Whadda ya think of this?

Right now I have a Duron 750 in a KT133 mobo with a GF2MX and 256MB of PC133 ram.

I want to run Warcraft 3 competently, and that isn't gonna happen with this.

I haven't really been paying attention lately to the computer hardware world or whatever, but I'm going to upgrade with about $200.

So far, I'm going towards

ECS K7S5A from Mwave for $55
Athlon XP 1600 from newegg for $57


I still need suggestions on a video card. I know there used to be OEM ATI cards that were radeon 1 based and could be had for less than $50 with DDR.

I also wanna know if the K7S5A has overclocking features or not, and if not, what other motherboards out there do that can be had cheaply and still work with XP procs.

With that 1600, btw, how high do you think it could hit overclocked?

I've only got $200 total to blow (really, I can spend more if I have to) and I need the cost of War3 included in that.

My PSU is only 250W.

Thanks.

How about you get 300 bucks, get a new mobo, ram, cpu, and a ti4200 videocard. It might fit but you gotta get some cheap ram. I'll sell you my buyaib bs ram for like 80. It'll run DDR400 but at kinda bad..ok real bad timings 2-3-4-7-2. Runs DDR3 [email protected] for stability. It's 512mb. Unless you are hardcore benching you really dont need the best ram on the block.

I don't want/need new ram and won't spend $300.

Does the K7S5A even have ocing features BTW?

I have that mobo in a system at work and it will not OC. You have absolutely no options in the bios. There is an overclockable bios somewhere on the net, but I didnt trust it enough to use it. The only reason you should get that board is if you wanted to hang on to your pc133 ram instead of jummping to ddr as it supports both. Otherwise, I'd find anotherone if you are serious about the OC. If you can live without it, the board has been very stable. I run it with one gig of ram and an XP1500+ running Win2k Server. (It is my development box)

As for your video card problem, I'd wait until ati releases their 9700 and see if that drops the price of the GF4 4200s, I bet they get sub $100 pretty soon.

I agree with krack. If you are looking for inexpensive and bang for the buck, go with the ECS. Alot of people have been happy with that board. It seems like you don't want to buy more RAM, and the ECS gives you the option to upgrade in the future. You can't OC (unless you want to take the chance on that bios like krank_it_up said), but it's a great inexpensive upgrade. If you're upgrading for a game, I don't see why that processor won't be compentent.
As for a video card, I would suggest the ATI Radeon 8500 . This would bring your total to $222 shipped at newegg. If you want really inexpensive, go with the Visiontek 5632 . That would only cost you $165 shipped, and would be a very cost effective upgrade for a board, proc, and vid card.

Don't forget to check FS/FT forums. There are some great deals to be found there, also.

if you want a cheap DX8 card, you should look at the R9000, or the PNY GF3-ti200; apparently there's a $40 rebate on it (may still be offered). With shipping it knocks the price down to maybe 70-80 bucks. in any case an avg gf3-ti200 would knock you back at least 100 bucks.

(however, the store that's offering the rebate is atacom.com, and i've heard terrible things about them; i don't know if the rebate is direct from PNY - if it is i'd just buy it from somewhere else and get the rebate).

if you want an athlonxp motherboard cheaper than 50 bucks you'll either have to look at integrated motherboards (good like finding one with an AGP slot ;)), or refurbished stuff.

if you're looking to get a video card on the cheap, i'd get the Visiontek GF2-GTS-V from newegg - few of the OEM radeons are a significantly better value than the visiontek (unless you can find a rad7500 for maybe 60-70 bucks, in which case you might as well spring for the GF3-ti200). my dorm roommate got one and it worked quite well for him; he didn't even overclock it (he also had a Athlon XP 1600 system). i think it came out to about 40-50 bucks from newegg along with the rest of his system. with the money you save buy going with a DX7 system you could get a 300w Sparkle PSU (i think it's about 30-50 bucks) - or you could even get a cheapy 250w PSU and just run the two of them together (one powering your drives, fans, and other components, the other powering the motherboard and CPU. it'll be a hassle running the two without a relay system of some sort, but it'd be cheap and maybe doable).

Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't really like buying online anyways, and I really only trust newegg, mwave, etc.

I also don't like SIS.

I've just had too much bad experience with them, including their newer stuff. SIS730S is a relatively new chipset, and it's given me nothing but grief.

I went with a Shuttle AK32L for $49. It's a KT266 board, without any real overclocking features. I would prefer it be KT266A, but I'm on a strict budget, so it will do. After seeing the XP unlocking process, I don't really want to overclock anyways. Too much trouble.

For processor I went with an AXP 1600+, it was cheap at $56, and fast enough.

Video card is an MSI 64MB Ti200 with TV Out, $105, but I thought it was good.

Hopefully I didn't do too bad for what I got.

I guess bios updates and newer 4in1s have helped the KT266 get past it's suckiness a bit, or at least I hope so.

you shouldve gone with the kt266a, because the plain 266 had some performance problems(eg. it performs significantly slower than other chipsets) but it still works and you should be able to play wc3 on it easy

Just read an overclockers.com review of the AK32L.

Found out it has near KT266A performance and multiplier modification!

w00t!

This board was less than $50!

So, now then, how high should I expect to take a 1600+ and what voltage?

yay! :p

I got that card too for my lil bro, was surprised when I looked into the bios and read the reviewers. It is a good overclocking sucker!! Also got it a 1600XP.

AMD, did you get the radeon? THey also have it in newegg for $36. DDR too and all.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...ion=14-102-199

Here's the link. Nice new rig! congrats!

Quote:

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Originally posted by AMD_Forever

So, now then, how high should I expect to take a 1600+ and what voltage?

yay! :p

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If you just bought one from newegg you're likely to get a trememndous OCer. On default voltage more people with good cooling are getting 1.8Ghz on default voltage than not. Some guy at amdmb forums with a watercooler is running 1.8Ghz on 1.675v. Myself I'm fully prepared to feed up to 2.0v to my XP in hopes of getting very, very close to 2Ghz, certainly 1.9Ghz is my personal target

Quote:

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Originally posted by coolqf
I got that card too for my lil bro, was surprised when I looked into the bios and read the reviewers. It is a good overclocking sucker!! Also got it a 1600XP.

AMD, did you get the radeon? THey also have it in newegg for $36. DDR too and all.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...ion=14-102-199

Here's the link. Nice new rig! congrats!

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Didn't get a Radeon. Peer pressure made me spend $105 on a 64MB ti200 with tv out.

Sapasion, what about just "mediocre" cooling.

My fop 32 has been with me for a long time.

just get a Ti4200, that's your biggest concern for now, the cpu will only be a slight bottleneck, so long as u have at least 256mb of memory, you wont NEED ddr, new cpu, mobo, memory will just be a speed improvement, the card will make it look better and run smoother

Nah. I don't want/need GF4.

I'd rather get the new mobo and cpu and a gf3 ti200.

besides, ive already ordered. too late.

:p

also, now that comp 1 is getting new mobo cpu and video, that means comp 2 gets comp 1s old stuff, and comp 2s really crappy stuff can go bye bye.

Quote:

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Peer pressure made me spend $105 on a 64MB ti200 with tv out.

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:D ^_~