Motherboard & Ram selection

[PCBrandon]

Hello all,

I originally decided to purchase the parts for a whole new system. However, I've decided just to upgrade my system now and save up money for a really nice laptop for college.

My current specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (2.08Ghz)
MSI KM3M-V Motherboard
Samsung PC 2700 512 MB DDR
Maxtor 120 Gig HDD


I have the space I need, plus I have another 180 Gig USB HDD I could use. The main thing I really want to upgrade is my motherboard and memory. The reason why I want to ugprade my motherboard is that I can't OC my CPU (the clock speed is set by jumpers on the mobo, and the highest setting is the actual CPU FSB), and that it only supports 1 gig of PC-2700 memory.


What I need help in deciding is, a good motherboard that will last a few years and able to OC and support at least two gigs of PC-3200 DDR. It also needs Onboard Video and Audio.

So, can anyone pick out a motherboard with the above specifications and two gigs of memory for it? I heard OCZ, Kingston, Cruical, are all good brands.


Thanks in advance!

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by PCBrandon What I need help in deciding is, a good motherboard that will last a few years and able to OC and support at least two gigs of PC-3200 DDR. It also needs Onboard Video and Audio.

You're not going to find many good Socket A motherboard that meet all those requirements. If you didn't need the on-board video I would recommend the ASUS A7N8X-X.

And why do you want to overclock a motherboard with on-board video anyway?

Cricket

[PCBrandon]

Well, I don't really play graphic heavy games, so the onboard video is usually sufficient for what I want to do. However, I do play one full screen game with his really memory intensive for some reason, and I frequently alt-tab out of it to check email, browse, etc. and it really slows down the computer a bit. That's why I want the memory, and basically I want the OC just to play around with, to gain the knowledge and speed up my program startups and closing.

Maybe I should invest in a graphics card?

[glc]

Yes, a video card would be a better investment. Your onboard video uses system ram, and is not a good gaming chipset.

I'd add another 512mb ram stick to get you up to 1 gig, and get something like a Radeon 9800 Pro AGP card.

It's not worth buying a new motherboard for the (obsolete) Socket 462 platform. If you are going to replace the motherboard, replace everything related - CPU, ram, and video - with current technology.

[PCBrandon]

Ok, is the below graphics card good for what I need?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814153018


Also, I heard it is bad to mix different brands of memory, so I went ahead and looked for a 512x2 kit. Is this good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141434

Will all of those work with my motherboard? The memory is dual channel, I don't believe I can support dual channel because I only have two slots, does that mean the memory won't work? Or do I support dual channel?

Thanks!

[Strider]

The 9800 pro video card should be sufficient for what you want it for and it will play majority of today's games although not at maximum resolution.

Kingston brand is a good brand for memory.

[glc]

Good card.

No need to buy a kit - your board doesn't support dual channel so the ram does not have to match. Buy one 512 stick.