Do or Don't Do?

Ok I have a Dell desktop PC and after doing research and learning and reading great forums like this one I want to upgrade my comp with a new mobo so i can overclock my processor which is a Intel P3 800EB but i was wondering if I should spend a hundred or so extra bucks and buy a cpu/mobo combo with a faster P3 processor that i could overclock... but i also want to be able to use the hardware thats in this comp on the new mobo with maybe a upgrade from a ATA/66 to a ATA/100 HD and better vid card later on.... please give me your thoughts on what i should do... thanks in advance

I figured it would be more helpful if i posted my current comps specs
Dell
Intel 800EB P3
Qantaum Fireball 30Gb HD 7,200rpm
1st stick of 128Mb PC-700 Rambus
2nd stick of 128Mb PC-800 Rambus
Nvidia TNT2 M64 AGP 4x 32Mb
SoundBlaster Live Value!
133mhz FrontSideBus
With a Intel 820 chipset

Heres a link to my current mobo

http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/lp/index.htm

heres a mobo i found that might work with these components

http://www.asus.com/products/Motherboard/Pentiumpro/Cuc2/index.html

But I'm wanting to upgrade to a 1.13Ghz P3 if i could find a good cpu/mobo combo

The whole purpose in this is to O/C my comp and with Dell Computers you can't

Wow...I wasn't aware that anyone was still selling i820 chipset motherboards!
Most companies took theirs off the market long ago when the less problematic VIA Apollo and Intel 815 chipsets took over the 133FSB market. I've heard of some people never having problems with their i820 boards, and others literally smash them. I'd say dump your RAMBUS and get yourself an i815EP B-Step motherboard like the TUSL2 or even a DDR board like the TUA266 (both also Asus boards), but I'd avoid 820 motherboards like the plague. There is also no indication that any 820 motherboard would like a Tualatin PIII like the 1.13 GHz parts; just another good reason to stay away from them.

Don't worry about dumping the RAMBUS. It makes the PIII no faster than one with SDR or DDR, and in most cases, much slower.

hehe I just bought that second stick of PC-800 rambus about 2 weeks ago I haven't had any problems out of my mobo (knocks on wood) and Ive had this comp about a year now... its runs good for me but I want o/c it and I would hate losing money for selling the ram i just bought... Also I read someplace reviewing rambus and from what the site said that it could surpass DDR ram but the mobos and such out can't take advantage of what Rambus can really do.... as for that being a fact I don't know.... but it was a reliable site I read that on.... tomshardware.com or something I can't remember.. So lets see now.... I have a choice of buying a mobo with a 820 chipset and the mobo screws up... or buy a mobo with that VIA chipset and having to sell my new bought ram and lose money and then turn around and buy new DDR ram..... hmm thats a toughy.... any more suggestions?

If you want to stay with a P3, you pretty much will have to dump the RDRAM; I don't even think anyone makes a single proc board that uses it anymore. Also if you decide to go P4, the PC700 RDRAM isn't supported by the i850 chipset and will run at PC600 speed. Plus you can get a 256 meg stick of cas2 PC133 SDRAM at Crucial.com that will overclock to over 155 mhz at cas2 for a little over $30. From all the posts I've seen, the Iwill BD133u or the Abit ST6 are some pretty good boards and support the P3 and Celeron tualatin procs. Hope this helps.

You're right; RAMBUS has more theoretical bandwidth than SDR or DDR, but it was the PIII's architecture that could not take advantage of RAMBUS, not the motherboard manufacturers' failure to implement it. The PIII can not possibly process as much information as RAMBUS can send to it. Having anything over SDR for a PIII is overkill.

Again, an important point (if I may reiterrate) is that the 820 will NOT work with any Tualatin-core PIIIs. Only the most recent chipsets will. If you were planning on upgrading to the newest PIIIs and Celerons, stay away from the 820!!!!

Another point : the 820 chipset was SO BAD by from most manufacturers' standpoints (over a million had to be recalled), that it's nearly impossible to find them anymore. Search pricewatch for that CUC2; not a single search result comes up. Which means supplies were either recalled or depleted quite awhile ago. Alot of Asus P3Cs, but not much else, and I'm assuming you have a socket-370 CPU?

It sounds like you may really want to keep the computer the way it is (gasp!). A new motherboard would almost certainly need new memory, which only cost more money. If it works fine for now, just save your money for a fun OC project computer sometime in the future; if you decide to do this later on, you know where to come for help

ok guys, I know i'm on the intel side, but you might think about AMD. If you're buying a mobo/cpu anyway, for about the same price, you could get an Athlon XP 1600+ or something like that. I know it'll outrun a PIII. From the looks of things, they're pretty good overclockers, cheap, and you can unlock them! Just my $0.02 worth.

Well what do you guys think about me buying this for myself for christmas? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=S450-3006

And maybe this vid card....
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=E145-1016

and i could get the rest of the stuff i need outta this comp

Can someone tell me where i could get a nice cheap cooling kit for this sucker?

please feel free to post your suggestions or thoughts thanks

2 things:

1. I'd go with a 7200 RPM HD. If you're going with a fast processor, you don't want your HD to be crippling slow.

2. I really don't like GF2 MX cards. I think you'd be much better off with either a Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 (Kyro II chipset, $77 at newegg) or a GF2 Pro, Ti, or Ultra. You can get a GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GEFORCE2 Ti450 GOLDEN SAMPLE 64MB (NO TV-OUT) DDR 4.5ns at newegg for $99. The Ti450 is probably a little more well rounded than the 3D Prophet, but they're both leaps and bounds above any GF2 MX.

Other than that, sounds like a system I'd like to have.