BUYING A NEW MOBO

[deltree]

At last i am buying a new pc, im looking to buy an amd 2500+ barton , the part which i am not bieng able to decide is which motherboard to use, i will not be upgrading for another 2 years, and at the moment i dont have any sata drives or anything which will make use of this new technology. secondly, i am looking to overclock, the 3 motherboards in my mind r, the Asus a7n8x deluxe(pls recomend which is the best revision) second is the abit nf7 and thirdly its the cheaper competitor the msi K7N2 Delta-L , and can anyone also mention the difference b/w the previous msi model and the difference b/w K7N2 Delta-ILSR ,K7N2GM-IL,K7N2GM-L, any reviews on the low end msi mobo's wud also be very appreciated, and also pls tell me will the msi's lower end versions be stable enuff for oc'ing.

secondly my major confusion arises in deciding which ram to use.
i am using win xp and as i was upgrading my system i seem to be low on cash, the problem arises whther to buy 512 or 256 mb of pc 3200 ram, i will be using the system for gaming, the money that i will save from the ram buying smaller ram wud go into allocating more money for a more expensive gfx card. so here is my point will more ram be better or a better gfx card using the money i save from buying a samller ram.

P.S wat r the best revisions for the mentioned msi boards.

[Direct1]

Any of those MB's should work well for you. Just get one with the features and price you want.

I would get 256 MB of Crucial RAM and an ATI 9800 Pro video card. Then, add another 256 MB chip (same make and model) when money permits.

Good luck! :D

[RamonGTP]

Out of thsoe three, definatlyu the NF7-S. The MSI is good, solid board too, but has limited voltage adjustments for overclocking, and also does not have firewire or sata or soundstorm audio, whereas the ABIT does. I don't like ASUS boards so I cannot recommend that at all.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Nuther vote for NF7-S v2.0

--Jakk:t

[The Lodge]

Three for NF7-S.

[fishybawb]

Fo.. Nevermind, you get the idea :D

[richard_cocks]

fiv.. oh wait, it's been said ;)

As for the RAM, I'd really recommend 2 sticks of 256, but if you really can't afford it, then it's easy at least to get one now one later.

Performance-wise, having over 256MB of RAM is almost a neccessity for gaming. (meanwhile more than 512 is overkill). You might find performance is faster with the extra memory and lower graphics, but then it's harder to upgade the gfx card in the same way you can the memory.

[The Lodge]

If it was me, I'd rather go for one stick of 512 and a slightly cheaper video card. XP would act like a dog with 256. Later on down the road when 512 would be dragging, he can throw another 512 in and have dual channel. With dual channel not enabled he's not gonna be missing anything that will be like OMG. Plus leaves plenty of room for growth into the future. And anywhere he see fit, he can upgrade his video card.
On a side note (I think Jakk can back me up here) get a mobile 2400, it's about the same price.

[rsfnatik]

I also recommend starting with a single stick of 512MB. XP can get by on 256MB but a little extra is nice for gaming. As Lodge said... you're not going to missing much by running in single-channel mode and your future upgrade to 1GB will only better with a move to dual-channel. :)

[RamonGTP]

I too would highly recommend going with the single 512... Dual channel benifits are almost non-existant on XP platforms, and definatly not real-world noticable.

[Direct1]

I don't agree. Get the better video card now and then upgrade the RAM ASAP. Upgrading video cards cost more than RAM. 2500+, 9800Pro, and 256MB RAM will run fine. When you have an extra $50, get another 256MB stick of RAM and you'll see a nice performance boost.

Also, make sure to buy at least PC3200 RAM. You may be able to run the processor at 3200+ speeds then...

Good luck! :D

[dajogejr]

Man...tough call here fellas.

I'd agree with D1.

9800 Pro and 256, and soon thereafter another 256 chip. They're only 50 or so...

That card is well worth every Cent!!

[deltree]

ok guys , just decided no upgrade yet, i am using xp already, on pc100 128 mb ram, its as fast as the win 98 was, no trouble.
i think its better not to buy a pc, im investing my money in stocks,its better to have something that everyone knows u have rather then something only u know u have. i think ill get a r32 gtr, instead of buying a new pc.waiting for 2005 to arrive soon, then ill see who can stop me from buying a car, duties in ma country will plumet to just about nill.
PRAY THAT WTO IMPLEMENTS.

[Nascarfan_40]

I was in the same spot while building my rig. Was going to go with the MSI myself till I read the reviews and seen more people like the Abit NF7-S boards. I went with the Abit NF7-S and couldn't be happier!!

[calvin12]

What about the abit an7? or do you guys just like the nf7 better? Does either one allow for a faster chip or do they both go to the AMD3200+?