Upgrading please help me.

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 22, 2003, 04:51 AM

Yo all I’m not sure if this rite forum again but here.

I’m thinking about upgrading my cpu and mobo for max of 200$

this is the deal I got now

MOBO

Epox Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# EP-8RGA+
Specifications:
CPU Supported: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron processors
Chipset: nForce2
FSB: 333MHz Max
RAM: 3x DDR SDRAM PC3200, 3GB Max
IDE: 2x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133
Slots: 1x AGP(8X), 6x PCI(32-bit)
Ports: 2x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard, 2x Serial, 1x Parallel, 2x USB, 1x RJ-45, 2x IEEE 1394 (via Headers)
Onboard Video: Geforce4 MX Graphics
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650E 6-channel audio
Onboard LAN: Realtek RTL8201 PHY
103$

CPU
AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included)
90$

I’m sticking with the Barton 2500+ because over 300 reviews were 5 stars and a lot of recommendations.

But I’m looking for a good mobo that has at least 400 fsb for AMD that has no onboard graphic card and has Nforce2 400 ultra and 5.1 onboard sound.

( I’m not that good in knowing what’s good and what’s not in mobo's and cpu's so I don’t know what’s worth it and what’s not and I’m sure u people in this forum know a lot about these stuff so id really be happy if u could help

)

can any one recommend any real good mobo for the price like the best deal for the price u have seen :P

remember under 200$ all together

(Oh what’s the difference by Nforce 2 400 , 400 ultra , 415 what’s the difference)

please help

thanks Nathan.

Vengeance · Sep 22, 2003, 05:53 AM

http://secure.newegg.com/app/specifi...tem=13-131-468

$82.00 at new egg, Should have everything you need.

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 22, 2003, 05:59 AM

thanks man.

hmm is there like a better version for like 100$ ? with like better sound and more stuff cuz id liek the best mobo i can get for the price

Ohh and 1 x AGP(1.5V only) ?? whats that 1x agp? and whats that nforce 400 is it better than ultra or somethin

BWX · Sep 22, 2003, 06:07 AM

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...JsX3BhZ2U9Mw==

Get this Barton - http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_i...oducts_id=2028

And I would go with an Abit NF7- if you want another choice. I just got one, it's a great board, I think most will do 237mhz fsb or so.

Vengeance · Sep 22, 2003, 06:08 AM

That just means that it has one AGP slot. Not to sure about the sound, Best thing to do is got to newegg and do a search for MoBo's click on AMD's and they will all pop up. Just look at all of them, see what one has what you want for what you want to spend.

Oh and I'm not the best guy to listen too

I bought my PC ready made

lol I'm just trying to point you in the right direction

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 22, 2003, 06:30 AM

whats the dif from the newegg barton and the one u gave me 3$ more ? :?

shuki · Sep 22, 2003, 06:38 AM

alpha, do yourself a big favor and buy the NF7-S. It has onboard soundstorm 6.1 sound, onboard nic and onboard firewire. a very solid board!

I would just order from newegg. $85 OEM barton 2500 and $113 NF7-s. You'll be a happy camper

BWX · Sep 22, 2003, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ev!L-aLphA
whats the dif from the newegg barton and the one u gave me 3$ more ? :?

Not much, some people have tested that "AQXAE" and seem to have gotten better OC's - but know one can guarantee anything.

excaliberpc.com does a free bios upgrade and tests the board for 400mhz fsb operation w/ a 3200+ chip for free too- Just to let you know. -and guarantees a ver. 2.0.

But I'm sure NewEgg is easier to deal with- although excaliber isn't bad either.

FluffyChicken · Sep 22, 2003, 10:45 AM

Mother boards to buy.
Gigabytes 7NNXP or baby brothers 7N400's
ASUS A7N8X 's (v2 and above)

Make sure it has Soundstorm (not all nForce2 400/400Ultra have it)
nForce2 400 is the single channel version (cheaper)
nForce2 Ultra is the dual channel version (need 2xsame ram sticks to work fully)

There is actually very little performance difference, if you don;t intend to use 2 identical RAM stick to use the dual channel, you may want to save some money and get a single channle version

BWX · Sep 22, 2003, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by FluffyChicken
Mother boards to buy.
Gigabytes 7NNXP or baby brothers 7N400's
ASUS A7N8X 's (v2 and above)

Make sure it has Soundstorm (not all nForce2 400/400Ultra have it)
nForce2 400 is the single channel version (cheaper)
nForce2 Ultra is the dual channel version (need 2xsame ram sticks to work fully)

There is actually very little performance difference, if you don;t intend to use 2 identical RAM stick to use the dual channel, you may want to save some money and get a single channle version

What? I thought ALL NForce2 chipset MB used dual channel.. Both Abit's NF7 and NF7-s are dual channel. And if you are lucky like me, you don't need exact same ram to use dual channel, I have completely different modules, but I still have the 10% performance gain and dual channel is enabled. 1x -PNY 512mb pc2700 & 1x -Crucial 256mb pc2100 in slot 3- It acually works! And went through memtest86 overnight w/ no errors.. Crazy huh?

running at 294mhz - (my Palamino is still locked)-but the crucial mem is OC'ed and runs fine. Abit's boards rock.

FluffyChicken · Sep 22, 2003, 12:54 PM

nope of the nForce2 400's only the ultra is dual channel.
an 10% is maybe a little exagerated

true over the kt400/600 it is a larger improvement not the nforce in single channel mode though.
Maybe about 1% in general use (nothing noticable)
10% to 20% compared to the Kt600 yes but that's chipset not the dual channel talking..

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1858&p=8

BWX · Sep 22, 2003, 01:04 PM

No, I probably don't have a true 10% gain, but in Sisoft sandra I got an extra 220mb/s up from 1990- I got an extra 150 to 200pts average gain in 3dmark03 and about 3500 pts. in Aqhamark. Also got noticeable boost in 3dmark01- about 300 to 400 pt's average gain.. Definitely a big boost for my system. I bet if I had 2 fast matched sticks, the gains would be much better though.

Judas · Sep 22, 2003, 01:56 PM

Abit's NF7-S Revision 2.0... keep the barton 2500.... And you'll be the happiest camper...

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 23, 2003, 02:24 AM

cool but i have 2 different typs of ram 1 is 2100 512 ddr ram
and 1 2700 512 ddr ram 2 different companies and i dont know if ill have problems :/

but thanks for replying fast all ill check them all out!

i think im gonna go with the barton 2500+ and the

ABIT NF7-S ,nForce2 SPP chipset Support AMD Socket A with 200/266/333 FSB ,8X AGP,SATA 150 ATX motherboard Retail
Specifications:
Supported CPU:AMD-K7 Duron/Athlon/Athlon XP Socket A
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP chipset with MCP2-T
FSB:200/266/333MHz
RAM:3x 184Pin DDR Supports 3 DIMM DDR 200/266/333 (Max. 3GB)or
2 DIMM DDR 400 (Max. 2GB)
IDE:2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (up to 4 Devices)
Slots:1 x AGP8X/4X, 5 x PCI slots
Ports:1xFDD, 2xSATA,2xUSB2,2xPS2,2xCOM,1xLPT and Audio Ports
Onboard Serial ATA: Supports transfer rates 150MB/s (1.5G bps)
Onboard Audio:6-Channel AC 97 CODEC
Onboard LAN: 10/100Mb Operation supports ACPI & Wake on LAN
Onboard Firewire: IEEE 1394a at 100/200/400MB/s transfer rate

im not sure about that revision v2.0 or what ever here is the info on the nf7-s
http://secure.newegg.com/app/specifi...tem=13-127-143

tell me if it has revision v2

thanks alot all

Bane the ECF · Sep 23, 2003, 02:43 AM

Good choice, I'd pick the Abit NF7-s or the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe myself.

Bane

tek · Sep 23, 2003, 02:56 AM

XP2500+ Barton for $90.00 from whereever..
ABIT NF7-S 2.0 from excaliberpc.com for around $110.00

plus some shipping charges, best deal on mobo/cpu right now.

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 23, 2003, 03:07 AM

lol :] i hope that one is v2 or what ever plus no shiping charge!

$ 203.00
total + tax

Bane the ECF · Sep 23, 2003, 04:12 AM

Shop at www.newegg.com. The prices there are essentially the lowest around and shipping is free.

Ev!L-aLphA · Sep 23, 2003, 04:17 AM

yep that what im doing

FluffyChicken · Sep 23, 2003, 10:35 AM

you do need to make sure it a v2 though. Do not buy a version 1

(I still don't get why people buy the ABIT over the ASUS and superior Gigabyte boards)

Don't just take my word for it.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1836&p=13
Get a 7N400 Pro (or Pro2)

shuki · Sep 23, 2003, 11:43 AM

newegg is only shipping v2.0 boards. and honestly unless you plan on overclocking past about 205 dual channel it will not matter....

Sep 22, 2003, 04:51 AM	#1
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	Upgrading please help me. Yo all I’m not sure if this rite forum again but here. I’m thinking about upgrading my cpu and mobo for max of 200$ this is the deal I got now MOBO Epox Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# EP-8RGA+ Specifications: CPU Supported: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron processors Chipset: nForce2 FSB: 333MHz Max RAM: 3x DDR SDRAM PC3200, 3GB Max IDE: 2x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133 Slots: 1x AGP(8X), 6x PCI(32-bit) Ports: 2x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard, 2x Serial, 1x Parallel, 2x USB, 1x RJ-45, 2x IEEE 1394 (via Headers) Onboard Video: Geforce4 MX Graphics Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650E 6-channel audio Onboard LAN: Realtek RTL8201 PHY 103$ CPU AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL Specifications: CPU: 1.83 GHz Type: XP 2500 Barton Core Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB BUS: 333MHz Socket A Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) 90$ I’m sticking with the Barton 2500+ because over 300 reviews were 5 stars and a lot of recommendations. But I’m looking for a good mobo that has at least 400 fsb for AMD that has no onboard graphic card and has Nforce2 400 ultra and 5.1 onboard sound. ( I’m not that good in knowing what’s good and what’s not in mobo's and cpu's so I don’t know what’s worth it and what’s not and I’m sure u people in this forum know a lot about these stuff so id really be happy if u could help ) can any one recommend any real good mobo for the price like the best deal for the price u have seen :P remember under 200$ all together (Oh what’s the difference by Nforce 2 400 , 400 ultra , 415 what’s the difference) please help thanks Nathan. __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08 Last edited by Ev!L-aLphA; Sep 22, 2003 at 05:05 AM.

Sep 22, 2003, 05:53 AM	#2
Vengeance DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort Worth TX Posts: 643 Rep Power: 0	http://secure.newegg.com/app/specifi...tem=13-131-468 $82.00 at new egg, Should have everything you need. __________________ [color=red]Rage3D Super Moderator[/color] [color=red]BFG 6800 GT [/color]

Sep 22, 2003, 05:59 AM	Thread Starter #3
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	thanks man. hmm is there like a better version for like 100$ ? with like better sound and more stuff cuz id liek the best mobo i can get for the price Ohh and 1 x AGP(1.5V only) ?? whats that 1x agp? and whats that nforce 400 is it better than ultra or somethin __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08

Sep 22, 2003, 06:07 AM	#4
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...JsX3BhZ2U9Mw== Get this Barton - http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_i...oducts_id=2028 And I would go with an Abit NF7- if you want another choice. I just got one, it's a great board, I think most will do 237mhz fsb or so. __________________

Sep 22, 2003, 06:08 AM	#5
Vengeance DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Fort Worth TX Posts: 643 Rep Power: 0	That just means that it has one AGP slot. Not to sure about the sound, Best thing to do is got to newegg and do a search for MoBo's click on AMD's and they will all pop up. Just look at all of them, see what one has what you want for what you want to spend. Oh and I'm not the best guy to listen too I bought my PC ready made lol I'm just trying to point you in the right direction __________________ [color=red]Rage3D Super Moderator[/color] [color=red]BFG 6800 GT [/color]

Sep 22, 2003, 06:30 AM	Thread Starter #6
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	whats the dif from the newegg barton and the one u gave me 3$ more ? :? __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08

Sep 22, 2003, 06:38 AM	#7
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	alpha, do yourself a big favor and buy the NF7-S. It has onboard soundstorm 6.1 sound, onboard nic and onboard firewire. a very solid board! I would just order from newegg. $85 OEM barton 2500 and $113 NF7-s. You'll be a happy camper

Sep 22, 2003, 10:45 AM	#9
FluffyChicken DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: England Posts: 320 Rep Power: 0	Mother boards to buy. Gigabytes 7NNXP or baby brothers 7N400's ASUS A7N8X 's (v2 and above) Make sure it has Soundstorm (not all nForce2 400/400Ultra have it) nForce2 400 is the single channel version (cheaper) nForce2 Ultra is the dual channel version (need 2xsame ram sticks to work fully) There is actually very little performance difference, if you don;t intend to use 2 identical RAM stick to use the dual channel, you may want to save some money and get a single channle version __________________ [COLOR=#455b64]Team mauisun.org [/COLOR]

Sep 22, 2003, 12:54 PM	#11
FluffyChicken DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: England Posts: 320 Rep Power: 0	nope of the nForce2 400's only the ultra is dual channel. an 10% is maybe a little exagerated true over the kt400/600 it is a larger improvement not the nforce in single channel mode though. Maybe about 1% in general use (nothing noticable) 10% to 20% compared to the Kt600 yes but that's chipset not the dual channel talking.. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1858&p=8 __________________ [COLOR=#455b64]Team mauisun.org [/COLOR]

Sep 22, 2003, 01:04 PM	#12
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	No, I probably don't have a true 10% gain, but in Sisoft sandra I got an extra 220mb/s up from 1990- I got an extra 150 to 200pts average gain in 3dmark03 and about 3500 pts. in Aqhamark. Also got noticeable boost in 3dmark01- about 300 to 400 pt's average gain.. Definitely a big boost for my system. I bet if I had 2 fast matched sticks, the gains would be much better though. __________________

Sep 23, 2003, 02:24 AM	Thread Starter #14
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	cool but i have 2 different typs of ram 1 is 2100 512 ddr ram and 1 2700 512 ddr ram 2 different companies and i dont know if ill have problems :/ but thanks for replying fast all ill check them all out! i think im gonna go with the barton 2500+ and the ABIT NF7-S ,nForce2 SPP chipset Support AMD Socket A with 200/266/333 FSB ,8X AGP,SATA 150 ATX motherboard Retail Specifications: Supported CPU:AMD-K7 Duron/Athlon/Athlon XP Socket A Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP chipset with MCP2-T FSB:200/266/333MHz RAM:3x 184Pin DDR Supports 3 DIMM DDR 200/266/333 (Max. 3GB)or 2 DIMM DDR 400 (Max. 2GB) IDE:2 x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 (up to 4 Devices) Slots:1 x AGP8X/4X, 5 x PCI slots Ports:1xFDD, 2xSATA,2xUSB2,2xPS2,2xCOM,1xLPT and Audio Ports Onboard Serial ATA: Supports transfer rates 150MB/s (1.5G bps) Onboard Audio:6-Channel AC 97 CODEC Onboard LAN: 10/100Mb Operation supports ACPI & Wake on LAN Onboard Firewire: IEEE 1394a at 100/200/400MB/s transfer rate im not sure about that revision v2.0 or what ever here is the info on the nf7-s http://secure.newegg.com/app/specifi...tem=13-127-143 tell me if it has revision v2 thanks alot all __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08 Last edited by Ev!L-aLphA; Sep 23, 2003 at 02:40 AM.

Sep 23, 2003, 02:43 AM	#15
Bane the ECF DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 220 Rep Power: 0	Good choice, I'd pick the Abit NF7-s or the ASUS A7N8X Deluxe myself. Bane __________________ 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

Sep 23, 2003, 02:56 AM	#16
tek DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Boston, US Posts: 2,103 Rep Power: 0	XP2500+ Barton for $90.00 from whereever.. ABIT NF7-S 2.0 from excaliberpc.com for around $110.00 plus some shipping charges, best deal on mobo/cpu right now. __________________ [COLOR=White][/COLOR]

Sep 23, 2003, 03:07 AM	Thread Starter #17
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	lol :] i hope that one is v2 or what ever plus no shiping charge! $ 203.00 total + tax __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08

Sep 23, 2003, 04:12 AM	#18
Bane the ECF DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 220 Rep Power: 0	Shop at www.newegg.com. The prices there are essentially the lowest around and shipping is free. __________________ 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

Sep 23, 2003, 04:17 AM	Thread Starter #19
Ev!L-aLphA \| n f e c t e D Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 4,111 Rep Power: 0	yep that what im doing __________________ R.I.P 8/8/04 4/21/08

Sep 23, 2003, 10:35 AM	#20
FluffyChicken DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: England Posts: 320 Rep Power: 0	you do need to make sure it a v2 though. Do not buy a version 1 (I still don't get why people buy the ABIT over the ASUS and superior Gigabyte boards) Don't just take my word for it. http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1836&p=13 Get a 7N400 Pro (or Pro2) __________________ [COLOR=#455b64]Team mauisun.org [/COLOR]

Sep 23, 2003, 11:43 AM	#21
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	newegg is only shipping v2.0 boards. and honestly unless you plan on overclocking past about 205 dual channel it will not matter....