[Mumrik]

For AMD systems: Don't go for the Via KT400 or KT400A (soon available), nVidias nForce2 IS faster (read this if you want more info), Asus has a nice board for your purposes... Also, unlike QDI, Asus has a history of producing quality.


For any system: Check out the Radeon 9700/9700Pro. If you find the price acceptable any of these cards will inarguably show the Ti4800SE the door (guys, who remembers, is the 4800SE a 4400 with 8xAGP or a 4600 with 8xAGP?... I think the SE part means 4400 but I don't remember)


edit: the Radeon 9500 Pro (only the pro) is a great buy too. ATi owns the higher end of the marked these days.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn I never buy VIA chipsets. Sis & Intel only. If there's a "V" in the motherboard name, then I'm not even going to look at it. i don't have time to mess around with crap drivers. after 1 year, my SIS board came out with one bios update (1 more than the original). now that's reliability. i've heard some good things about the nVidia chipset (the latest, fastest one, anyway). i also no longer buy Abit mobos (although a lot of Abit's boards are being made by ECS (reliable)). I went through 3 Abits in 3 years. I have one ECS that's over 2 years old. I'm not too crazy about Intel mobos. i'm not buyinga new cpu until the 64 bit'ers come out.

I agree, VIA is just a nightmare with their buggy drivers.
I'm really impressed with the new SIS chips.
Same speed as the 7205 at 1/2 the price.

I like abit boards.
I still have a working BH-6 thats over two years old.
I have yet to have a problem ABIT. (knocks on wood)
Strangely the only board that ever gave me fits was made by ASUS.
But I still have high regards for the brand.
The Biostar I mentioned has gotten rave reviews and it is cheap.
They are the only maker that is actually using the NVIDIA Soundstorm built into the chipset
while others are still disabling it and using the inferior realtek chips.
The NVIDIA Soundstorm is actually a decent sound chip.
You pair the biostar with a 2500 Barton and you wil have a cheap but pretty fast setup.
(You might even be able to OC it to 3000 speeds.

)
ATI has new cards coming out.
You might be able to get a good deal on 9700s when the 9800 come out.
The 9500 pro is a good buy for a budget solution if you don't really need
that last 10% performance increase that the 9700 gives you.

 

[gloco]

this is so cool, just goes to show how out of the loop i am on pc prices...now i'm thinking of junking my athlon 1.4Ghz and buy a whole new machine, LOL. The only i fear is all the...uh...stuff i have on my 120gig HD...i tend to have bad luck when upgrading to a new machine.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by gloco this is so cool, just goes to show how out of the loop i am on pc prices...now i'm thinking of junking my athlon 1.4Ghz and buy a whole new machine, LOL. The only i fear is all the...uh...stuff i have on my 120gig HD...i tend to have bad luck when upgrading to a new machine.

What OS are you running?
98/95 will freak when you change MBs but usually you could reinstall.
NT won't work.
Chances are you won't even make it past the blue screen.

XP/2K will let you reinstall so that you won't lose your programs but things might still go wrong.
I've had better luck with xp than 2k in doing this.

I would just save all the data files and start with a new fresh install.

 

[nArKeD]

Buy two HD's. Makes formatting, backing up, and a multitude of other things so much easier. You can buy like a 10-20GB HD for system and a 60 for everything else.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by bootman What OS are you running? 98/95 will freak when you change MBs but usually you could reinstall. NT won't work. Chances are you won't even make it past the blue screen. XP/2K will let you reinstall so that you won't lose your programs but things might still go wrong. I've had better luck with xp than 2k in doing this. I would just save all the data files and start with a new fresh install.

I'm on xp. I imagine it would be easier to swap out a mobo with it compared to 95/98. I really do want to back up all these files, i've been looking into a DVD-R burner for a while.

nArKeD,

I have a 20 gig (windows on this one), 60 gig (lotsa games on this one) and the 120gig with a lot of "entertainment" files on it, lol. Of course i worry about losing those files if something was to happen if i decide to get a new machine, backing everything up onto DVD-R's has been a thought that has crossed my mind. Now, with large HD's so affordable, i may just spring for another two 200 gig HD's and dump the 20 and 60 gig. I'm a hoarder of information

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Mumrik For any system: Check out the Radeon 9700/9700Pro. If you find the price acceptable any of these cards will inarguably show the Ti4800SE the door (guys, who remembers, is the 4800SE a 4400 with 8xAGP or a 4600 with 8xAGP?... I think the SE part means 4400 but I don't remember)

I'm not sure, but someone who I trust in computing says that an 8x 4200SE will beat an 4800... whether that was an SE 4800 or not I don't know, but the cost is about £100 less for the 4200SE...

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by gloco I'm on xp. I imagine it would be easier to swap out a mobo with it compared to 95/98. I really do want to back up all these files, i've been looking into a DVD-R burner for a while. nArKeD, I have a 20 gig (windows on this one), 60 gig (lotsa games on this one) and the 120gig with a lot of "entertainment" files on it, lol. Of course i worry about losing those files if something was to happen if i decide to get a new machine, backing everything up onto DVD-R's has been a thought that has crossed my mind. Now, with large HD's so affordable, i may just spring for another two 200 gig HD's and dump the 20 and 60 gig. I'm a hoarder of information

The 60 and 120 should be ok since it is just data on these. (correct?)
When you get your new MB just boot off the XP CD and reinstall it.
You will still need to reinstall all of the MS patches again
but if you are on broadband that shouldn't be a big deal.
If you are on dial up then I feel bad for you.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Quote:

Originally posted by gloco i've been looking into a DVD-R burner for a while.

DVD-R/RW drives rock!

I got one and I've been burning DVDs of the MST3K episodes that will never be released on Video or DVD. Complete with chapter stops and menus.

 

[lini]

Quote:

Originally posted by mr_slacker Anything else I should think about?

Yes, the purchase of a closed headphone with good isolation seems approriate, too.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[CaptBubba]

If you switch your MB, XP will need to be "reactivated" with Microsoft. Well, thoretically, that is. Anyway, if you have a legal copy of XP, you just call up MS or go online, say "Hey, I bought a new motherboard" and they will tell you a new code to activate XP. If you do not do this, Win XP will become unusable after 30 days.

 

[raymondlin]

Quote:

Originally posted by CaptBubba If you switch your MB, XP will need to be "reactivated" with Microsoft. Well, thoretically, that is. Anyway, if you have a legal copy of XP, you just call up MS or go online, say "Hey, I bought a new motherboard" and they will tell you a new code to activate XP. If you do not do this, Win XP will become unusable after 30 days.

What he said, Even when I changed the HD, I had to ring, or a DVD Rom, Changing the TV card to a NIC, also rang them. 3 times in 2 months ! (I was having HD problems, formatted a few times), told the guy all about it, they are fine with it.

 

[wallijonn]

bootman,

I have a BE6-V2 you can have for free. Slot. all you have to do is replace all the popcorn caps. (typical of Abit mobos).

Since I no longer overclock, I just buy a $50 to $100 ECS mobo and put the extra money into a faster processor and twice the memory. (I paid $47 for my PIII mobo when the Abit bit the dust). I found that saving $50 on a cpu (overclockable) and adding a $50 heatsink just didn't make sense. I have 2 PEP66 heatsinks collecting dust. Of course they got the high output fans on them... man, i'll never overclock again. and i'll buy the 3.0G P4 when it hits $300.

when replacing a mobo, the easiest way (if you're changing any peripherals, like sound, video, nic) is to boot into safe mode, delte the devices, change the mobo, reinstall operating system (provided it's the same type of chipset, ie SIS & Intel). if the chipset is going from via to intel/sis, then remove all via drivers before swapping mobo (in safe mode). if it's a w2k, just swap mobo, start feeding it the floppies, and re-install the OS.


gloco,

only replace your cpu when it's at least twice faster. seeing as we're so close to the 64 bit'ers coming out, you might as well wait.


Sol_Zhen,

MST3K: there was this black & white episode of an alien creature who hid in a cave. a guy picks up a stick, one of the guys says, "Moses", a bolt of lightning knocks the guy to the ground and kills him, the robot says, "guess not". I WAS ROLLING! (Even now I'm laughing). what was that episode, and can you give me a copy? PM me.

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Walli,
Use the DAP to get all the episodes. Read about it here or go straight to the Digital Archive Project and read the FAQ.

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally posted by bootman The 60 and 120 should be ok since it is just data on these. (correct?) When you get your new MB just boot off the XP CD and reinstall it. You will still need to reinstall all of the MS patches again but if you are on broadband that shouldn't be a big deal. If you are on dial up then I feel bad for you.

Yep, just tons of data: games, videos, concert footage, etc etc. Yep, i'm on broadband so it wont be a problem updating when needed. I guess i'll hold off till the next wave of cpu's are released, till then, maybe i should invest in a DVD-R/RW drive. I saw an add of a new pioneer that burns an entire 4.7GB in 15 mins...that's pretty damn fast. Question, i recall a long while back reading somewhere that a 1X DVD drive=6X cd rom drive (in regards to # of KBPS i think), can anyone verify this?