Help with my new system

[bossy]

Hi,

I recently buit a desktop with helps from some good fellows here at anandtech .
However i am running everything on the default settings and want to know if there are places i can improve. Following is my configuration. I know i could have got better versions for some components, but being a student i had to stiff budget to work at .

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton - Retail
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
512 PC2100 DDR
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9000, 64MB DDR

80GB WD + 80GB Maxtor
MicroAdvantes CD-RW

Please suggest some modifications so that i can run it optimally without much risk or frying the CPU.

TIA

btw, what does a "rig" stand for

 

[eklass]

Originally posted by: bossy
Hi, I recently buit a desktop with helps from some good fellows here at anandtech . However i am running everything on the default settings and want to know if there are places i can improve. Following is my configuration. I know i could have got better versions for some components, but being a student i had to stiff budget to work at . AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton - Retail Asus A7N8X Deluxe 512 PC2100 DDR SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9000, 64MB DDR 80GB WD + 80GB Maxtor MicroAdvantes CD-RW Please suggest some modifications so that i can run it optimally without much risk or frying the CPU. TIA btw, what does a "rig" stand for

first off, let's start with the google definition for rig:
rig - gear (including necessary machinery) for a particular enterprise

pretty much it's one's computer

on to the topic of your computer, i think the major problem is your ram. the barton runs at a bus speed of 333. multiply this by 8 and get 2664. Your ram is only 2100 (divided by 8 = 262.5). you see DDR 2100 is for the older thoroughbred processors that run at 266. you (optimally) need DDR 2700. beyond that, there's not a whole lot that you can do to make things speedier (unless you want a better graphics card, but that's another issue altogether)

maby you can sell your ram in FS/T section and pick up some that pairs well with your system. p.s. make sure everything is running at the proper spee din the bios