[rgathright]

Right now my HTPC has the Athlon XP Deluxe 2000 (1.7 ghz) motherboard. What all will I need to get to replace this with a faster (more ghz) system.


Would I just have to change out the motherboard? I did not put this together myself (ordered it), so was also wondering how hard this would be.





Thanks

 

[mpolicani]

Quote:

Originally posted by rgathright Right now my HTPC has the Athlon XP Deluxe 2000 (1.7 ghz) motherboard. What all will I need to get to replace this with a faster (more ghz) system. Would I just have to change out the motherboard? I did not put this together myself (ordered it), so was also wondering how hard this would be. Thanks

It sounds like your running an Athlon socket A processor.


I'm not able to find any references to a motherboard called the "Athlon XP Deluxe 2000" or "XP Deluxe 2000", although I did find a couple of references to a case. Is this the name that the retailer gave the machine and did they give you any documentation to reference?


Your going to need to take the cover off the case and find the brand name and model number (usually located between the brown / black AGP slot and white / cream colored PCI slots).

 

[dguns]

To get more GHZ from your board you can order a faster processor. You would need to know what chipset you have. Nforce (1) could support up to Athlon 2600+ (2.13GHZ - 266mhz FSB), be careful there are 333mhz FSB 2600+ models that will run at an improper clock speed on this board. You must make certain that you get a 266mhz FSB Athlon 2600+. If you have an Nforce 2, then you can run a 3000+ 333mhz FSB CPU. If you have an Nforce2 Ultra 400, you can run a 3200+ 400mhz FSB CPU.

 

[rgathright]

So once I find out which version of Nforce I have all I would have to change out is the processor. Forgive me for not knowing all of the correct terms. I believe the heat sink is on top of the processor. Is this correct?

 

[Hawkson]

 www.xbitlabs.com

my favorite review site out there for comp parts. they are biased towards AMD and ATI, but justifiably so(best stuff out there)

In my view you have 3 options

1buy the budget processors now that they have listed along with mobos that work with them(amd 2500+ and up).

2buy the top end processors(400 dollars) and mobos that work with them-784 chips if you go 64 bit athlon

3wait a couple months for the 64 bit models to come out, at which point the 3400amd XP should be at a decent price(sub200$)


for athlong the top end are the 64 bits and intel its the P43.4ghz


you can get pretty decent stuff for 350 dollars(including 1 ghz of memory) if you get a new mobo,proc, and ram. If you go this route the top end of the budget line will meet your HTPC needs, although barely. The new software being used is pretty intensive.


The other 2 routes will be better, although they are more expensive. I personally would wait a couple months(also do some research on what you are doing first) for the XP 3200/3400 to drop in price.


Whats your other equipment?

 

[rgathright]

Here is my equipment.


Athlon XP 2000 (1.7 ghz)

Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard

512 mb ram

120 gb hard drive

MyHD 120

DAC 100 (external card)

Radeon 9500 Pro

Liteon CD-Rom

 

[JerryW]

Pick up the athlon 2400 XP-M (m for mobile) for $77 from newegg. Unlike the regular athlons it is "unlocked" which means you can set the clock multiplier which makes overclocking very easy. I have an 2600 XP-M which I have overclocked to about 2.36GHz and I just ordered two of the 2400 chips to put in my "mule" systems which are also A7N8X Deluxe motherboards. I fully expect to get similar clock rates out of those two chips too. For $77 it is a very cost effective upgrade and should tide me over for at least 6 months -- time enough for the Athlon64 systems to get cheap.