Okay I put this off long enough.

[kermit]

Okay I put this off long enough. Practor and you other buffs I need your final advice.

I am upgrading my computer this week and need some advice on, MEMORY, and FANS inlcuding HEATSINK, also TOWER.

I am going with the:

ASUS A7N8X-X motherboard.

I am hoping to bet the AMD Barton 2600+ processor.

Memory: I'm going to go with 512 but what should I get as far as company, etc.

What kind of FANS including the HEATSINk I was considering going with THERMALTAKE, what do I need. Please be specific so I can search them online and buy them. I'm not much of a fan buff. Nothing too expensive.

Lastly, towers. What brands and models are good. Preferably black.

Right now I'm running 1800+ and the processor causes my computer to lag.

 

[Praetor]

I am hoping to bet the AMD Barton 2600+ processor

What are the odds?

Memory: I'm going to go with 512 but what should I get as far as company, etc.

Corsair XMS (which is surprisingly affordable) or Corsair ValueSelect (dirt cheap as far as quality memory goes)

What kind of FANS including the HEATSINk I was considering going with THERMALTAKE, what do I need. Please be specific so I can search them online and buy them. I'm not much of a fan buff. Nothing too expensive

Depends on your desire for cooling or noise. Id get the Polo735 or another uber-fan and pop a fancontroller on it if u need to (it comes with one). As for case fans, again it comes down to your tolerance/requirement for noise. I run mostly Thunderblades (Tt), Tornados (Vantec) and Volcanos that ive removed from the HSF (Tt)

Lastly, towers. What brands and models are good. Preferably black.

Anything you like -- you're the one thats gonna have to look at it. I like the Chenming 601/901s.

 

[kermit]

Okay. Here is what I ended up getting Total w/ S&H was $347. I'm going to hold off on memory for another year. Right now I got 1x 512 pc2100 and 1x 256 pc2100 (I know! Give me a break okay!)

Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
ASUS CDRW 52x32x52 - If you didn't know already my previous CDRW was destroyed while installing a program. The disk in the drive shattered into a million pieces.
ThermalTake Volcano9 w/ 2x ThermalTake Blades 80mm fans (red)
Raidmax ATX-868 tower with 420watt power supply comes with fans.
Barton 2600+ CPU (I forgot thermal grease but someone at school has to have it)

Hopefully I'll notice a perfomance over my AMD Athalon XP 1800+ processor w/ terrible fan and K7S5A ? motherboard

 

[Praetor]

- Sweet optical i can personally vouch for the sheer brute force capabilities of that drive
- When you say Thermaltake Blades...you mean Thunderblades right?
- COnsider a diffferent PSU .... raidmax isnt known for their dependability
- The CPU fan will come with thermalpaste
- Get the XP2500 dude ... 66Mhz slower and a lot easier to find. Just as easy to OC

 

[kermit]

- Get the XP2500 dude ... 66Mhz slower and a lot easier to find. Just as easy to OC

I already purchased the Barton XP2600+ for about $90.

 

[Praetor]

Oh ok...no harm done

 

[kermit]

How do you think this set-up will fair as a gaming system?

Lastly, how do I find out what type of ram this motherboard will support?????????

 

[Praetor]

How do you think this set-up will fair as a gaming system?

For the money, a P4C is a better (and will last longer) route to go

Lastly, how do I find out what type of ram this motherboard will support?????????

1. Read the manual
2. Look at the website
3. DDR

 

[kermit]

I found some memory for sale. What do you think about this:

Manufacturer: Geil
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2.5 6-3-3
Support Voltage: 2.55V-2.95V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit
Special Features: Optimized SPD for Dual Channel DDR motherboards
Warranty: Lifetime

 

[Praetor]

How do you think this set-up will fair as a gaming system?

Depends how high/low your expectations are

how do I find out what type of ram this motherboard will support?????????

It supports 184pin DDR memory. Its highest nonOCd clock is 200MHz

I found some memory for sale. What do you think about this:

Go for the Corsair ValueSelects, should be cheaper

 

[kermit]

My expectations for this system is to create a reasonable priced, operating stysem, that will be consider norm or just below norm for gaming. Going top of the line, is way out of my price range.

 

[Praetor]

In that case the system will be fine