upgrade for nembie

[zoodemon]

Ok if i want to upgrade to say semp or athlon 64 3000, i'm obviously gonna need a new mobo, i want 1gb ddr ram and a bigger faster hard drive. Also i may switch the cd burner for a dvd writer. I have a radeon 9600 which will be staying. Is it as simple as finding something that'll fit in the same box? To my thicko way of thinking the memory and mobo will work fine together, dunno about the drives. If i bought them off a supplier and said they gotta work together, how wrong am i gonna be? How many current mobo's are gonna fit in the same case as the e7s5a (ecs and housing an athlon 1.8xp) and will there be lots of other mismatches in way of voltages and stuff like that?
I have a twin fan psu which should cover any heat problems or do you think the new cases with extra fans are gonna be needed for higher power pc's??
Appreciate any advice. Thanks

 

[wizoforb]

I think as long as your mobo is atx, and the case is atx.(The modern-day shape and layout of PC motherboards) You should be fine. Newer cases have more sufficant fans. I prefer Thermaltake brand. Check their website they have very stylish cases.

ASUS A8V DELUXE
PLEXTOR PX-716SA
AMD 64 +3200
(4) 512MB XMS CORSAIR PC3200 400 MHZ
BFG 6800 GEFORCE ULTRA OC (AGP)
(2) 74GB RAPTORS
(1) WD 120GB
Tsunami Dream Case

 

[wizoforb]

I'm sure if the drives are IDE they sould be compatible.....

ASUS A8V DELUXE
PLEXTOR PX-716SA
AMD 64 +3200
(4) 512MB XMS CORSAIR PC3200 400 MHZ
BFG 6800 GEFORCE ULTRA OC (AGP)
(2) 74GB RAPTORS
(1) WD 120GB
Tsunami Dream Case

 

[dunklegend]

Make a list of what you think you'll get and we'll tell you if it is compatible

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[fishmahn]

Your current case & PSU is ATX, so almost any new mobo will fit your current case, unless that ecs mobo is a MicroATX (I don't think so, but a google search didn't turn up an answer). Your current PSU may be a little small, so what brand and wattage is it?

I would definitely get the A64 3000+ over the sempron unless you really have a money crunch.

Always a good idea to put at least 1 more fan in your case nowadays, and they're only a few bucks. Your current case may have an extra spot or 2 for them, or you can drill/dremel/saw a hole for one , or a new case can be had pretty cheap if you're not worried about looks.

Mike.

 

[zoodemon]

hi, ok forget the athlon 64, i don't think i need to go that far. I have been told that my current mobo e7s5a is socket A so would take a bigger athlon or a sempron which would do me fine, not sure which would be best for price/performance. Stability issues aside for now, if i buy ddr 400 ram and the bus is only 133/266 (plus o/c) how much visual actual speed loss would there be. I'm going to be running some large cad drawings (10-50mb) and i'm led to believe that memory is really important. I wouldn't know though. This may affect whether i go for a new mobo or not, as for which one i don't care, sata option probably, not sure if cad would really make use of that. What do you think? Thanks

 

[fishmahn]

Which version of the mobo do you have? That will tell whether you can put a faster CPU in it or not. <A HREF="http://www.ecsusa.com/products/socketA.html" target="_new">http://www.ecsusa.com/products/socketA.html</A> doesn't show an E7S5A - could it be a K7S5A?

If you buy DDR400 RAM, it will run at your 133/266 bus (i.e. DDR266).

If your mobo can't take at least a 333fsb processor, then you're going to be pretty limited for how much CPU you can take.

Mike.

 

[Crashman]

Uh, d00d, the K7S5A IS Micro ATX, but most systems built with it used full ATX cases!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[fishmahn]

Gah, I was trying to say something like that... but it didn't come out right...

Meant to say: It's an ATX class (i.e., not 'AT'), but if the board is microatx... (blah blah...)

I couldn't find an 'E'7s5a, so I didn't know for sure if he meant the K7S5A or not, and of course a quick google didn't show up a mfg site for "e7s5a".

Mike.

 

[Crashman]

This was a cheap board. Most of the cheapest cases are full-ATX (thin, poor construction), so most systems with that board were using the larger case with the smaller board. Also, most good cases are full-ATX, and using a good case with a cheap board is one way sellers make you think you're getting high end when you aren't.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>