New computer components

[dcprenti]

I am looking to buy a new skt A motherboard, an AMD processor, some
RAM and a 400W PSU and case to complete my PC upgrade. I currently
have a ati 9800se all-in-wonder.

Im looking to spend roughly 150 quid on the upgrade. This is what I
have in mind, from ebuyer:

1 x Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM 42149 £46.01 £46.01
1 x JNC 5JA 60 Case with 400W PSU in Blue 51066 £13.99 £13.99
1 x PcChips M848ALU SKT A SIS 748 400 DDR AGPx8 ATA133 6CH
Sound/lAN/USB 2.0 will Take Upto a 3.2+ AMD Athlon XP And Sempron
CPU's Motherboard in Retail Box 51760 £18.68 £18.68
1 x AMD ATHLON XP2500+ 333MHZ FSB 512 L2 Cache Barton CPU - OEM 47843


Can anyone offer a better sugestion or tell me why this purchase would
be a bad idea?

Thanks for the help in advance and I am aware that the question is
very basic.

==============
Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware troubleshooting newsgroups.

 

[John]

On 26 Aug 2004 08:04:37 -0400,

I am looking to buy a new skt A motherboard, an AMD processor, some
RAM and a 400W PSU and case to complete my PC upgrade. I currently
have a ati 9800se all-in-wonder.

Im looking to spend roughly 150 quid on the upgrade. This is what I
have in mind, from ebuyer:

1 x Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM 42149 £46.01 £46.01
1 x JNC 5JA 60 Case with 400W PSU in Blue 51066 £13.99 £13.99
1 x PcChips M848ALU SKT A SIS 748 400 DDR AGPx8 ATA133 6CH
Sound/lAN/USB 2.0 will Take Upto a 3.2+ AMD Athlon XP And Sempron
CPU's Motherboard in Retail Box 51760 £18.68 £18.68
1 x AMD ATHLON XP2500+ 333MHZ FSB 512 L2 Cache Barton CPU - OEM 47843


Can anyone offer a better sugestion or tell me why this purchase would
be a bad idea?

I dont know the market - parts availability and prices in the UK so
your choices may be the best ones. However if you were in the US , I
would defintely get a nforce2 chip based board from a decent company
and get 3200/400 memory since you can then easily set the 2500 barton
to 3200 .

I also dont like PC CHIPs but I can see you are getting it really
cheap - they tend to be bottom of the barrel type boards , sold at
super cheap prices. In the US you can get refurbs and for cheap and
many types of of boards since there are rapid changes going on now -
amd 64, socket 939 , PCI express and who knows maybe even BTX someday
---- the older socket As , socket 754s , nforce3 150s/250s w/o PCI
express, via chip sets are really dropping in price especially some
of the less popular makers that are still decent like MSI etc. So I
wouldnt get a PC CHIPs unless it was a bundle deal like at FRYs (a
shop in the US ) with a CPU dirt cheap , where the board was virtually
free.

 

[Cuzman]

" 1 x Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM
1 x JNC 5JA 60 Case with 400W PSU in Blue
1 x PcChips M848ALU
1 x AMD ATHLON XP2500+ OEM "


The Athlon 2500+ is a good choice, but with DDR400 RAM and motherboard you
can have XP 3200+ performance from a small adjustment in the BIOS. I think
the JNC cases look a bit 'cheap and nasty', and they aren't great for
cooling. I also think it would be wise to go for a 'quality' PSU, and not
the type you find included with a case, as these are generally rated on
'peak-power' and not 'max-power'. If you're buying an OEM CPU, you won't
get a heatsink and fan, so you'd need to get one of those anyway.

You quoted your prices without VAT, and you stated a rough £150 budget. If
I was buying from Ebuyer with around £200, then I would get the following:

Chieftec Matrix MA-01WD Case £23.49 http://snipurl.com/8o7t
Super-Flower Real 420W PSU £27.02 http://snipurl.com/8o80
Abit NF7-S v2.0 motherboard £44.95 http://snipurl.com/8o84
Athlon XP 2500+ Retail Boxed CPU £56.99 http://snipurl.com/8o7p
Corsair VS 512MB PC3200 CL2.5 DDR £57.76 http://snipurl.com/8o77

If you don't want to spend £200, then I would still advise you to get a good
PSU. http://ricserv.servebeer.com/psu.php

 

[kony]

On 26 Aug 2004 08:04:37 -0400,

I am looking to buy a new skt A motherboard, an AMD processor, some
RAM and a 400W PSU and case to complete my PC upgrade. I currently
have a ati 9800se all-in-wonder.

Im looking to spend roughly 150 quid on the upgrade. This is what I
have in mind, from ebuyer:

1 x Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM 42149 £46.01 £46.01
1 x JNC 5JA 60 Case with 400W PSU in Blue 51066 £13.99 £13.99
1 x PcChips M848ALU SKT A SIS 748 400 DDR AGPx8 ATA133 6CH
Sound/lAN/USB 2.0 will Take Upto a 3.2+ AMD Athlon XP And Sempron
CPU's Motherboard in Retail Box 51760 £18.68 £18.68
1 x AMD ATHLON XP2500+ 333MHZ FSB 512 L2 Cache Barton CPU - OEM 47843


Can anyone offer a better sugestion or tell me why this purchase would
be a bad idea?

Get PC3200 CAS2.5 memory, the price isn't usually much higher but
will give more stability margin and higher potential for reuse in
future.

Avoid the JNC case, not too good and the PSU is almost certain to
be junk, a liability in itself that may damage other parts of
system. See if you can get a case without psu and a
Sparkle/Fortron 300W, or an Antec case w/Antec 330W+ PSU. Of
course a higher wattage PSU would be better.

 

[dcprenti]

Cheers for the advice....very useful.

Is there a link you could give me showing how to upgrade the
performance? I have a fan already. Im going to go check its power.

I dont really have 200 quid to throw around but il take your good PSU
advice. Are all PSUs a standard size?

==============
Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware troubleshooting newsgroups.

 

[kony]

On 26 Aug 2004 12:04:48 -0400,

I dont really have 200 quid to throw around but il take your good PSU
advice. Are all PSUs a standard size?

Err, standard sized PSU are standard sized!

It is advisable to get a case that accepts a standard size, and
unless you see specific mention otherwise it is generally assumed
that one would be standard. Google search will find standard
size dimensions. The Sparkle or Antec PSU I referred to is
standard and the one coming in the JNC case would be too, it
would be a simple matter of swapping them, but you might find
similar case for a few $ less if bought without the junk PSU
included.