CPU/Motherboard Suggestions? 1

[Chusan]

I need to upgrade my Motherboard/CPU and I was wondering if I could get some suggestions. This PC is for home use and will be used primarily for web-surfing, games and word processing. I will also be loading XP. The current harddrive, ATI Rage video adaptor and DVD ROM are all about 2 years old and work fine.

I'm on a budget and am leaning toward an AMD Duron 900 and a Biostar Mobo. Any suggestions? Should I step up to an Athlon or go to an Intel P-III?

Thanks for any help.

---Chuck

 

[PCmaxQ]

How much are you willing to spend?

I would go with an Athlon 1Ghz and get the ECS K7VZA for $121.00, this is the same kind I have and it works great. At the time when I bought it, it was one of the better mobo combos out there. Plus the price came down dramatically.

Hope this helps. I saw it on

http://www.pricewatch.com

under Athlon 1Ghz 266 w Cpu and Fan.

Good luck. Don't Be afraid to try NEW things with your computer, they can always be fixed somehow. And Remember "Don't Worry About It"

I'll try to help if I can, but I'm only HUMAN.

 

[Jakespeare]

I build computers for a living, so this isn't based on some
buddy's opinion, but on real-life, hands-on, practical experience.
I will also give you my opinion on Value for $$$$ for your PC dollars.

Expect differing opionions, or course, some guys are just outdated, and don't like AMD. (Old school & clueless)


> BIOSTAR: OK. Not recommended. I have recently seen several posts, from various tech-help pages, and have personally been involved with one tech-support project myself involving BIOSTAR; They could get NO TECH-SUPPORT from BIOSTAR. NOTHING.
**** Spent $10 - $20 more and get a Hi-quality Mainboard........ and not just a budget / average board.
(from a company that won't supply tech-support)

******** DO NOT BUY THE DURON ! For $5 more you can get an Athlon. Don't let anybody tell you different, there is virtually NO DIFFERENCE in the price for a Duron, and an Athlon. The ATHLON outperforms the Duron. For sure. So, if you want REAL performance, that will SMOKE a P-III and MOST Pentium 4's go ATHLON.
Check out the CPU prices at

http://www.pricewatch.com

NOBODY can argue about the real-life prices posted there.
Buy the ATHLON you can afford. I would say,,,,,,, for about $90 ..... buy the 1200 / 266 FSB CPU....... or a 1400 ( 266/FSB) for about $115 up...........
( THE 900 AMD ATHLON is $59 at newegg )
buy a Cooler Master fan,,,,, an $8 or $12 one)


That 1400 ATHLON buries a P4 1500. (comparable to a P4 1600) Hands down, and you can find UNBIASED documentation all over the internet, from hardware tech pages, who do solid comparisoms.


MAINBOARD: Inexpensive and fast and NEW:
Best board for the $$$$$$$ = * MicroStar MSI K7T266 PRO2 (MS-6380) VIA KT266A AMD

$104 (PLUS shipping of $5) can't beat it.

http://www.newegg.com

You can also get 256 MB DDR *MICRON* RAM,,,,, for $36 for
that board.


* Last: Hard drive? You say yours is 2-years old ? It's real slow compared to the new ones, and will be your bottleneck in this system, taking all other factors into consideration. You can always upgrade that later.... but you can buy a Maxtor or IBM 7200 RPM HD for around $95 - $107......... 20 GIG to 40 GIG.

XP needs room,,,,,,, and the FASTER HD really makes a difference of an OLD ATA/33.

Have fun.
Glad to be able to help talk you out of wasting your money on a P-III,,,, that is Dog Slow compared to an Athlon.

 

[teknikal]

******* ABOUT THE CPU *******


I have to agree with Jakespeare. Definitely don't go with a Duron when you can get an Athlon for as little as $5-10 more. I am completely unbiased when it comes to Intel vs. AMD. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.


What you need to consider is this:

The P-III and Athlon went head to head for quite some time during the race to 1Ghz. After the Coppermine P-III was released, Athlon's margin of victory in the benchmarks narrowed quite a bit. However, once DDR memory was introduced into the game and the Athlon exceeded the 1Ghz mark, Intel went with their next generation core, the P4. Though the P-III was competitive up to the 1Ghz mark, DDR ended it's life span. I wouldn't have been quite so harsh to say the P-III was "Dog Slow", since it was DDR that determined the P-III's fate, not "just" the Athlon.


***** It's all history now *****


The Athlon is clearly superior in price vs. performance. Take Jakespeare's advice and skip out on the P-III unless you find it for a competitive price (seems unlikely).


tek

 

[Chusan]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will be buying an Athlon for sure now. Probably a 1.33Ghz 266. I think those are a good value for the performance. However, I'll probably still go with a budget Biostar main board (AMD approved) and hope for the best.

Thanks again for the help.

---Chuck

 

[tempo21]

consider gigabyte mainboards too, or even PCchips if bugets are really tight.
Like Jakespeare i build PC's and support is an important issue....
AMd is the ONLY option if you are pennywise. Also, look at the boards that offer overclocking potential - IWILL boards especially.

 

[Chusan]

Okay, I'll check those out. Thanks for the help.