motherboard and cpu upgrade

[fangoria]

Would like to upgrade custom built pc. Am running a 133 cpu. KNow i will need new mb,cpu, and memory. Would like to go to celron or athlon around 500 mhz. Any suggestions on mb-cpu combinations, price . what is best way to upgrade, don't want to buy new from chain store or such.I don't play many games just want to keep pc current. Thanks for any help anyone can give me. Kirk

[socalgal]

^

[tonym]

Kirk,

Althought I'd probably get some argument, I think the best way to go right now is the Athlon. For performance and cost.

I recommend the 500MHz...this is at the performance "sweet spot" in terms of speed-cost. And do yourself a favor if you can get an OEM version, do it! Then get yourself a good fan at the cooler guys or 3dfxcool. It will pay for itself! The street price for an OEM 500MHz and a reasonably good cooling fan is in the range of US$175 to US$215.

As for a mobo, I'm really partial to the Micro Star brand now that Micronics is defunct. I'd recommend the MS-6195 (K7Pro) mobo. It's a really versatile board with enough bells-and-whistles to make it overclocking friendly, if you have or plan to have that urge. The street price for the MS-6195 is in the range of US$110 to US$135.

And memory...I'd bite the bullet now while memory is still acceptabley cheap and buy PC133-whatever. I use machines that have 196MB minimum memory. This workstation has 512MB. I'd recommend 256MB to you.

And finally, get yourself a REAL GOOD CASE and a 300W, minimum, PSU. I recommend the Inwin IW-S500 case. It has removeable sides and it's a mid-tower format...spacious for future upgrades and has a really good cooling profile. Also, get yourself an extra case fan for the front air intake and a 300W PSU. The street price for this case and fan and PSU combo is in the range or US$48 to US$70.

I 'm in the process of outfitting 5 new systems and have chosen the MS-6195 mobo and the Inwin case, so I've recently put MY money where my mouth is!! But I'll be using a combination of 750MHz and 1GHz Athlons.

But your 500Mhz system will be pissa -- I presently have 2 similar workstations in the lab now!!

Good luck and have fun...


Tony

[This message has been edited by tonym (edited 06-28-2000).]