what's the best monster I can build with....

[the questioner]

okay,

my old motherboard toasted, and while the old RAM is still good, I think it's
time to upgrade the board. Trouble is, I'm on a very limited budget here. :o

Anyhow, I have a monitor and a good shell with 500w power supply, 100 GB IDE drive [yeah, yeah I know IDE] and want to basically move to Vista Ultimate with some halfway normal performance. The old machine used to handle XP on a 2.x GHZ board [not dual core either. Had it for a few years].
Any suggestions that is under $250 that can get the motherboard end operational ? the software is a "gee maybe I can save enough for it by christmas", I'm going to run XP, but I want it capable of handling vista at a reasonable speed, aka don't want it to be click a button, get a cup of coffee, come back and click again slow.......

Thanks guys !

[lgbpop]

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138103, $48
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103767, $109
RAM, 2GB PC6400: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145015, $45

Total is $202 plus probably $15 shipping for an excellent dual-core CPU (heatsink/fan unit included!), motherboard with on-board graphics to save you $$ up front while allowing you to upgrade later, and 2GB of excellent RAM with lifetime warranty from a respected mfr. Motherboard is micro-ATX form factor, which is small enough to fit into your unknown case yet have all the features typically found on full-ATX boards.

Check it out! You can re-use your hard drive and disk drive(s) for now, I bet. This system, as-is, will handle Vista when you're ready for it; it'll easily allow reinstallation of XP when you find out you don't like Vista.:D The other nice thing is that with the lower-draw Athlon X2 processor and built-in video, you can even continue to re-use your PSU instead of having to upgrade that to the 600W range right away. You can do your upgrades gradually over time.

P.S.: For another $51 ($253 plus shipping instead of $202), get a motherboard with 4 RAM slots and even more features, a real enthusiast's board. I love Abit myself, they're all I buy. Only thing is, then you need a video card. The Biostar board can be used for now, then sold when you upgrade at some future date so it wouldn't be a waste of money in the short run.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127046

[lgbpop]

I almost regret having looked at that X2 5200 now. (Been wanting to upgrade from my X2 4000.) I looked a second time, then a third time....it's scheduled for delivery here via 3Day UPS Thursday. Can't beat Newegg! :)

Show me another forum member who, to back up his recommendation, would drop $109 and buy the component himself.:D

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5581/neweggcpuordereh7.jpg

[the questioner]

niiiice ---- I sort of have the feeling I'll be doing exactly that - going back to XP - Vista doesn't seem to be ready for prime time yet.... I never heard of Newegg before, and it looks like they have some great deals ! Thanks for the info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lgbpop]

Many of the members here buy from them. Their prices are very competitive, customer service is great (it's not a federal case if you have to RMA something) and their shipping is outstanding. On the East Coast, if I get an order in by 6:00 PM it's almost always shipped same day (most of their warehouse orders ship from SoCal).

MWave (http://www.mwave.com/mwave/index.hmx?) is another good one to check out. Others here like TigerDirect and/or ZipZoomFly, but personally I hate rebates and those two etailers rely on them heavily. However - TD ships overseas from the USA, the others don't.

[lgbpop]

There may be faster CPUs out there, but this one is the fastest I've had my hands on. I just bench-tested it to make sure it worked before replacing my 4000+ tomorrow.

Does it EVER work.:D I remember marveling at how fast 98SE could boot with a fast Socket A CPU, just three years ago. Vista boots faster than THAT with this CPU. The Sidebar doesn't gradually appear - it materializes instantly. I'm going to play some Overlord tonight and see what that's like.:)

[Train]

Use a 10K Raptor, might speed up that SLOW boot problem. :D ;)

[lgbpop]

Use a 10K Raptor, might speed up that SLOW boot problem. :D ;):D

[Train]

Though you would enjoy that bit.