[dfscott]

File this under: "can't leave well enough alone..."

After scrapping my old ASRock board because the VIA chipset wouldn't play nice with my AGP ATI 9600PRO, I got a Gigabyte board and happily managed to overclock my 2.26 Northwood to 2.87. It was willing to go beyond 3.0, but ofc the stock cooler couldn't handle it. So, I upgraded to a Big Typhoon. But alas, the monster wouldn't fit in my Mid-Tower case since the Gigabyte has the cpu right up against the edge of the board, causing the BT to collide with my PSU. And in the process of trying to make it fit, I destroyed my mobo. :swearing:

So now I'm facing a quandry, complicated by my limited funds (isn't that always the issue?). Plus, my next purchase will likely be upgrading my video card, and as I understand it, most people are moving to PCI-Express, which would require replacing the mobo anyway?

Anyway, as I see it, my options are:

1) Buy another Gigabyte (~$70), and just be happy with my 2.87 oc until I can afford a bigger case that will allow the BT to fit,
2) Buy a cheap mobo that a) WILL fit the BT and b) doesn't use the VIA chipset and hope I can oc it. If I can't, at least I haven't wasted much cash for when I want to upgrade,
3) Buy a more expensive mobo that I know I can oc, but realize that it'll probably be money down the drain since I will likely be replacing it with a PCI-Express in 6-12 months.
4) Bite the bullet and buy a mobo with both AGP & PCI-X (they make those, right?) so I'll be ready to upgrade when the time comes.
5) Something else clever I haven't thought of...

Seeing as how my learning to this point has been in "The School of Hard Knocks," I thought I'd ask the people here (who certainly have a lot more experience) for their advice...

 

[cyrixMII300]

well mate....my proposal would be since as u very aptly said it been down the road myself is this....bite the bullet and stay with ur mobo....invest some money to get a bigger casing and better casing which you would by any length be using anyway in the future with any upgrade (plus u get more space for everything and u get more space for ventilation of the inside via convection and conduction)

fit ur BT in and live with the current oc....in say 6 months time when u have the money and the latest and greatest have arrived, upgrade ur system and if u can dedicate ur existing system to the folding activity....

i thinks that this could be the best course of action mon capitan...

 

[ShawnMcGrail]

Okay, So you want something generally cheap, Possible PCI-E support, Prefereably AGP, And BT compatible...

I looked around and all I could really find is the P4GD1.
Skt-478, DDR1, PCI-E, And a reasonable price, Only problem is, Its really hard to find now!

Maybe check out Ebay to see if you can grab one?

 

[dfscott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrixMII300 well mate....my proposal would be since as u very aptly said it been down the road myself is this....bite the bullet and stay with ur mobo....invest some money to get a bigger casing and better casing which you would by any length be using anyway in the future with any upgrade (plus u get more space for everything and u get more space for ventilation of the inside via convection and conduction) fit ur BT in and live with the current oc....in say 6 months time when u have the money and the latest and greatest have arrived, upgrade ur system and if u can dedicate ur existing system to the folding activity.... i thinks that this could be the best course of action mon capitan...

You know, one advantage of this solution that I neglected to consider is that I probably won't lose everything on my hard drive. There's nothing irreplaceable, but it will be one less headache to worry about.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnMcGrail Okay, So you want something generally cheap, Possible PCI-E support, Prefereably AGP, And BT compatible... I looked around and all I could really find is the P4GD1. Skt-478, DDR1, PCI-E, And a reasonable price, Only problem is, Its really hard to find now! Maybe check out Ebay to see if you can grab one?

But even if it is available, this looks like it's PCIE only, which would force me to upgrade my graphics card immediately, right?

 

[ShawnMcGrail]

Yeah, But it still saves you a CPU and Memory.

I was under the impression that you WANTED to move to PCI-E, Guess not.

Just grab a nice P4P800SE from Newegg.com then, Everything you need at a reasonable price, No other upgrades needed.

 

[dfscott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnMcGrail Yeah, But it still saves you a CPU and Memory. I was under the impression that you WANTED to move to PCI-E, Guess not. Just grab a nice P4P800SE from Newegg.com then, Everything you need at a reasonable price, No other upgrades needed.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was dumping on your idea. I do WANT to move to PCI-E, I just don't have the money to replace both a mobo AND a graphics card right now.

Edit: Well, one unexpected benefit of replacing my mobo is that I'm now running 3 degrees cooler! (down to 58 from 61 with stock only) I don't know if it's because I used less AS5 this time (when I pulled the cooler I realized I used way too much last time) or if it's because I moved HD from above the intake fan to below it (providing a less restrictive air flow path in the case. In any case, it's a good thing.