Hi all. My mobo (Epox 8k-7A) had some bulging transistors, and I was having serious issues, so I decided to replace the board with the same model. In the process, I fried my CPU. Thus, I'm considering upgrading my mobo and processor since I would only be out the $20 I paid for the replacement mobo. I don't need anything too fancy. My main focus is to make sure I don't have to replace anything besides the board and processor. My current system is as follows: 2x512 MB PC2100 RAM ATI Radeon 32MB DDR AGP video (will upgrade this sometime, but I don't need PCI Express) Creative Audigy sound 160GB HD DVD +-R/RW DVD ROM 250MB Zip Drive Running XP SP2 My main concern is whether getting a board that is spec'd for PC3200 memory means I have to replace the PC2100 memory I just bought earlier this year. Would I be able to use my existing memory? Any recommendations on a mb/cpu combo that would cost me $150-$200? I have been looking at the MSI K8N Neo-V and Sempron 3300, but I'd rather have a board with Gigabit LAN. Thanks for any help.
If you went with an Athlon 64 (or a Socket 754 Sempron), you wouldn't really hurt too much by using PC2100. The memory controller is integrated into the die of these CPU's instead of on the motherboard's chipset and runs at a divider to begin with (there's no DDR that can run at 1.6 or 2GHz right now). While there is a slight performance difference, it's so small, you can only see it by running benchmarks, not in actual tasks. The third piece I'd be more concerned with would be the power supply. If you don't have a good unit with at least 18A (and even then, you might want to consider replacing it, especially if it's a few years old) on the 12V rail (it's on a sticker on the unit) You can still get all three within the price range you're looking at. Asus K8N-E $69 Sempron 64 3000+ retail $87 Fortron AX400-PN 400W $39.99 Total: $195.99 + shipping (Newegg currently has free 3-day shipping on the CPU and power supply, $2.50 for the motherboard)
