New Upgrade...Opinions wanted pls...

[01001101]

ok, web surfing aside, you will tell a difference. (Although, with the way Broadband is going, you'll be needing that extra CPU power in 5-6 years)

I centainly hope he isn't investing all this money just to surf the web.

Even with just typical Office apps, I can tell a difference between my 1600+ rig and my 2200+ rig (both with 512 RAM). I can notice an even bigger differnce on my 2.5GHz Celeron notebook, which crawls compared to my 1600+ rig.

So like I said before, don't get the budget chip. A much better solution can be had for not a lot more. A duron is what? ~$35? A 2500+ Barton is $75? We're talking about an exta $40. When building a new rig, that's not much, especially considering the huge performance differnce.

[wayout44]

So like I said before, don't get the budget chip. A much better solution can be had for not a lot more. A duron is what? ~$35? A 2500+ Barton is $75? We're talking about an exta $40. When building a new rig, that's not much, especially considering the huge performance differnce.

But for some people out there $40 is something they don't have.

[PCH]

Thanks again for all of the replies...

As far as the processor goes, I have the extra cash to spend for the XP2500, but not for a P4 equivalent (they seem to cost around $100 more for an equivalent speed). So I'm pretty settled on the XP2500.

I did some checking and managed to find a sale on some RAM so I picked up an extra (identical) stick of DDR this weekend. So now I have the 2 sticks of DDR needed for a 2 channel solution. Would you guys still go with the Biostar MOBO? If the ASUS is more reliable/stable, I would prefer to go with it to avoid the hassle of crashes. But, if there's a good board with a NIC and no sound card, I'd prefer that. I'll keep researching, but if you guys have experience with anything worthwhile, I'll go with your advice over my research :-)

Lastly, for the video card, it looks like the Radeon 9200 is the best of the bunch. I was a bit surprised that the Powercolor 9550 256MB didn't have any votes for an extra $40...I would be willing to spend the little bit extra if the performance difference was significant (even though I rarely play games). Any thoughts?

Thanks for all your help!

[PCH]

I thought of something else that came up while buying the RAM...

While searching for an identical stick, I noticed that some sticks are double sided (chips on both sides) and some are single sided, but both claim to have the same overall MB's. Is one better/faster than the other?

[metallicat666]

the biostar might crash more than the asus but for the price its a really good deal.
if you can afford to spend more then get the asus. you wont regret it