Psychoe

I am new, so hello everyone!!!!!!

Currently have:

a7n8x deluxe
amd athlon xp 1500+ mmx
768 mb ram
nvidia geforce4 mx440 agp8x 64mb

looking to upgrade cpu and vid card (thats why there are 2 posts - one here, one for vid card)

unsure of the xp2800 barton or xp3000 barton.
thinking of asus v9570td gf fx5700 256mb or ati saphire 9600xs 256mb

Curious of any issues with these potential setups, and what ppl would recommend.

thx
E!

agent-k

You may have noticed that both myself and praetor have xp2500 processors. These have the barton core and normally run on a 333Mhz Fsb.
If you increase the Fsb on your motherboard to 400Mhz then your computer will detect the processor as an xp3200. If you went out and priced up the two processors separately you would see a difference of about £80.00.
There is more to it than that though, you may have to make other alterations which I won't discuss here as this isn't the overclocking thread.
If you want to know more about this, post a question in the cpu and overclocking thread before you purchase a new cpu.

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Athlon XP2500 Barton O'Clocked to XP3200
Asus A7N8X-X
1 Gig 400 DDR Ram
160Gig Seagate Barracuda

Praetor

Get the XP2800, you can easily OC it to XP3200 ... even without, its not that far behind the XP3000

Both cards about on par as far as chips go (although ive not heard of the 9600XS) but i'd the the ASUS simply because they make stellar vid cards

Regardless of the CPU you get, consider getting an aftermarket fan as those chips will make quite the heat wave. If you're concerned about noise the Thermaltake Silentboost K7 is the route to go while if you want wreckless cooling, either the Volcano12 or the Polo735 (both by Thermaltake and both essentially the same setup, the Polo can be adapted for other CPUs too) are superb coolers

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ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8
4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400
5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10
OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

Psychoe

I think i would rather stay away from oc'ing. I dont know anything about it and wouldn't want to ruin my stuff.

lol - type-o - it is the 9600XT

i have a few fans to keep it cool, but may try first before buying an aftermarket.

It seems that people are 50-50 on this one. Some say ATI is better and some say no. I am totally unsure about this one.

4W4K3

asus makes ATi cards...its not an ati/nvidia argument on this one. its what brand of ati or nvidia chip you want to buy. that might be a bit confusing.

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My Computer
I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe.
Can I eat your brain?
FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

Praetor

A few fans yes but a few CPU fans? There's a big distinction.

Whoever says ASUS makes bad video cards should be shot regardless of whether they like ATi or nVidia (ASUS also makes ATi cards too). Note at ATi falls under the image of "stock" even if you look at their premium cards etc while ASUS (as well as other makes) fall under the category of "aftermarket/premium"

__________________
ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8
4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400
5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10
OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

Psychoe

understood. Which cpu fan is the best then. U said that for quietness, thermaltake silentboost k7 is the best?

Praetor

I would quite say "best" as there's always gonna be something better i guess but yeah the SIlentboostK7 is a damn nice setup for acoustically-sensitive people

__________________
ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8
4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400
5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10
OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

grimloch

IMO i woulnd't get a 256mb graphics, as far as performance is concerned you'd be better getting off getting a good 128mb like a 9800 pro, the 256 is a marketing ploy as far as most of them are concerned

Praetor

Agreed, there isnt much of a NEED for 256MB yet regardless of what salespeople tell you If you're in the just-over-$200 budget the 9800Pro is probably the best option, if you're in the just-under-$200 budget, the best is the GFX5900XT

__________________
ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8
4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400
5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10
OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI