Please, some help on building system

  • Thread starter Thread starter George
  • Start date Start date
G

George

I need to build a system with existing parts I have because of finances. My
Abit KT7 Raid finally crapped out and I need to build something that doesn't
have to be a hotrod. I was thinking of a Asus A7N8X-X, but that one needs
DDR ram and uses a 1.5V video card. I would like to keep the motherboard
under $75, like I said, it doesn't need to be the biggest and baddest on the
block, just something reliable and easy for me to configure, like a
jumperless board.
I know there are a lot of you guys out there that know a ton more than me,
some help please.
The parts I have and would need to use are
SB 128 sound card
Viper 550 video card
Netgear 310 Lan card
AMD 900 T-Bird CPU
512 SDRAM memory
2 WD Hard drives
Lite On CD Burner

thank you,
Geo
 
On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 12:49:24 GMT, "George" <[email protected]>



You could try an ECS K7S5A, that will accept your SDRAM and also
supports DDR RAM. Max CPU though is 2400+.

Not sure about your vid card but i had a geforce 2 mx and that worked
ok
 
George said:
I need to build a system with existing parts I have because of finances. My
Abit KT7 Raid finally crapped out and I need to build something that doesn't
have to be a hotrod. I was thinking of a Asus A7N8X-X, but that one needs
DDR ram and uses a 1.5V video card. I would like to keep the motherboard
under $75, like I said, it doesn't need to be the biggest and baddest on the
block, just something reliable and easy for me to configure, like a
jumperless board.
I know there are a lot of you guys out there that know a ton more than me,
some help please.
The parts I have and would need to use are
SB 128 sound card
Viper 550 video card
Netgear 310 Lan card
AMD 900 T-Bird CPU
512 SDRAM memory
2 WD Hard drives
Lite On CD Burner

thank you,
Geo
Click to expand...

Well, if you're looking to keep everything else then it's more, or less, a
'repair' kind of thing, in which case a KT133A chipset board fits the bill.
The thing to remember is there's no upgradability to XP processors if you
go that route. On the other hand, you can get a MSI KT133A for $25.80,
shipped, from http://www.pcpartsohio.com/BookDetail.aspx?item_id=336&

It's not raid, though.

I think an MSI BIOS flash will remove the Gateway logo. (check pricewatch
for other sources)

Another option is to get an ECS K7S5A Pro, which can use either SDR or DDR
SDRAM: 2 slots of each but not both types at the same time. With that board
you could upgrade up to an XP 2400+ (max FSB is 266, although with the 3'rd
part Honey-X BIOS you can get a little higher. No Vcore adjust though)

The K7S5A Pro has some interesting features but a few problems as well. PCI
slot 1 has an interrupt problem with the AGP slot: Just don't use PCI-1;
not a big deal with 5 slots there. More problematic is a significant number
of the boards just randomly lose the CMOS settings at unspecified times and
for no identifiable reason. It's irritating as hell but you get used to
re-entering the BIOS setting (as you may have guessed by now, I have one).
The final problem is it some times boots up with the sound dead. Not a
problem for you as you'd be using your existing sound card.

The good news is these people
http://www.cmishop.com/store/ShowDe...MfgPartNo=&nCategorySubID=125&txtSiteTrack=FG
have it for $39.91, plus shipping, so it's not dramatically more expensive
than a KT133A 'replacement' board. The bad news is it REQUIRES an AGP 4x
video card. There is no ADP 2x support and, unless I'm mistaken, your Viper
550 is 2x.
 
George said:
needs DDR ram and uses a 1.5V video card. I would like to keep the
motherboard under $75, like I said, it doesn't need to be the biggest
and baddest on the block, just something reliable and easy for me to
configure, like a jumperless board.
Click to expand...

Grab a deal like this and upgrade the whole shebang for under $75:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42010&item=
6702580211
[not my auction]

Just be sure to check feedback before bidding.

Search with this, just replace the kt133a with kt133 or kt266 to find more
options:
http://search-desc.ebay.com/kt133a-compaq-gateway_Motherboards-for-
Desktop-
PC_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQcatrefZC6QQsatitleZkt133aQ20-
compaqQ20-
gatewayQQsacategoryZ4613Q26catrefQ3DC6QQsotextsearchedZ2QQsacurrencyZ1QQso
trZ2

or
http://tinyurl.com/5l4bf
 
Want a nightmare ?

ECS K7S5A
You can read the horror stories of them losing their bios settings and/or
simply dropping dead. Yeh, it happened to me too.

--
Jan Alter
(e-mail address removed)
or
(e-mail address removed)12.pa.us
Mac Cool said:
George said:
needs DDR ram and uses a 1.5V video card. I would like to keep the
motherboard under $75, like I said, it doesn't need to be the biggest
and baddest on the block, just something reliable and easy for me to
configure, like a jumperless board.
Click to expand...

Grab a deal like this and upgrade the whole shebang for under $75:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42010&item=
6702580211
[not my auction]

Just be sure to check feedback before bidding.

Search with this, just replace the kt133a with kt133 or kt266 to find more
options:
http://search-desc.ebay.com/kt133a-compaq-gateway_Motherboards-for-
Desktop-
PC_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQcatrefZC6QQsatitleZkt133aQ20-
compaqQ20-
gatewayQQsacategoryZ4613Q26catrefQ3DC6QQsotextsearchedZ2QQsacurrencyZ1QQso
trZ2

or
http://tinyurl.com/5l4bf
Click to expand...
 
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