Hi all,
I'm looking to build a new system and have done the research extensively, so I'm not coming into this quesiton with the whole "hey man, like what should I put in my system?" kind of attitude. I'm simply looking at some stuff and since I'm finding conflicting opinions on the net, I figured I'd come here and get some fresh ideas. Here's what I'm looking at:
mobo: GIGABYTE nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "GA-7NNXP" -RETAIL
cpu: Athlon XP 2500 (Barton)
Several things...
1) This motherboard looks stinking awesome, but I've found about 70% 'awesome' reviews and 30% 'this board is horrible' reviews. I don't want to put out the $155 if it's not a good board, but I'm really liking its features.
2) I'm looking at the XP 2500 and the 2800, but there's at least a $40 price difference and it seems that a lot of places say that the 2500 is the best for overclocking. At the same time, I thought the 'Barton' chips were bad for overclocking. So basically, if I can make a 2800 out of a 2500 by OCing it, then that would make me very happy, if not...I'd like to know about it.
3) I'm having trouble finding good DDR RAM that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I'm thinking that I'd like a gig of dual-channel DDR400 with timings in the 6-3-3 range with CAS-L of 2 if I can get it...but I don't want to spend more than $200 for it (it seems that RAM has gone up recently for some reason).
4) If anyone can offer a clear opinion (good or bad) on the DPS system that comes with the board I mentioned above...that would be most appreciated as well. They claim it's a great tool for OCing, but if it's not....or there's no point in trying with a 2500 for some reason...I'd like to know that too.
So there you have it...some pretty general stuff...I'm just looking for some input from someone who is very knowledgable in this area. Simple comments or URLs without explainations simply will not do. I'm offering a fairly high number of points for simple knowledge of the hardware...not for solving a problem--so please answer only if you actually know what you're talking about. Thanks....
jitjester