I would like your opinions

I am soon to purchase a new MB/CPU for my first attempt at building a system and I would like your opinion on my choice. An Epox 8K7A with an AMD XP 1900 and 256 Mb DDR. I have read a lot of posts here and noticed Epox seems to be popular and reliable over most brands. I wanted 512 Mb of Ram, but I need to uprade the PSU so there went the extra $$ for Ram for now. So, any thoughts you may have would be appreciated.

A Run Down of what's going in:
Epox 8K7A
AMD XP 1900
256 Mb DDR
PNY G-Force 3
40 Gb IBM HD

So, Did I make a decent choice or should I just hide under a rock?

Actually, not a bad selection at all. What manufacturer of RAM for the 256 DDR have you been looking at?

Though, I'm going to post a setup that I think would outperform your current suggestions, and save you from having to upgrade in the near future.

8K7A $70
8K3A+ w/6-channel audio $110

Reason: 8k3a+ OC's like a champ, newest Via chipset, ATA 133, DDR333, etc. You would not have to upgrade this bad boy for awhile.

PNY GF3 Ti200 $133
Gainward GF3 Ti200 Golden Sample $124

Reason: Gainward's and Leadtek's are IMHO the 2 best video card manufacturers out there. Also, these 2 companies usually have the highest overclockable VGA's.

Athlon XP 1900 Retail $140
Athlon XP 1800 Retail $114

Reason: You could easily overclock that 1800 above and beyond that 1900.

IBM 40 GB 7200 120 GXP $71
Maxtor Quiet Drive 20 GB 7200 $67

Reason: I've heard alot of problems about failing IBM's though I've been lucky enough to not have this problem with mine. 40 GB's is also alot of space that most likely would not be used. The 20GB Maxtor is plenty of space and also ATA 133.

Based on those 4 components alone. Yours coming out to $414 and mine equaling $415. I think you would be ALOT happier with the setup I choose.

Also, here are some good RAM selections. If you don't care for OC'ing then some Original Samsung PC2100 for $36.

Samsung PC2700 $82.00
Crucial PC2100 $67.00

These prices were off newegg.com.


Also, welcome to the forums.

I am soon to purchase a new MB/CPU for my first attempt at building a system and I would like your opinion on my choice.

If you already have the other hardware (IBM, PNY, DDR) then disregard those parts of my post. I should have read alittle more clearly. :rolleyes:

Anyways, I would go with my selections for the MB/CPU. Though mine would be $14 dollars more. $224 compared to $210.


The components that I've listed I believe are the best price vs. performance products out. I hope I've helped.

Pyro, thanks for the reply. The HD and vid card are already done. The G-Force card I got for free when my friend upgraded to a G-Force 4 Ti-4600 and the HD I'm just reusing from a present PC,same for sound card (already 6-channel) and DVD/CD-RW. I forgot to tell you that part. The Ram/MB/Cpu is a bundle package but I specified Kingston over their "generic" house brand and the difference between a 1800 and a 1900 is about $22.
As for OC'ing, I'm not ready to tackle that yet. As technically minded as I am (amatuer radio operator and have built radios from scrap parts) I'm not confident enough to start tinkering with that just yet, but i do want a MB that would allow it should I change my mind :D
Is there any real benefit to an AMD XP 1900 over a XP 1800? I imagine I wouldn't see a noticeable difference, just trying to save a little $$ in the future.
Anyways, thanks for the advice and I'll post when I get this puppy up to speed....Later

Is there any real benefit to an AMD XP 1900 over a XP 1800?

You could easily raise the multiplier up +.5 and equal the XP 1900. The 1800 XP runs at 1.53 default, with the 1900 XP at 1.6 default.

You setup seems just fine. Thats awesome that your friend gave you that card for free.