Upgrade advice? The best bang for the....

Soloboy · Aug 19, 2003, 09:26 PM

Here is what I have right now:

Amd 1600
MSI kt3 Ultra
1xKingston pc2100 256mb
1xKingston pc2700 256mb
gf4 ti4200 128mb
1xWD 80gb SE
1xWD 40gb
Sblive! value

I have around $150 to spend as a graduation gift.

Im trying to figure out what i can do with it that will give this the biggest boost in speed.

I was thinking of Getting a Barton 2500, another stick of pc2700 to replace the 2100 and a quieter cooling fan(one i got now is like a jet). My board doesnt "officialy" support a fsb of 333 but ive heard that they hit it so easy that its almost a given.

I dont know though, anyone got any suggestions?

Soloboy

Judas · Aug 19, 2003, 11:16 PM

....a barton 2500+ will benifit you QUITE abit... E-MAIL them and ask if there are any known problem with the chip and your board... MAKE SURE.... this will help you out in the long run

if you can... sell or tradein you pc2100....

but i would definitly look at getting a new sound cards..... If you want all the options... the Hercules digifire opens up a can on the Creative Audigy 2's..... but if you want to go a little cheaper..without loosing anything (just a few firewire ports)... go for the fortismo 3 7.1.... EXCELLENT stable card...

I'm also not sure what your dealling with (US or Canadain Currency)... if US.. i think you could save up a bit more and get a good Abit NF7-S rev 2 board....

Soloboy · Aug 19, 2003, 11:47 PM

Im looking to buy this stuff off newegg, we dont have any decent stores around here to buy or trade in stuff unforunatly, i think however i may have a friend or 2 who might want to buy the stick of pc2100, is $20-$25 a good price to ask for it? its Kingston value ram that runs at cas2 perfectly for me, if i can sell off my 1600 as well that would probaly make up for a new sound card........

Oh and its U.S currency

Soloboy

Judas · Aug 19, 2003, 11:52 PM

..i wouldn't go any lower then $25 but then again... i'm still in canadian perspective..... Ram isn't cheap up here... i just went an spent $150 on 512mb stick of pc 2700 cas 2.5..... (and that was the cheaper stuff).... 256mb of Kingston pc 2100 here is selling for 80ish here....(not including tax) if i recall.. i bought my Digifire for 139...... and the Fortismo 3 was available for half that....

scobywhru · Aug 20, 2003, 01:49 AM

I might be able t get you that fortismo 3 my friend has it as a spare he just recently upgraded from a P3 to Athlon and Nforce 2 board.

I would actually suggest you just try and get a good Nforce 2 board, and then you won't need a new soundcard, either the Abit nfs rev 2 for OCing, or another brand if you aren't planning on OCing like crazy, but make sure it has the better sound built in and 200mhz FSB support, there is even a Value nForce 2 with only 1 channel instead of dual channel RAM and you won't take much of a hit from that, the only way you would is if you were using an onboard video but then your current video would outperform it any way. You also wouldn't run into the stability issues of running without a matched pair of RAM like you would if you were running Dual channels, but you can always disable that on the nForce 2 boards

The nForce built in sound card would defenitely give you a performance increase but the Fortismo 3 actually eats up more clock cycles but both are better then the Live! cards

Judas · Aug 20, 2003, 04:52 AM

really? my digifire is killing on the benchmarks....

scobywhru · Aug 20, 2003, 05:00 AM

The benchmarks I have seen show that those cards eat more CPU cycles then other cards(nForce2 and Audigy 1 and 2), I don't even think they have an onboard DSP but I could be wrong and if he gets an nForce board it has a better onboard soundcard then the one he's got

Bane the ECF · Aug 20, 2003, 05:07 AM

For $150 I'd get a Barton 2500+ and maybe the extra stick of RAM (or just save the RAM money.)

Soloboy · Aug 20, 2003, 08:37 AM

I dont think I could afford a new mobo, not unless someones wants to buy my kt3 ultra, a stick of pc2100 ram and my sblive value...........

Anyways i have to order everything soon for it get to me before i go off to school on the 31st.

scobywhru how much would your friend want for that fortismo 3 and more importantly how fast could i get it? I can only pay in cash so i would have to mail it.

Soloboy

scobywhru · Aug 20, 2003, 08:09 PM

the value nForce boards are cheap like $70 and they will hit 200mhz FSB but they will lack features for $76 on newegg reviewed http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1844 there. I know how it gets being stuck with a board that won't do 333mhz FSB I have one now so if you are going to keep that setup and aren't planning on switching to a P4 or Athlon64 getting a new MB would help you out in the long run, otherwise you could run into HDD corruption from putting the MB out of spec FSB wise, thats the only thing keeping me from doing it on mine

I would have to talk to my friend and right now I am just home from work I will see what I can't get out of him when I get off later today about that sound card

Soloboy · Aug 20, 2003, 09:54 PM

The motherboard has a 1/5 divider that kicks in at a 166mhz fsb that will keep the hd in spec....I think right now I am going to get the 2500 and ram, and i can always get a new mobo later if this one doesnt hold out.

The way I see is I wont be upgrading for atleast a year or so and socket A seems to be coming close to the end of its life so right now might not be the best time to invest in a new mobo that wouldnt get to much use out of it. If the one I have now can handle the new proc I will be plenty happy.

Soloboy

scobywhru · Aug 21, 2003, 01:36 AM

Yeah mine has a 1/5 Divider, I have a KT333 board BUT they HD Controller doesn't get the 1/5divider so at about 150mhz FSB (1/5 Divider kicks in about 149) it no longer reads or writes properly to the HD and I have to Reformat the HD to get it working again, Just a word to the wise so you might want to talk to other poeple who have done this or go and get a PCI HD controller if your board doesn't have one built in like a RAID controller or something like that

Soloboy · Aug 21, 2003, 01:42 AM

Ive asked about it over on the forums at www.amdmb.com. Lots of people there have my same exact board and they say just to go for it.

I ordered the cpu and ram just a few minutes ago, hopefully i get them in a few days.

btw do you need to unlock the bartons? or are they already unlocked.

Soloboy

scobywhru · Aug 21, 2003, 01:52 AM

they should be Unlocked I know my Tbred B was but since my Mobo was so old and I had to keep the FSB so Low I had to do the wire trick under the pins www.ocinside.de if its not

Bane the ECF · Aug 21, 2003, 04:14 AM

I believe bartons are unlocked already, but I did the wire trick on mine anyways, since I didn't want to mess with it afterwards.

Aug 19, 2003, 09:26 PM	#1
Soloboy DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Upgrade advice? The best bang for the.... Here is what I have right now: Amd 1600 MSI kt3 Ultra 1xKingston pc2100 256mb 1xKingston pc2700 256mb gf4 ti4200 128mb 1xWD 80gb SE 1xWD 40gb Sblive! value I have around $150 to spend as a graduation gift. Im trying to figure out what i can do with it that will give this the biggest boost in speed. I was thinking of Getting a Barton 2500, another stick of pc2700 to replace the 2100 and a quieter cooling fan(one i got now is like a jet). My board doesnt "officialy" support a fsb of 333 but ive heard that they hit it so easy that its almost a given. I dont know though, anyone got any suggestions? Soloboy

Aug 20, 2003, 01:49 AM	#5
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	I might be able t get you that fortismo 3 my friend has it as a spare he just recently upgraded from a P3 to Athlon and Nforce 2 board. I would actually suggest you just try and get a good Nforce 2 board, and then you won't need a new soundcard, either the Abit nfs rev 2 for OCing, or another brand if you aren't planning on OCing like crazy, but make sure it has the better sound built in and 200mhz FSB support, there is even a Value nForce 2 with only 1 channel instead of dual channel RAM and you won't take much of a hit from that, the only way you would is if you were using an onboard video but then your current video would outperform it any way. You also wouldn't run into the stability issues of running without a matched pair of RAM like you would if you were running Dual channels, but you can always disable that on the nForce 2 boards The nForce built in sound card would defenitely give you a performance increase but the Fortismo 3 actually eats up more clock cycles but both are better then the Live! cards __________________

Aug 20, 2003, 05:00 AM	#7
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	The benchmarks I have seen show that those cards eat more CPU cycles then other cards(nForce2 and Audigy 1 and 2), I don't even think they have an onboard DSP but I could be wrong and if he gets an nForce board it has a better onboard soundcard then the one he's got __________________

Aug 20, 2003, 05:07 AM	#8
Bane the ECF DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 220 Rep Power: 0	For $150 I'd get a Barton 2500+ and maybe the extra stick of RAM (or just save the RAM money.) __________________ ASUS K8N-E Motherboard Athlon 64 3200+ 10x200MHz Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Heatsink & Fan 2x512MB Mushkin Black Level 2 PC-3500 ATi Radeon X800 SE 256MB 100GB Western Digital SE 8MB 7200RPM 320GB Seagate 8MB 7200 RPM Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sony 19" E400 Trinitron Thermaltake Xaser III V2000A All-Aluminum Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Surround Sound

Aug 20, 2003, 08:09 PM	#10
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	the value nForce boards are cheap like $70 and they will hit 200mhz FSB but they will lack features for $76 on newegg reviewed http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1844 there. I know how it gets being stuck with a board that won't do 333mhz FSB I have one now so if you are going to keep that setup and aren't planning on switching to a P4 or Athlon64 getting a new MB would help you out in the long run, otherwise you could run into HDD corruption from putting the MB out of spec FSB wise, thats the only thing keeping me from doing it on mine I would have to talk to my friend and right now I am just home from work I will see what I can't get out of him when I get off later today about that sound card __________________

Aug 19, 2003, 11:47 PM	Thread Starter #3
Soloboy DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Im looking to buy this stuff off newegg, we dont have any decent stores around here to buy or trade in stuff unforunatly, i think however i may have a friend or 2 who might want to buy the stick of pc2100, is $20-$25 a good price to ask for it? its Kingston value ram that runs at cas2 perfectly for me, if i can sell off my 1600 as well that would probaly make up for a new sound card........ Oh and its U.S currency Soloboy

Aug 20, 2003, 08:37 AM	Thread Starter #9
Soloboy DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	I dont think I could afford a new mobo, not unless someones wants to buy my kt3 ultra, a stick of pc2100 ram and my sblive value........... Anyways i have to order everything soon for it get to me before i go off to school on the 31st. scobywhru how much would your friend want for that fortismo 3 and more importantly how fast could i get it? I can only pay in cash so i would have to mail it. Soloboy

Aug 20, 2003, 09:54 PM	Thread Starter #11
Soloboy DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	The motherboard has a 1/5 divider that kicks in at a 166mhz fsb that will keep the hd in spec....I think right now I am going to get the 2500 and ram, and i can always get a new mobo later if this one doesnt hold out. The way I see is I wont be upgrading for atleast a year or so and socket A seems to be coming close to the end of its life so right now might not be the best time to invest in a new mobo that wouldnt get to much use out of it. If the one I have now can handle the new proc I will be plenty happy. Soloboy

Aug 21, 2003, 01:36 AM	#12
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	Yeah mine has a 1/5 Divider, I have a KT333 board BUT they HD Controller doesn't get the 1/5divider so at about 150mhz FSB (1/5 Divider kicks in about 149) it no longer reads or writes properly to the HD and I have to Reformat the HD to get it working again, Just a word to the wise so you might want to talk to other poeple who have done this or go and get a PCI HD controller if your board doesn't have one built in like a RAID controller or something like that __________________

Aug 21, 2003, 01:42 AM	Thread Starter #13
Soloboy DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Ive asked about it over on the forums at www.amdmb.com. Lots of people there have my same exact board and they say just to go for it. I ordered the cpu and ram just a few minutes ago, hopefully i get them in a few days. btw do you need to unlock the bartons? or are they already unlocked. Soloboy

Aug 21, 2003, 01:52 AM	#14
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	they should be Unlocked I know my Tbred B was but since my Mobo was so old and I had to keep the FSB so Low I had to do the wire trick under the pins www.ocinside.de if its not __________________

Aug 21, 2003, 04:14 AM	#15
Bane the ECF DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 220 Rep Power: 0	I believe bartons are unlocked already, but I did the wire trick on mine anyways, since I didn't want to mess with it afterwards. __________________ ASUS K8N-E Motherboard Athlon 64 3200+ 10x200MHz Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Heatsink & Fan 2x512MB Mushkin Black Level 2 PC-3500 ATi Radeon X800 SE 256MB 100GB Western Digital SE 8MB 7200RPM 320GB Seagate 8MB 7200 RPM Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sony 19" E400 Trinitron Thermaltake Xaser III V2000A All-Aluminum Logitech Z-5300 5.1 Surround Sound