Upgrade recommendations for Athlon XP

[Mattlock]

We'll I'm not sure but I may have fried my CPU or motherboard.

Was on the other night and the screen froze up on me, had to turn off with 5 second press of power button. Now I'm getting nothing but "FF" post code. Tried resetting CMOS and will try a couple other options but just in case I have to put in a new M/B, I need some recommendations for a a CPU with the following assumptions:

Need a recommendation for motherboard for either a 754 or a 939 pin (cant decide)

I would love to keep my XP2100 Athlon but I realize that may not make sense if I have to buy a new M-B.

What is a good motherboard with good upgradeability, overclocking and reasonable price? (I want to stay with Athlon family).

I have an SLK800 heatsink with Smartfan II.

I'd love to keep both CPU and Motherboard in $300 range.

mattlock

 

[o1die]

Nforce2 boards have dropped in price to $40-60. Newegg also sells some refurbs for even less. If you still want athlon 64, I would go with an nforce3 board by epox or chaintech with the socket 754 athlon 64 2800. Both are around $200.

 

[Mattlock]

thanks oldie.... do you have a recommendation for a Nforce2? I'm rusty on this and I think I'd like to try something other than the Epox 8rda+

Mattlock

 

[imported_Kensai]

I'd suggest going S939 since it'll give you a better upgrade path. Just grab a cheapy board and 3000+ winnie and you're set to go.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: Mattlock
thanks oldie.... do you have a recommendation for a Nforce2? I'm rusty on this and I think I'd like to try something other than the Epox 8rda+

The two most popular NF2 chipset MB's have been the Asus A7N8X and the Abit NF2-S (no one seems to like the NF7 S2 variety much at all, however) -- the Asus being most stable, the Abit being readily OverClocked. A third MB, DFI's Lan- Party II, may offer the ultimate in OC's if that's your direction. None of them know about the XP-Mobile chips that are the darlings of the OC crowd, capable of XP 3200+ speeds at very reasonable prices -- those require manually setting the multipliers and FSB's.

But you really should look at the recent news headlines and reviews performed here at AT, the Sempron 2600 and 2800 cpu's are priced very reasonably, and there are matching MB's for those Socket 754 chips that are also reasonable in cost. So you get into the next generation with an NF 250 MB, and that Sempron Overclocks with aplomb. When it's not enough any more, upgrade to a Socket 754 AMD 64 cpu.

 

[alfwong]

Sure NOT an ABIT NF7-S2

I got and NF7-2.0 and burn the CPU fan socket. So I buy and NF7-S2 for replacement.
NF7-S2 sucks for mobile CPU.

The Abit support SUCKS.

I exchange an EPOX 8Rda+ Pro and it works stable with my configuration now.

Actually the EPOX 8Rda+ runs more stable with my cpu when overclock.

I am using 600W power supply. + 2 samsung DDR 400 CA3

NF7-2.0 - Mobile Athlon running @ 2400 mhz (12*200) @1.85 stable. When running prime95 with highest proioty, I found computer voltage drop for +12V and +5V
nvidia lan card but not support nvidia firewall.

EPOX 8Rda+ Mobile Athlon running @ 2500 mhz (12.5*200) @1.8V very stable ( 50 Degree when full load with prime95 with highest process prioty in windows task manager)
on board nivida lan card which support nvidia firewall
The hardware document said "do not restset the board when the computer power up or will crash bios) - I crashed once.

NF7-S2 - No support mobile athlon. no nvidia lan card.


> On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 10:17:55 +0800, ABIT Customer Service Center
> wrote:
> > Dear Sir,
> >
> > Thanks for your mail.
> > The ABIT mainboard only support Desktop platform Processors, didn't
> support
> > mobile Processors.
> >
> >
> > **
> > Please include all previous messages for continuation of support and do
> > not delete the series number on subject for identification.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> > ABIT Customer Service Center
> > WWW: http://www.abit.com.tw
> > FAE: http://fae.abit.com.tw
> > E-Mail: technical@abit.com.tw

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your mail.
1.The NF7 / NF7-S multiplier are adjustable in bios, but NF7-S2 / NF7-S2G don't.
Because this is a hardware restriction.
2.We didn't have mobile micro core and mobile CPU. Because we are only for Desktop platform.
3.About your requirment, we are very sorry, we are not able to do that.



**
Please include all previous messages for continuation of support and do not delete the series number on subject for identification.

Best Regards,
ABIT Customer Service Center
WWW: http://www.abit.com.tw
FAE: http://fae.abit.com.tw
E-Mail: technical@abit.com.tw

 

[cirthix]

ifyou are set on keeping your cpu or wish to save money, get a dfi infninity nforce2, best board for the money imo and they oc like beasts on steroids. i bought mine from newegg refurb for 60 bux.. working 243fsb cpc ON, no problems whatsoever but fixing it is the free, best way to take care of things, post in gh or tech with your problem, and read up on issues with ur mobo. try forcing 100fsb or trying your cpu in another board. however, if your cpu died of heat (smells bad and plastic looks discoloered, heatsink EXTREMELY dusty or fan non-operational), do NOT try the cpu in another board, you may corrupt its bios. pesonally, i test ram and video card seating before anything else. gl

 

[Mattlock]

I cant really tell if my CPU or motherboard is fried. The CPU has a little black mark next to the core. Is that a sign ?

If so, hopefully my motherboard is still ok. That being the case... which is the best Athlon for speed and Overclocking for my 8rda+?

XP 2800 Barton??

thanks
Mattlock

 

[umdsasha]

You seem to be about in the same boat I was. So here's something quite reasonable:

MSI rs480m2-il with amd64 3000+ from monarch for bout $250. Also, you get half-life 2 for free. This board's 939 pin, making it upgradeable, uses your old ram, no need to upgrade video cards like most new 939 pinners make ya (pci-e), and is pretty much just a simple switch from your old setup to this one. Not only that, you get the amazing directx 9-compatible onboard video. Seriously, it's way worth it. I'm loving it...other than for a few things i gotta work out just because of my setup.

Only downside may be that it's not overclockable.

 

[holyghost]

Guys, I know this may sound stupid but does the Sempron faster & better than the Barton? My mohterboard is fried too so am trying to find a stable & good performance motherboard. Which board has the best BIOS auto OC?

 

[o1die]

Barton is faster, but I wouldn't pay a premium for it. A few places still have them at reasonable prices. Newegg frequently has them refurbished for $65-85.

 

[Mattlock]

thanks everyone for feedback. Just found out I had several bad capacitors on my m-b. Replaced it with Asus for $60. Will hold off on upgrading for a while.

Mattlock