Heres my situation~
I am currently no longer in poverty since the holiday just rolled by and i want to up my current setup.

First, lets look at what ive got..
Asus a7v with Tbird @1.001mhz
440 something odd number of pc-133 Sd-ram (no name)
40gig 7200 rpm Maxtor MaxHd
20gig 7200 rpm maxtor hd
Samsung 32/10/40 cdrw (8mb cache! I laugh at ur 40x!
samsung 12x dvd
300w generic PSU (atx board)
250w generic PSU (Fan psu)
THe silver orb (Yes...i know..)

Second
I want to get something that will get me a good, noticeable gain, but i only wanna upgrade my motherboard, ram, and cpu. Heres my 2 options

Nforce2 + axp ??
I dont know which XP's oc better.. i saw 1800+ tbred, but have heard 2400+ are good at ocing. What xp's are best at oc'n

OR

P4 2.2 or 2.4
not sure which mobo i would get for this....any with 8x agp?

Ill probly be getting ddr400 ram, all depends how much $$ i have left, out of $500, im hopin to get at least a 256 stick c2 geil or something along those lines...

my questions..
1. i want the most bang for my buck. I want to oc, since im working now i can afford to get a good watercooling system in a few weeks/months or even a promethia. Which oc better. and which are most adaptable for future upgrades??

Thanks.
Mark@theitch.net (comming soon)

For an AMD setup how about...
a) Asus Motherboard Model# A7N8X - NForce2 chipset, onboard LAN, AGP 8, 6 USB 2.0 - $125 at newegg
b) 2 sticks CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series 256MB 32MX8 PC-3500C2 With Heat Spreader - run in dual channel DDR on the Asus - $236 at newegg
c) AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred - should be able to overclock very well int this set up - $57 at newegg.

total w/ free fedex shipping = $418.
Then get yourself a nice HSF combo, maybe a Thermalright SLK-800 ($38) and Thermaltake SMART CASE FAN II ($17) w/ some AS3 ($6) and your at about $500 all together.

-The board will take the newest AXP chips, give you dual ddr, and support the next gen vid cards. The ram will should handle just about anything. The AXP1700 is a great bang-for-the-buck processor and you can upgrade that when you're ready for a new toy.

"It's my sexy zoo and I can do whatever I want." - Frank O'Hara

Maybe he should go for the Epox EP-8RDA+... same chipset, loads of OC options.

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

Sure. It's virtually the same price (out-of-stock at newegg right now) and Anand gave it the gold, the Asus a silver in his nforece2 comparison. Looks like the epox has some nice bios features including a higher option on cpu voltage. Either board should be 1 hell of an improvement on what he's got now and keep him happy for a long time.

"It's my sexy zoo and I can do whatever I want." - Frank O'Hara

Yes, the board support the new 333MHz FSB Athlons and if the 400Mhz Barton would come it will support it too.
And the onboard sound is really great for an integrated one.
If I had to buy a new board it will be that Epox board for sure!

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

I take it i can run in dual channel with the epox board?
also:
are the pci and agp buses locked on the epox? divisor of 1/6? i wanna oc but i dont wanna blow my good ol gforce2mx Is it fair to say the 1800+ tbred coould get to 2ghz?


Mark

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheItchdotnet on 12/28/02 02:33 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

The epox will handle dual ddr - it's part of the nforce2 chipset architecture.
this is from Anandtech's review, "As far as we can tell, the Epox 8RDA+ contains just an AGP lock, but no visible PCI lock. We've haven't been able to get confirmation from Epox as to whether this board locks the PCI bus at 33MHz or not, but we'll update this section as soon as we hear back from Epox. We had absolutely no trouble overclocking the Epox 8RDA+, and in fact, this board ended up achieving the highest stable FSB out of any other nForce2 motherboard tested in our labs."
www.anandtech.com

read the rest for yourself. they also review the Asus and a few other nforce2 boards. The Asus has agp and/or pci locks as well. I'm not sure about 2ghz on the 1800 tbred but I wouldn't be surprised to see it given the right setup, cooling, and cpu core/stepping.


"It's my sexy zoo and I can do whatever I want." - Frank O'Hara

Hows this memory look?

http://store.yahoo.com/ocsystem/ocz25pc40ddr.html

sorry if i linked the wrong way..not too sure how yet.
i have two sticks of that ram, the epox board for $318. the cpu is only 60, which would put me at 378 then would just need a cooler...Sound alright?

I think you have to enable html under your user profile to make an active link but no worries, I haven't done it either. I'm not familiar with Geil so I'm no help there. I can say that the corsair ought to be some of the best you can buy. and the corsair xms comes in 2700 or 3200 levels as well if you want to save a few dollars.
Definately ask in the memory forum if anyone has experience with Geil before you buy them, though. Even if they're a good price their perforemance may not be worth it.

"It's my sexy zoo and I can do whatever I want." - Frank O'Hara

HMm, i read two reviews on the ram, looks to perform really well for oc'n. Verywell actually. Got the editors choice at oc-cafe and tech zone. SO i think 99 per stick for 400mhz mem isnt too bad at all I was thinking of maybe just getting the retial version of the 1800+ tbred now. Id alrady get a fan and on top of that a 3 year warretny. (so in two years I can break it, send it back, and sell a new one on ebay to help me upgrade. Its only an extra 6 bucks for the retail where i found it.

Now, as far as next months cooling purchase...How would this cooler work
http://store.yahoo.com/ocsystem/mctherheatas.html

compared to watercooling? Im not framiliar with peltier, so any help is good.


update: Ive decided to switch to this ram.
http://store.yahoo.com/ocsystem/foncol25fonc.html

Mark

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheItchdotnet on 12/28/02 10:29 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

The pc3500 is the best choice you can make for ddr right now so go for it.
I don't know about peltiers but look through the heatsinks forum, there are some threads in there with some info. It may be a little too extreme, and pricey ($92?). If you want to oc the processor you'll have to get a new hsf - I wouldn't trust the stock cooler. And you'll void your warranty if you oc so there may not be any benefit to getting the retail package when you consider you're going to dump the hsf that it comes with and you have every intention of oc'ing as soon as you can.
Get the oem tbred, maybe a thermalright sk-7(about $12 cheaper than the slk-800 and practically as good), and a good fan.
You'll be VERY happy with this setup, I promise.

"It's my sexy zoo and I can do whatever I want." - Frank O'Hara

I don't recommend toying with peltiers if you don't have any experience with them... you can easily fry your CPU with them and they are more complex then they look.
I really don't recommend HSF+peltier cooling... the heat inside your case will get insane and temps still will be over 50C at full load... watercooler with or without peltier is far more efficient and performs better. Also you will need a really loud fan to cool that HSF+peltier combo.

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

Well, i do believe i gotta learn sometime. Im pretty good with things so i think after reading tutorials i should be alright with it. KNow of any..not sire if theres one here at THG or not, but i think its time i move up.

Thx
mark

Atleast go for watercooling if you want to mess around with peltiers... aircooling is just a waiste of money.
I can learn you some basics about peltiercooling as I own a peltier and are doing my graduationproject about them... but you got to keep in mind that it will cost loads of money and time to set up a working system... and the chance that you fry your CPU is pretty high.

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

the party about the "loads of money" just drew my attention...which part of this will cost me my first born? Im a poor kid who works at a resturant to pay insurence on my rice burner, but my mom pays the electric Learn me the basics plz

Mark

Well first you will need a good watercooling but lets get into the peltier details.
For CPU OC'ing I recommend atleast a 100W peltier... 120W or higher is best. Then you need a powersupply that can give you atleast the maximum wattage of the peltier at one of the voltages the peltier supports (depends on peltier). You also need isolation for your motherboard and socket.
A peltier works as a heat pump without moving parts (exept for electrons) that transports heat from the cold side to the heat side. The peltier can only move the maiumum wattage on heat from the cold to the hot side. The peltier will also add the same amount of heat to moved one... so if you move 100W of heat, you will get 200W of heat at the hot side. The peltier will create a temp difference between the hot and cold side called deltaT... the max value can only be reached with 0W heat input at the cold side... and will degrade with a higher heat imput. The deltaT for x Watt heat input is specific for the peltier.
Because the cold side of the peltier gets below ambient when the hot side is properly cooled, condensation will occur at everything that touches the cold side. This is the reason that you need to isolate everything around the CPU: the socket outside and inside, the back of the mobo and the space between your mobo and waterblock.
If you install the peltier wrong, don't cool the hot side enough, don't supply it with enough and proper power or transmit to much heat to the cold side the peltier will fail which in 9 of the 10 cases will fry atleast your CPU and maybe peltier and (in rare and unlucky cases) mobo.

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

I know what you should do!
Send all your money to me!!!



<b><font color=purple>[Rik_]</font color=purple> I wonder how many people have made their own phasechange system?
<font color=blue>[LHGPooBaa]</font color=blue> I get phasechange whenever i eat a hot chillie </b>

No no, sponser my OC project and help me buy PC3500 RAM.

My PC eats so much money that I'm in 'desperate' need of it to buy PC3500 RAM, help Svol with his OC project!
--- PM me for information.

Ok, two things this time.

It has come to my attention that i will need a new psu to tackle this project. Has anyone ever heard of Raidmax psus?
particularly this one: http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve [...] roduct=286

TO me it looks ok, but I wouldnt know a good psu from a light switch. I was also lookin at this one:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 17-103-420

Ive heard alot of good things about forton psus. toms hardware gave it a good look. THing is newegg dont got the memory i want and im trying to save on shipping here

And to sponsor your OC'n project so u can get ddr3500, do what i do:
1. Buy a broken ps2 or x-box on ebay, for 50 bones.
2. Goto walmart, buy a ps2 or x-box for 200.
3. Take the broken one back in the new ones box, and get a replacement.
4. Sell the brand new one at ebay for 150ish..Make a quick 100, get a 256meg stick of Geil 433 ultra

THx
Mark