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I built my own computer about 3-4 years ago. I used a Biostar M7VKG motherboard with an AMD Duron 1Ghz processor. This combination has worked flawlessly for me. I recently upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Performance is still pretty decent, but I can definately justify upgrading the hardware now. I would like to stick with biostar, and to that end, I selected this motherboard: BIOSTAR TForce6100 Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard It has the main features I am looking for, namely: - AMD compatible
- Biostar brand
- onboard lan
- onboard video (not a gamer)
- onboard audio
- bunch o' usb ports
On newegg, I found a cpu to with it: AMD Sempron 64 3000+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor I am assuming I will need to get new memory (DDR), as I now have SDRAM in my computer, and I am sure this MB doesn't support that. Is there anything else I need to worry about when upgrading? Is there anything obviously wrong with these choices?
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Looks like you have everything you need!
And yes, you will need some DDR, PC3200 (a.k.a. DDR400) is what you'll need.
Check the output of the power supply in the case you wish to put this new stuff in.
If it's really low, might want to upgrade it. Minimum I would suggest for this setup is 300W.
That Palermo-core (90nm) Sempron itself pulls 62W. So you might be able to get away with a 250W...
Oh, make sure the processor is a boxed processor, not "OEM." OEM processors are just the CPU... no heatsink/fan. So if it says "OEM," add a socket 754 heatsink on your order.
Last edited by Big Daddy Kane; 02/07/06 06:46 PM.
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I second the atleast 300w power supply motion. Its for upgradeability in the future. If you want to add another drive, or a dvd-burner or something like that, you may need more power. Any reason why you like the biostar brand so much? I don't think they make very good boards, as I haven't had very good experience with them. Otherwise, make sure you get atleast half a gig of ddr memory and you should be set.
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Not only do you want the larger power supply to meet the higher power demmands, but you need to make sure that the power supply has enough output on the 12volt rail to support the new processor. New AMD's are power hogs on the 12v supply of a power supply. Also, a cheap power supply now could end up killing your processor prematurly by sending it dirty power; that is power that is not a stable 12, 3, 5, volts all the time.
I know you say you are not a gamer, but that onboard video will be a huge resource hog on both your processor and ram. You might want to consider getting a cheap video card, like a 9800pro; let a video card do the video work, and let the processor do it's job.
"Moore has also accused the American people of being the stupidest, most naive people on the face of the Earth. And after last weekend, he's got the box office numbers to prove it!"
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Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
If it's really low, might want to upgrade it. Minimum I would suggest for this setup is 300W.
Thanks for the insight, I am not really sure what the rating is on my power supply. I will have to check when I get home.
Originally posted by Rightwing Conspiracy:
Any reason why you like the biostar brand so much?
Only reason being my current Biostar motherboard has performed flawlessly ever since I installed it (3-4 years ago). Otherwise, I don't have much experience with working on other manufacturers.
I will consider getting a dedicated card for graphics, they are usually pretty cheap anyway.
Thanks for all of your insight.
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intels are cheap. go for a p4.
1999 Silver Frost SVT
#609 of 2760
Quaife, lightened SVT Flywheel, SPEC stage II clutch, removed resonator, k&n drop in - various other goodies too.
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Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
I know you say you are not a gamer, but that onboard video will be a huge resource hog on both your processor and ram. You might want to consider getting a cheap video card, like a 9800pro; let a video card do the video work, and let the processor do it's job.
I agree with all of that, except the 9800 Pro is probably more power than he needs. I'd recommend a 9250 or 9550 (the latter works great, I've used 2 of them in my experience and they are about $60-70). Even though you're not a gamer, a dedicated video card is a good idea because like the above guy said, onboard video causes a lot of unnecessary overhead on your CPU and memory. An older, inexpensive one like the 9550 that still performs exceptionally would be a best bet for you, and it will be much better than any onboard video.
Edit: Just looked up the motherboard and noticed that it had PCI express, not AGP. So a great video card choice would be the X550, for a little over $60.
E0 Silver Frost CSVT #3095/6535
Alpine CDA-9851
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BTW, I am pretty sure the board he is looking at does not have any AGP slots. Nearly 100% sure it is PCI-X the whole way, so that would rule out older (read: cheaper) video cards.
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Originally posted by Rightwing Conspiracy:
BTW, I am pretty sure the board he is looking at does not have any AGP slots. Nearly 100% sure it is PCI-X the whole way, so that would rule out older (read: cheaper) video cards.
Actually it is the other way around now. With AGP cards so few now, they are more expensive than their PCI-e counterparts.
"Moore has also accused the American people of being the stupidest, most naive people on the face of the Earth. And after last weekend, he's got the box office numbers to prove it!"
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Originally posted by 99blacksesport:
Originally posted by Rightwing Conspiracy:
BTW, I am pretty sure the board he is looking at does not have any AGP slots. Nearly 100% sure it is PCI-X the whole way, so that would rule out older (read: cheaper) video cards.
Actually it is the other way around now. With AGP cards so few now, they are more expensive than their PCI-e counterparts.
You may be right on certain cards, but on the whole, I have found AGP to be much cheaper still. But anyways, the cards you guys recommended are all AGP, are they not? I don't think they ever made a 9800 pro (or xt) in PCI-X flavor, nor the other older radeon cards.
Since he isn't going to run games, i'd recommend something like this. That'll get-r-done in short order, and pretty cheap too.
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