Which AMD Board to Buy.

Ok I know ZILCH about AMD boards. I will be buying from http://www.anitec.ca this machine is for my girlfriend. It is upgrading from a PIII 600@800 machine. The main purpose for this machine is to read email, surf the net and play UT2K3. If it was not for that last requirment we would not even bother to upgrade.

We need a MB and a CPU Recomendation. Where I am lost is matching up the right MB for the right CPU.

Ram will be 512mb ddr
Video will be a TI4200 128mb card.

get an asus a78nx deluxe and use 2 sticks of 256 ( so u can benefit from the dual channel ddr400 mode) and an xp2500 or 2600 barton i have both and both are clocked at 2300 mhz + (thats 3200xp speed btw which will eat anything intel has ever made ) stable with stock hsf and fans highest i ever hit was 51 celcius but it was almost 180 celcius in the room at the time almost always it is 35 or less, under full load it might hit 39 or 40 at worst 41 plus it has a slew of wicked features go to asus website and check out the specs they are only about 120 each less if u get it from newegg and even at stock speed without o/c it will smoke ur pentium all day long, id keep it and give her ur setup lol

I would also recommend an nForce2 m/b. There are a number of options, m/b's by ASUS, Abit or MSI would be good choices. An Athlon XP2500 (Barton) would be a good choice for the processor.

If you can find a pre-week 39 Barton 2500+ then buy it, after that multipliers are locked and will limit your OC. The XP2100 T-Bred B DUT3C is available at NewEgg for $62.00 and www.excaliberpc.com had some XP1800+ DLT3C for $65.00
Regards, Balrog

Any reason why you are buying from that site? Their prices are much higher than other vendors.

If you are willing to look else where, dig around in the newegg refurb section.

If all she is doing is word and email the NF2 board is way over kill. See if you can find some slightly older MBs for a better price.

If you stick with Abit, ASUS, and Epox you cannot go wrong. The other manufactuers are iffy in some areas.

Note that site is a Canadian site and the $$ are in CDN money. So take off about 28% and that is the USD price.

I need something around 100$ for the board and 100$ for the CPU. Then I plan on dropping 150$ on Ram.

Capt Fiero said:

Note that site is a Canadian site and the $$ are in CDN money. So take off about 28% and that is the USD price.

I need something around 100$ for the board and 100$ for the CPU. Then I plan on dropping 150$ on Ram.

Click to expand...

Oh.

That will do it.

Sorry.

What about the
Asus A7N8X -X nForce2400 $115.00
XP2100-TBred $92.95

Fast board and the Tbred will overclock like crazy. People have had great results with this combo.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with those 2. That board and the T-Bred should complenet a Ti4200 pretty well and toss in 512mb of DDR ram the computer should run UT2K3 fairly well.

Please note that this is a budget system so the parts are not the best parts, just the ones that should work for her and stay within budget.

Here is what we are looking at right now.

RAM-GEN-D333-512M-O Generic DDR333(PC2700) 512MB RAM Available $109.00

Case 90$

Liteon 52x32x52x CDRW Drive w/software OEM
$49.95

CPU-AMD-XP2100-TB-R AMD Athlon XP2100+ (1.73GHz) Thoroughbred Retail In Stock $92.95

MB-ASU-A7N8X-AL-R Asus A7N8X nForce2 AMD with Audio/ Lan In Stock $129.00

Total 470.95

I really think you should go with the Generic DDR400(PC3200) 512MB RAM instead, same price!

The Asus A7N8X -X board has a 400 bus speed. lower the multiplier and run it at the 400 bus speed for best performance.

I would recomend better ram but I realise it costs too much for a budget system.

Update

DDR400 is now the ram choice. As well as a Barton 2500 processor. I spoke to a few local AMD guys and we decided that the Barton with the larger cach and the better ram would make a large enough diff to spend the extra cash.

all a7n8x will allow for 400fsb with a bios update, any revision also.

The bartons are locked, no changing of multipliers.

just a sidenote, but i wouldnt get the A7N8X-X. THis board uses the nForce2 400 chipset, which doesnt allow for Dual Channel Operation with the RAM (This will only effect you if you are going to use two sticks, but it's a good idea to get the nForce2 400 Ultra chipset version of the A7N8X if you ever plan on getting a second stick of RAM.)

He only wants to spend $200can for board and CPU. Budget system

I got a wicked deal on ram today, so it free's up a bit of cash for the board and cpu. I manged to sell off some of the old parts from the machine as well. I have got about 260$ to spend on CPU and Motherboard before taxes.

I am looking at the Asus A7N8X nForce 2 board that has Dual Channel DDR linky http://www.anitec.ca/productitem.asp?FundID=1&pid=474


I am also looking at the Asus A7V8X-1394 MB becuase it has SATA and firewire.
linky http://www.anitec.ca/productitem.asp??FundID=1&pid=198

Both boards are in the 120-130$ range. Which is in budget.

CPU I thought I was solid on getting the Barton becuase it is supose to be faster right out of the box than the T-Bred. But is that really a bad choice becuase you cant change the multiplier. We are not planning to OC this thing very much as we are probably going to be using the stock HSF on it.


The AMD Athlon XP2500+ (1.83GHz) Barton 333FSB @ 124$ linkage http://www.anitec.ca/productitem.asp?FundID=1&pid=680 should keep up with my P4 [email protected]

The AMD Athlon XP2400+ (2.0GHz) Thoroughbred has a higher clock speed but a lower number, and is a tiny bit cheaper. But has less cach as far as I can see that is the only diff between the 2, oh and the (correct me if I am wrong) the multiper is locked on the barton but open to change on the T-Bred. Wait, I just noticed something it only has a 266mhz FSB. Thats no good?

I think I am going to lose it. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


I have people on both sides of the pond suggesting what to buy.

How bout I put this a diffrent way.

What CPU would you put on that board if you were giving it to your girlfriend. Stability comes first, overclock comes 2nd.

I would get the Barton, but first, ask if you can choose your CPU, the last time I went to Anitec, they were pretty good about it, but this was a while ago. Also, it's starting to look like only 0339 and later Barton's are the ones with the locked multiplier, and since it's Canada, I doubt that you'll get one of these newer ones.

This is what I would buy with the added $$$$$.

Abit NF7-S Version 2 nForce 2 M/B w/audio, LAN, SATA-RAID $155.00 It also has Soundstorm. And the 2100+ for $95.00

I love this Abit board.

Your choice is good also, I just happen to have a thing for Abit boards.

the asus a7n8x deluxe 2.0

trust. its a great board. a lot of amd'ers are using this particular board.

if your looking for budget, i had a MSI Delta-L or the ILSR are great choices too.

the Leadtek K7ncr18D is a great board, but lacks a lot of features.

if you need info on any of these boards just message me.

NEW THREAD

NEW THREAD. Please HELP!!!!!!!!!! I have not got a clue how to set this thing up or tweak it up.

http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=247668

I have posted the list of what I bought and what is installed.