Hardware Dilemma (old AthlonXP mobo expired)

[Pleiades]

Hi, my *ahem* 'gaming' rig has just expired and I need to get it working again using the least amount of money possible! Here are the specs: Asrock K7Upgrade880 mobo, AthlonXP 3200+, 2x512MB DDR400Crucial, 512MB Gainward Bliss 7900GS+ AGP, Seagate 120GB, X-fi Extrememusic, Dell 2007, 550W PSU.

Now it doesn't boot up at all and I suspect the mobo, which is frustrating as I have the Upgrade daughterboard *and* the Athlon64 3700+ to go with it: but of course I can't try that now.
So here are what I think are my best options:
1) Just get an Asrock K7NF2 Nforce board and hope to get a whole new rig later.
2) Get an Asrock K8sli-esata2 so I can utilise the 3700+, my old RAM and other components (but it means purchasing a new PCI-E gfx card which would have to be an Nvidia if I want to SLI it later).
3) Get an Asrock 4Core Dual VSTA so I can use all components including DDR400 and AGP card but still upgrade to DDR2 (only 667Mhz tho) and PCI-E (but not SLI) later. This would require a Core2 Duo of some kind and I'm not sure I want to wait for the 2nd quarter price cuts (and E4300 intro)...
4)Try to find another Asrock K7-880 (but that's a bit dull).

Come to think of it, that's a lot of Asrock right there despite the fact that the mobo that's (allegedly) blown is an Asrock... hmm

Advice appreciated!

[awm]

What about the nForce 3 generation, AGP, DDR, Socket 939. It would allow you just to buy a new mobo which should be pretty cheep considering the age.

[schmunk]

If the 3700+ is a s939 chip, you could get the ASRock (again) 939Dual, which will utilise all your current bits and provide the possible upgrade to PCIe.

[Pleiades]

Forgot to mention the 3700+ is Socket 754! As I believe only the 754 Bridge card was made for the K7-880 Upgrade Xp board (tho I could be wrong). This then would be the fastest A64 I could use in that mobo.

Am now leaning toward DualVSTA and E4300 as a decent compromise.

Anyone else with this combo, I'd be happy to hear their opinion...

Cheers!

[awm]

Read some reviews of the DualVSTA, I think the PCIe is only 4x with sub par performance.

[Pleiades]

There is a new model out now, using Via 880 Ultra which I think is PCI-E 16x (4core Dual VSTA I believe it's called, now with official support for quad core)... only a couple of pounds more, if that, than its predecessor... leaning towards that model now.

[Pleiades]

My mistake, even 4core VSTA has only PCI-E 4x slot, tho in practice it makes very little difference apparently (I would quote the website, think it was Anandtech, but am not sure)...

[MiLaMber]

You are not alone my friend.
I am also thinking up grading to a 4 core dual vsta and 4300.
Admittedly its 4x PCI E, but at least this will get you up and running asap. Tests have shown not *that* much difference.
Having 4x PCI E is not a show stopper, more of a gap filler perhaps until more money comes your way and you can ditch the mobo & agpcard and go nf680i & pci.

I have a Athlon 2800+ (Stil!!), 6800gt agp card, that I'm struggling to let go of unless absolutely necessary (although when Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 come out I'll probably have no choice)
I'm certainly leaning towards this solution as a stop gap performance upgrade that wont break the bank

However I also have only 2 gigs ddr333 ram (man im ashamed of my pc now! lol), and as 4core dualvsta says it supports ddr400, i dunno if It will take ddr333??


If it doesnt, then I may have to say (insert expletive here) and get a new pc altogether...

[Pleiades]

Milamber, DDR333 is fine! Better to have 2 Gigs of that than (like me) 1Gig of DDR400 I reckon...

If you do get a VSTA pls let me know how u get on! I received my E4300 + mobo but haven't managed to get it to work yet - but the old 'broken' AthlonXP that I put in another case boots up fine now! ARgh!

I've tested most of the components in other machines and I can't for the life of me find the culprit for the original breakdown...

Unless it's the original case that's cursed - I'll b pullin VSTA out of that one and putting into (another) scavenged case and see what happens...

[MiLaMber]

Hmm I supposed you've tried removing and reseating the mobo in your "cursed" case?

[Pleiades]

Yes, I've tried it in another case too with different PSU, nothing! My sister & her boyfriend recently gave me their old PCs when they got new ones, so I've currently got 4 on the go, only 2 of which are working! I've been busy swapping components in & out and have identified a few dodgy ones, but nothing that would cause total boot failure... :-(

Oh well, I'll keep trying...

[Pleiades]

Hi, in case anyone is still interested (!) I've RMA'd Dual VSTA and got a 4core VSTA instead which appears to be working OK now

Only thing is, I *did* get random freezes until recently - seems alright at the moment

Also Sisoft Sandra + MBM report CPU at 1.71 GHz (it's actually a E4300 at stock 1.8GHZ) - bus is supposedly running at 4x190! But that's not wot it says in the BIOS...

Oh well, a PC is never 'finished' in my house, it's always just an ongoing project LOL

[sswats]

I had the exact same problem with regards the wrong CPU read out on the 4core VSTA
you just need to get the bios update from the asrock site. that sorted mine out.

Now its running the E4300 at 300fsb. Can't seem to get it higher than that tho

[Pleiades]

Thx, will try BIOS Flash. 300Mhz sounds fine to me for such a budget CPU + Mobo! Still a 50% overclock!

[Pleiades]

SSwats, if you're still there, could you elucidate on how you got your 300Mhz OC? I'm struggling with getting much above 250 at the mo' so would appreciate any advice...

Cheers!