need extras for mobo

[robin801]

AMD Athlon w/PEC (OD 256K) CPU Bundle -->
CPU Cooling Fan
Athlon Thunderbird CPU:-
-Superpipelined, Nine-Issue Superscalar Microarchitecture
-Nine Execution Pipelines:
*Three for Address Calculations
*Three for Integer Calculations
*Three for x87, 3DNow! and MMX Instructions
-100MHz (200MHz Effective) EV6 System Bus
-128KB Core Clock Speed L1 Cache
-L2 Cache: 256KB On-Die, Core Clock Speed, 64-Bit Bus
-Enhanced 3DNow! Technology (45 SIMD Instructions)
-.18 Micron Technology
-120mm^2 Die Size
-37 Million Transistors
-Slot A
Gigabyte GA-7IXE Motherboard:
-Slot A for AMD Duron/Athlon K7 Processors
-AMD 751 Irongate North Bridge Chipset
-AMD 756 Viper South Bridge Chipset
-115MHz FSB Maximum
-16MB to 768MB DRAM Capacity
-Three 3.3V DIMM Sockets
-Five PCI Slots, Two ISA Slots, One AGP 2/X Slot
-Two USB Ports On Board, Two by Cable (optional)
-2Mbit Flash RAM
-Wake-on-LAN
-Dual Ultra DMA 33/66
-ATX Power Supply
i am thinking of ordering this mobo. what sound card and video card would work best with this setup at the lowest price possible.
robin

[NDC]

In my personal opinion, unless you're going to be doing a lot of things that require recording, go for any inexpensive sound card and invest in some good speakers. It doesn't matter if you get top of the line soundcards when you have cheap speakers, it just makes no sense and sounds like ****. On the other hand, if you get yourself some quality speakers with an inexpensive sound card, you WILL notice a difference.


As for video card choice, that's gonna depend on how much 3D games you play. If you're not much of a gamer, I would say that Nvidia Geforce 2 MX will be just fine at a very reasonable price which runs games with decent performance. If you plan on playing heavy 3D games, do yourself a favor and get a good video card such as a Geforce 2 GTS 32mb DDR or Radeon 32MB DDR. Spend a little more and be happy rather than end up buying another video card because you're not happy with the frame rates at high resolutions.


BTW - I would recommend an Abit KT7 series or an ASUS A7V series mainboard over a Gigabyte mainboard. These two mainboards will offer more overclocking features just incase you ever decide to OC the CPU's. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 05-28-2001).]

[ragtop]

Its pretty hard to get the cards that "work best", and get the "lowest possible price". If you are looking for the best price/performance ratio, the GeForce 2mx video cards are your best bet. As for sound, you should be able to find a Vortex 2 based card dirt cheap, but driver support isn't the greatest. Soundblaster live value is also a good choice, but more expensive.

[robin801]

thanks for the information. i think i am going with an
abit KT7
duron 700
sound blaster live
nvidia gforce2-mx
phoenix modem
speaker?
wd 10g harddrive
i am not into games other thank solitaire nothing very graphic. will this system work for someone just interested in surfing the net and lite weight games.
robin

[This message has been edited by robin801 (edited 05-28-2001).]

[NDC]

i am not into games other thank solitaire nothing very graphic. will this system work for someone just interested in surfing the net and lite weight games.


This system will be MORE than suitable for your purposes! Although I think you should get a Geforce 3 to play Windows Solitare!!! J/K http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif


[This message has been edited by NDC (edited 05-28-2001).]

[robin801]

thank you for your help ndc. now the hard part. finding the right price and store. i want to buy the retail products so that i can get a manual.
robin