Help with my AMD 2500+ build

[Ranjit]

Hi,

I am planning to build a AMD 2500+ PC and wanted some help from good
Samaritans out here.
Before I bother you with my question, here is what I have and plan to have
I have:
- 256mb 2100 DDR RAM
- CD-RW
- 80gb HDD
- mouse/kb/monitor

Now the main components are missing, please suggest me on the following.
- Processor : AMD 2500+ (2600 is just about 5-10$ away, but has less cache,
should I still go for it ?)
- mobo : A7N8X Deluxe or ABit NF7 Which of the two would u suggest ?
- Grpahics card : asus ????
- Case : no idea about this one, any descent mid priced

I am a student so basically would like to keep the budget as low as I can.
I will mostly use it for development, movies and games (not that I need AGP
for my UT but a descent performance is ok).

Thanks in advance for help.
-Ranjit

 

[Ed_]

Hi,

I am planning to build a AMD 2500+ PC and wanted some help from good
Samaritans out here.
Before I bother you with my question, here is what I have and plan to have
I have:
- 256mb 2100 DDR RAM
- CD-RW
- 80gb HDD
- mouse/kb/monitor

Now the main components are missing, please suggest me on the following.
- Processor : AMD 2500+ (2600 is just about 5-10$ away, but has less cache,
should I still go for it ?)
- mobo : A7N8X Deluxe or ABit NF7 Which of the two would u suggest ?
- Grpahics card : asus ????
- Case : no idea about this one, any descent mid priced

I am a student so basically would like to keep the budget as low as I can.
I will mostly use it for development, movies and games (not that I need AGP
for my UT but a descent performance is ok).

Thanks in advance for help.
-Ranjit

I have a similiar build that has run without a twitch since early April....

Asus A7N8X Deluxe (Retail), Rev. 2.0 Bios 1003
AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR (Retail)
512 Crucial 2700
MSI Ti4200-VTD8X 128MB 8X AGP
Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM DiamondMax Plus 9
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM DiamondMax Plus 9
LITE-ON 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S
LITE-ON XJ-HD166S 16X DVD ROM Drive
CHIEFTEC Aluminum Model AX-01BLD
450W AMD approved Austin Power Supply
Windows XP Pro, SP1
Monsoon 505 5.1 Speakers
Envision EN-7100e [Monitor] (17.1"

I don't do games so I can't help there but I use it for videos, music, cd
burning, photo editing..etc. I really like this setup a lot. It's quite stable
and runs at 38-45Proc, 26-32 mobo.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Abit board but since the Asus is, by
far, the most popular Nforce2 there is a lot more peer to peer support in the
newsgroups. I spent a lot of time following the alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus
newsgroup before I started the build and got a lot of good info there. Prolly
saved my ass on a few items since I find it easier to learn from someone else's
mistakes rather than my own dumb screwups.

Good luck, Ed

 

[pjgtech]

Hi,

I am planning to build a AMD 2500+ PC and wanted some help from good
Samaritans out here.
Before I bother you with my question, here is what I have and plan to
have
I have:
- 256mb 2100 DDR RAM
- CD-RW
- 80gb HDD
- mouse/kb/monitor

Now the main components are missing, please suggest me on the following.
- Processor : AMD 2500+ (2600 is just about 5-10$ away, but has less
cache,
should I still go for it ?)
- mobo : A7N8X Deluxe or ABit NF7 Which of the two would u suggest ?
- Grpahics card : asus ????
- Case : no idea about this one, any descent mid priced

=====================

I have an AMD 2500+ barton cpu based system which I have just built, and
it is working great and flies along nicely.

I built the system in an Antec case, with the option for lots of fans.

I have an Asus A7N8X Deluxe m/b which also works great and makes
overclocking v.easy. The board has 2 x on-board lan ports, firewir, 8x
agp, sata support, on-board 5.1 sound (6 channel), etc.

I'm also using 512mb (2 x 256mb) Crucial pc2700 (333fsb) DDR ram.
Maxtor 120gb sata h/d (with 8mb cache)

Radeon 9600 pro 126mb agp card (supports 8x agp and directx9)

I've overclocked/overbussed the system from 1.8mhz (11 x 166fsb) to 2.1mhz
(12 x 175fsb). I did not need to increase any voltages to get this. I've
also overclocked the radeon 9600 pro from the default core/memory clock
settings of 400/340 to 500/365 and the card works fine.

Using win xp home and directx9a I have clocked a score of well over 4000
on 3Dmark2003 with this sytem.



*Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~pjgtech/home.html

 

[Ranjit]

Hi,

I am planning to build a AMD 2500+ PC and wanted some help from good
Samaritans out here.

<snip>

Thanks all for the useful info.
Today I got my 80GB drive and ordered a Athlon XP 2500+ barton CPU and the
Asus A7N8X-DX from newegg.

Now that i have exhausted my budget , pls suggest me a mid range graphics
card that will go well with my system (can I get a descent one for about 50$
?).

Thanks once again.
Ranjit

 

[rAD]

Well, you could overclock your PC2100 to 147MHz or so. You could run an XP1700+ ($50) at 147x12.5=1837MHz. But if you want a Barton you should just get some PC3200. This 200MHz FSB system would overclock your Barton at a fairly low price, $380. Reusing your PC2100 and an XP1700+ would knock that down to $240.


Qty Product Item # Unit Price Qty x Price

Raidmax Model 208(BEIGE) 10-bay Case Retail
Diamond Series Steel Mid-tower case with Built in USB in the front. Attractive Streamline design.
Specifications:
Material: Zinc Plated Steel
Driver Bays: Exposed 4 X 5.25" - 2 X 3.5" Internal 4 X 3.5"
System Board: ATX / Baby ATX
Expansion Slot: 7 Slots
Standard Fans: 1x 80mm Side Panel Fan
Optional Fans: 2 X 80mm (front) 1 X 60mm (rear)
Dimension: 16.2"(H) X 8"(W) X 17.8"(D) ***No Power Supply*** more info-> N82E16811156011 $18.00 $18.00


Shuttle Motherboard for AMD processors Model AN35N-Ultra Retail
Specifications:
Supported CPU:AMD Socket A, Athlon XP, Athlon, Duron CPU
Chipset:nForce2 Ultra 400 + MCP
FSB:200/266/333/400MHz
RAM:On Board 3 x 184-pin DDR Socket, Up to 3 GB
IDE:4x Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 IDE up to 4 Devices
Slots:1X 8X AGP slot, 5x PCI slots
Ports:2xPS2,1xLPT,2xCOM,1xLAN,2xUSB, Audio & Gameport
Onboard Audio:Realtek ALC650, 5.1 channel audio
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8201BL 10/100 MBS Ethernet more info-> N82E16813150045 $77.00 $77.00


ATI OEM RADEON 9000 Atlantis PRO 64mb DDR DVI/CRT/TV out,BULK
Powered By ATI, Produced by Saphire Features:
Graphics Controller RADEON 9000Pro graphics processing unit (GPU) Memory Configuration- 64Mb DDR, 128-bit memory.
Connector Standard DVI (Flat Panel Display) connector
15-pin VGA connector S-Video connector
Bus Interface: AGP2X/4X
Operating Systems Support
Windows 98SE, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP
OEM BULK pack (includes driver and Svideo cable) Powered by ATI, Manufactured by Sapphire more info-> N82E16814102230 $67.00 $67.00


Sparkle Power 300 Watt Switching Power Supply for P4 Processors, FSP300-60ATV OEM
Specifications: High efficiency, Internal 12 VDC fan included,Low noise and ripple Short circuit protection on all outputs
MTBF above 50,000 hrs. at 25° C
Overload Protection: 150% Max.
Maximum power: 300W
Dimensions(WxHxL):5.9"x3.4"x5.5" more info-> N82E16817103915 $27.00 $27.00


?Top Seller!
AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL
Specifications:
CPU: 1.83 GHz
Type: XP 2500 Barton Core
Cache: 512K L2, 128K L1, Total 640KB
BUS: 333MHz
Socket A
Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included)
more info-> N82E16819103379 $97.00 $97.00


?Top Seller!
GEIL DDR RAM 512MB PC-3200 Value 400MHz Ultra- CAS 2.5, 2T CommandGL5123200B Value. DDR400, CAS 2.5, 184 Pin Dimm, 6 Layer PCB, Aluminum Heat Spreader, bulk pkg - Lifetime Warranty. more info-> N82E16820144305 $87.00 $87.00


Speeze CPU Fan Model 5F263B1M3 for AMD/Intel Socket A/370
Specifications:
Supported Socket type: 370/Socket A
Dimensions Heat sink :12VDC Fan : 74×74×47 mm (l × w × h)
80×80×25mm Bearing Ball bearing
Rated speed 2500 RPM +/-10%Rated power 1.56 W
Noise level 26.5 dBA Air flow 31.70 CFM at 2500 RPM
Features Aluminum fan frame CPU: Intel Pentium III ~ 1,4 GHz (FC-PGA2) Pentium III ~ 1,13 GHz (FC-PGA) Celeron ~ 1,8 GHz (PPGA) AMD : Athlon XP ~ 3000+ (Thoroughbred) Athlon XP ~ 2100+ (Palomino) Athlon ~ 1,4 GHz (T-Bird)Duron 1.3 more info-> N82E16835150010 $7.00 $7.00




Subtotal » $380.00

 

[Ranjit]

<snip>

<VGA card>
ATI OEM RADEON 9000 Atlantis PRO 64mb DDR DVI/CRT/TV out,BULK
Powered By ATI, Produced by Saphire Features:
$67.00
</ VGA card>

wow !! this looks coool !
thanks for the link, I think I will go for this one.
After going through it looks Radeon is a bit better over GeForce.
However, can you tell me one thing. Can i later upgrade the card to a 128MB
one, or should i just go for the 128MB now ?

thanks,
Ranjit

 

[rAD]

<snip>

<VGA card>
ATI OEM RADEON 9000 Atlantis PRO 64mb DDR DVI/CRT/TV out,BULK
Powered By ATI, Produced by Saphire Features:
$67.00
</ VGA card>

wow !! this looks coool !
thanks for the link, I think I will go for this one.
After going through it looks Radeon is a bit better over GeForce.
However, can you tell me one thing. Can i later upgrade the card to a 128MB
one, or should i just go for the 128MB now ?

Beats me. I'm not a gamer so all video looks the same to me. It was just a
cheap card that a lot of people bought and liked.

 

[AJ]

Thanks all for the useful info.
Today I got my 80GB drive and ordered a Athlon XP 2500+ barton CPU and the
Asus A7N8X-DX from newegg.

I'm very glad you got the Barton. The 2600+ won't OC for me even
100Mhz extra. This after I had the 2100+ running at 2700+ rock solid
and the CPU staying under 38C. I'm getting the 2500+ Barton Friday. I
also have the A7N8X-DX.
_________________________
When your PC gives a little they give alot:
http://tinyurl.com/hhez

 

[AJ]

..

<snip>

Thanks all for the useful info.
Today I got my 80GB drive and ordered a Athlon XP 2500+ barton CPU and the
Asus A7N8X-DX from newegg.

Yep, the 2500+ is a winner. Changed FSB to 200, RAM locked so it's
also 200, and it booted to WIN98 perfectly first time. Sandra reports
it's a 3200+. CPU 37C idle with a Zalman Flower using 2 large quiet
fans on it. Lots of case cooling. Seems like a good deal for $100
delivered. That's the retail package with HSF I'll put on another CPU.
BTW, avoid the regular XP2600+ since it would not OC even 100Mhz.
_________________________
When your PC gives a little they give alot:
http://tinyurl.com/hhez

 

[Ranjit]

Beats me. I'm not a gamer so all video looks the same to me. It was just a
cheap card that a lot of people bought and liked.

Bought it today at newegg, thanks !
last bit of help from u guys, pls suggest a descent Case and power supply.

Thanks,
-Ranjit

 

[rAD]

Bought it today at newegg, thanks !
last bit of help from u guys, pls suggest a descent Case and power supply.

Thanks,
-Ranjit

These are my favorite cheap ones:

Raidmax case, no PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-156-011
$33 shipped

Evercase toolless, no PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-127-014
$40 shipped

Sparkle Power (Fortron) 300 Watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-103-915
$33 shipped

Fortron 300watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-104-976
$30 shipped

-------------

Evercase toolless w 300watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-127-012

$64 shipped

--------------

Foxconn case w 350 watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-154-017

$47 shipped


If you like to tinker you'll love the toolles Evercases

 

[Ed_]

These are my favorite cheap ones:

Raidmax case, no PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-156-011
$33 shipped

Evercase toolless, no PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-127-014
$40 shipped

Sparkle Power (Fortron) 300 Watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-103-915
$33 shipped

Fortron 300watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=17-104-976
$30 shipped

-------------

Evercase toolless w 300watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-127-012

$64 shipped

--------------

Foxconn case w 350 watt PSU
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-154-017

$47 shipped


If you like to tinker you'll love the toolles Evercases

I used the Evercase for a build back in December and I really like this case.
The tool less factor is much nicer than I expected and the removeable hard drive
cages are very nice. The PS are adequate but for some reason the 5v is always a
tad low. I have a front panel printout somewhere if anyone wants to email me
I'll send it to you.

I also have the Foxconn, although it's still in the box. I was surprised at the
quality of this case for the price. I really thought it would be flimsy but
it's quite a sturdy little case.

Ed

 

[Ranjit]

I also have the Foxconn, although it's still in the box. I was surprised at the
quality of this case for the price. I really thought it would be flimsy but
it's quite a sturdy little case.

Hi Rad and Ed,

Thanks a ton.
I think I finally have everything and there are lying somewhere in the us
(in the FedEx boxes ),
I ordered a radeon 9000 Atlantis and the foxconn case.
I hope that they arrive soon so that I can build my PC and get it to rock
and roll .
Once again thanx for all the help.

Ranjit