Want To Upgrade But I Dont Know What To Please Help

[bigjonnyauk]

HI ALL

right here is my problem

i have a few pounds say 150 quid and want to help my comp along abit

now my first is ram going to get some 2700 crucial

but this is my dilemma

i have a msi kt3 ultra mobo which in its time got good ratings and can still hold its own now

but it wont take a 2500 barton
BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it will take a xp2400 now comparing the 2 i see the 2400 is quicker at 2.0ghz whereas the 2500 is 1.83

does the 512k level 2 cache really make that much difference and is there hidden stuff that makes this processer faster

options

stick with my mobo and get a xp2400 ==save some pennies for other bits

buy a new mobo with barton 2500 and slightly overspend

also my graphics card is a winfast a350tdh which is 8x which my board dosent have

a new board would have but i read that theres not much difference between the two

any help on suggestions for mobo or do i stick with mine

thanks all

[SilentDeath]

firsly agp speed makes almost no differnce over 4x though is you want to have it faster for th sake of it you can always o/c the agp bus a bit (by changing the diver between the fsb) which will do basicly the same thing. i wouldnt recommend going over 75mhz though, but ive never tryed it
your mobo likely wont support any barton processors, i dont know what would happen if you tryed, it might be that you just have to set the fsb and multis manually?
also note that recent TBREDS are using the THORTON core instead - which is just a barton with half the cache disabled. dont know what would happen igf you tryed one of these either, though it would probably work.
one thing ive been told is that a barton is generally quicker than a tbred, even if the barton is 200mhz slower clocked. i think the advantage of the extra cache or fsb would be dependant on what your doing, some programs wil run faster on one and slower on the other.
all tbred B's should be capable of o/c to 2.2ghz, many have done 2.4ghz with only air cooling. i think bartons would be about the same, +they are 200mhz faster anyway.
TBRED A cpus are crap and should eb avioded. while htey should b ok at stock speeds, they wont get that much faster. iirc amd have never made tbre A versions of the 2400 so it shouldnt matter
also note that all bartons and tbreds after week 40 have been multiplyer locked. there is a method to unlock but it may just be nicer to o/c by FSB instead.
pc3200 ram isnt much more expensive than pc2700 atall. infact pc world have 256mb sticks atm for about £20 which is good!

if you have a look at the manuf site for your mobo it may have a bios to allow bartons but i doubt it (i expect the only reson they officailly dont support it is due to 333 fsb? it wil run fine with slower fsb but would require you to set its speed yourself in bios whihc may be difficult with a locked chip.

dabs have a very basic nforce2 mobo for £40 which ive heard good things about.
DFI lanparty ultra 400 nforce2 mobos are suppost to be the best for overclocking with atm...
i would recommend you stay with teh mobo youve got though and get a 2400+ or lesser cpu (if tbred B) and o/c.
what gfx card have you got (i assume you use the pc for games?). a gf4 card (not MX ones though) are good enuf but if youve got anything less than a gf3 i recommend just get a 2400+ and a 9600pro gfx card

[Spud1]

if your gonna be spending money theres one thing i have learnt

Never go for bottom or mid-range unless you really have to. upgrade slowly but upgrade to the best. this way you will save money in teh long run (trust me)

i would say get a new mobo, MSI k7N2delta ILSR is a good NF2 board ( i run my rig on one). get the barton core cpu aswell it is faster - the extra cache makes a diff.

Get 3200ram instead of 2700, i learnt this lesson the hard way buy getting some crucial 2700 ram then being unable to overclock anything as the ram just ****e dup
www.shop4memory.com have some good 3200 stuff at nice prices

as for gfx a 9800pro is the obvious choice but unless your having probs playing games atm wait till the new cards come out and grab a 9800pro at a cheeeep price

[Kezzer]

Never go for bottom or mid-range unless you really have to. upgrade slowly but upgrade to the best. this way you will save money in teh long run (trust me)

Or save up all your money and get all the parts in one go

[Korky]

You can easily o/c ur 266fsb 2500+ to 333 without trouble on most decent boards, u can even make it 333 by simply joining the L12 bridge so dont bother getting a 333 version. If you get an nf7-s u kill 2 birds with the one pellet.

[funnelhead]

korky what are you talking about man?

2500's are 333 fsb. you want to get them on a 400fsb

And i have to disagree with spudgun - getting the best is not the most cost effective option. Neither is buying cheap crap. The best value for money is always in buying second best.

Why pick up a 9800 xt for £350, when you can get a 9800 pro for £178 ??

why pick up a 3200 for £200 when you can get 2500 for £58

why get 250gb for £159 when you can get 160 gb £69 ?

[all those cheap prices are from komplett]

on the other hand i agree with your statement on ram - always go for 3200 ram.

i would say to jonny (am i right in thinking ur graphics card is a 5900 ?)

dabsvalue nforce 2 £37 (made by biostar) [its single channel but otherwise good]

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/comp...quicklinx=2Q7L

and barton 2500 £58
twinmoss 3200 512 mb winbond £57

from www.Komplett.co.uk

Thats £152

obviously you need to allow for delivery and a cpu cooler.

thats my hat wih 2 pennies

easy no, F

[Korky]

arg, sorry mixed up with numbers 333/400 were what i meant, :S but the rule applies

[bigjonnyauk]

ah well im even more confused now graphics wise i am ok like i said i have a winfast a350 tdh which is a fx5900 but has been soft modded to a 5950

so now i may be looking at new mobo ,barton and 3200 ram lol

could i squeeze this in at 150

[mike_w]

so now i may be looking at new mobo ,barton and 3200 ram lol

could i squeeze this in at 150

I'd say closer to £200 (NF7-S £65, 2500+ Barton £60, 512mb PC3200 £60, the graphics card (i think) is fine for now

[BUFF]

so now i may be looking at new mobo ,barton and 3200 ram lol

could i squeeze this in at 150

More like £160 for a basic nForce2 board £50 (ABIT NF7 V2.0, ASUS A7N8X V2.0, MSI K7N2 Delta L), XP2500 £60 & 512Mb PC3200 £45.

You can sell your old parts though which would let you get a fuller featured nForce 2 mobo.

[bigjonnyauk]

i think the graphics card will see me through for a while i only just got it lol and my what a beasty look at the cooling device on it missus wants to use it as a hairdryer lol

http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/wi..._tdh_lx_1.html