how to blow $500

[batboy]

Well, I've received a windfall of $1,000, but half goes for paying off bills and into savings. So, I still have a tidy little sum for my next round of upgrades.

I'm wide open for suggests, but here is my current wish list: 64 meg video card, a pair of fast harddrives, better RAM, and a new motherboard.

Ok, let's see...Hecules Prophet II Pro for about $250, two IBM 7,200 rpm ata100 45 gig drives for about $300, two sticks of 128 meg Mushkin PC-133 rev 3 memory for $200, and an Abit SA6R mobo for about $150 or so. YIKES! That's around $900... **faint**...

Hmmm, let's hold off on the video card, prices will be dropping even more very soon with the GF3 out now anyway. I guess, subtract one of the harddrives off for now and budget for another one next month, so I can have my RAID striped setup I've been dreaming of.

Comments? Suggestions? I kind of was leaning toward a VP6 and dual procs, but never really could justify it for my purposes, which includes a fair amount of gaming and not much multitasking. Help me spend my hard earned bucks!

[Carmine_Paterno]

This is what i would do....I would get the Hercules Prophet vid card, the two sticks of ram, but get pc150 and get a peltier element for that chip. Your heatsink might be able to hold the pelt until next month. LoL Hope i helped. I dunno what hard earned money is since i am only 15, wish i had 500 dollars to spend, i know exactly what i would get....

Tbird 1.2ghz and kt7a-raid, i have the rest!!!

[batboy]

Carmine, you got me thinking about different RAM options when you mentioned PC-150 memory. I notice that the only reasonably priced PC-150 in 256 meg sticks is Kingmax Tiny BGA. I'm starting to hear more about them. Are they worth buying? I like the fact they are lower profile, that might help air flow around my clock generator area. I also like the fact of using one 256 stick instead of two 128 modules. Much cheaper too.

Carmine, I have a MX vid card that is overclocked, tweaked, with cooling mods, and using updated drivers. It's running pretty good right now, so I can wait another month or two to get a new one. Prices should really start dropping soon on the GeForce II stuff.

If I save $60 and get the Kingmax RAM and sell some old components (a couple buddies have already expressed interest in some of it) I'll be able to get a pair of harddrive after all. If I run over budget a little... eh... who cares...

[Jon]

Crucial has CAS 2 256MB of PC133 (very good memory) for $94.99 shipping included at the moment.

Might want to consider a Radeon 64MB VIVO or Radeon 2, whenever it makes it out, in the future for a video card. I'm a GeForce fan too but it doesn't compare to the visual quality, in my opinion. Cheaper than the GTS line as well.

[Carmine_Paterno]

I would definetly say get a Radeon64 vivo, or wait for the radeon II to come out, i think getting 256mb of the kingmax ram is definetly worth it when you are o/c like you are, faster ram=better o/c not to mention more stability. Lets say your 133ram doesn't goto 166fsb, but the 150 will, and if your chip will, (looks that way) then you will be VERY VERY VERY HAPPY!!! I don't really like geforce's but i would suggest staying with geforce2mx for now, first get your ABIT SA6R(i just read your other post) and get your memory @ CAS 2!!!! Cas 2 is much better performance, isn't that what you want???

NOW i would get a stick of CAS 2 256mb kingmax pc150, and the ABIT SA6R. Then get a peltier for your chip. Take that baby higher!!! I am getting a Peltier soon for my Celeron II 700 @ 966 (2.2v stable games and everthing) and trying to take it to 1 gig +.

I still want my 1.2GHZ THUNDERBIRD and my kt7a-raid!!!

O yea and about the ram, i have my ram @ CAS 2 (133mhz) and it is PC133 (128mb) CAS3 soo...it is basically your call.

HOPE I HELPED!!!

[batboy]

Crucial or Mushkin or Kingmax...oh my!

Course of action: 1) Buy SA6R mobo from Sunshine Star. 2) Decide which RAM that I want and buy it. 3) Shop for a good deal on a pair of 45 gig IBM drives. 4) Sell my old components to pay for a new video card.

Sorry Carmine, no pelt for now. Maybe this summer... :)

[Carmine_Paterno]

yea, i am a little nervous about getting one, it s kind of cheating the overclocking game. I don't want to get water all over my pc so, maybe i'll go water block. BUT THAT DEfEATS THE PURPOSE. WATER!!!

[stereo55]

Go for the Crucial , www.crucial.com/webpromo for 15% off ! (my PC133 cas2 is at 155 FSB with NO problems (on a 6BA+IV w/ PIII700 Cco/ air cooled ) .

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Well, Mushkin garantees the performance of their memory, and believe it or not, but the rev2 pc133 will mostly do 150+mhz,@ cas2...mine does.
There are sites selling Mushkin rev2 for around $75.00 U.S.
You seem to have the setup, I would get a Gf2..like the proffit II, I hear the mx is almost as fast as the ultra.
I couldn't make a mobo recomendation, as the industry is in a state of flux, ..for the PIII I think you already have the chipset of choice.
I have a couple of questions for you....1, What bios ver are u using? and 2, does the SE6 have the 815, or the 815E chipset?
The reason I ask, is some people with the SE6 cannot get past 137mhz fsb, and maybe you can help them :-)

[marty]

Here is a Sandra shot for the SE6.

I agree that it is a bit hard to get the my SE6 above 137. I am very stable at 133 FSB and can do 137 but 140 is a bit hard unless I remove one of my two memory sticks.

I can't do higher than 140.

Batboy has the magic touch.

[batboy]

Doc, the SE6 board has the i815e chipset. I found out through trial and error, plus now through reading articles, that the ol' Abit SE6 can have a few instability problems above 137 mhz fsb speeds. But there are ways to deal with it.

I already had the most recent BIOS update, the VK BIOS, that's real important. The three things that helped stability the most on my SE6 when I installed my P-3 were: 1) cooling mods (40mm fan on northbridge, sink on southbridge, sink on ICS), 2) downloading the latest SE6 utility INF installer and drivers from the Abit website, and 3) using CAS 3 setting on my memory at speeds above 133 fsb.

My SE6 is now stable at 153 fsb, which is max for this board. It's been a dependable board and it worked wonderfully with my C-566, but it's starting to show it's age with the P-III CPU. The Abit SA6R that I want is basically the new and improved version of the ol' SE6. Abit fixed all the known stability problems, upgraded from Soft Menu II to III (fsb settings up to 250 in 1 MHz increments), and added a High Point RAID controller (can you say up to 8 IDE devices and fast?).

Marty, wish I'd hear that "the magic touch" line from a nice lady...sigh!

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

I understand that there is a ddr mobo out there for a 370 PIII, but that one, and the ram will be costly, and I'm not sure just how much the PIII can take advantage of ddr bandwidth...but maybe a little reading is in order?

[batboy]

Well, I've read a couple reviews about the new VIA Apollo Pro 266 chipset that uses DDR RAM for the P-III. Not really all that promising so far. Here is what an article at Tom's Hardware had to say about the setup:

"...Pentium III ain't gonna gain nothin' from it...If you are the owner of a Pentium III system with a BX, Apollo Pro 133 or i815 platform then let me assure you that VIA's Apollo Pro 266 is nothing that should make you get your knickers in a twist. Keep your actual system or upgrade to an Athlon."

[batboy]

News Flash: This weekend I discovered my ride needed a pair of new front tires, so... my computer budget got reduced. Drats!

After careful thought, I'm just buying the Abit SA6R mobo and a 256 meg stick of that PC-150 Kingmax TinyBGA, for now. Then, I have to clean house and sell off all my old components in order to get a pair of IBM 45 gig 7,200 rpm drives. Guess, the vid card will have to wait a month. Might be cheaper then.