building a new XP (AMD) system...

[aglio412]

i'll preface this post with:

1. i'm not an overclocker
2. i'm not a hardcore gamer

ok, here we go...just few questions about what's going on in the wacky world of hardware.

i'm thinking about making my Duron 800 my linux box...the K6-2 300 i'm using now, just isn't cutting it. from that box i will salvage my santa cruz sound card, tdk veloCD 12x...DVD, etc...so i basically need a mobo, cpu, case, video card, harddrive, etc...

i definitely want an AMD Athlon XP , i was thinking about grabbing a 1600+, granted it's not a 1900, but it's damn cheaper. what is the big difference between these chips, it's not like the days of old when MhZ was all that mattered.

also, i'm thinking about the MSI KT266 Pro2-RU board..any objections, anyone have experience with it? however, i'm tempted to go to tigerdirect and grab one of their barebones kits that already have a case, here's the one i was looking at:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=S450-3007

any beef with that board?

i think it's time for a new video card as well, i'd love to get a GeForce3, but missed out on the $99 bestbuy deal...damn! i'm not a hardcore gamer, but would like to get back into playin some quake and half life...so i'm thinking i should at least get a GF2, but i haven't researched or bought a vid card in years...so i'm completely clueless here.

also thinkin hercules game theater...hmmmm

any other advice would be greatly appreciated...i'm basically leavin it up to G|A to help me piece together a new rig

[aglio412]

oh dag...

i'm thinking i might get slapped with a repost...or a concurrent post..just noticed someone else posted a building a computer thread...hmmm

well, i guess my thread is more about the tigerdirect (SOYO) kit vs the MSI board...

i like that the MSI has USB 2.0 support...

anyone know of a site that sells MSI boards in barebone kits?

[neo1]

I just bought a new computer sporting the MSI board. Its excellent! I love this mobo...
One problem I have is that the USB 2.0 doesn't work at the moment. I don't have the drivers for it and the MSI website says your suppose to d/l it from microsoft. This is only if you are you using WinXP. MSI has drivers for the other MS OS's. I can't find the driver from microsoft either.
if someone has it, plz tell me how i can get them! thanx

[sbp]

The Soyo K7ADA uses ALiMAGiK1 which is an okay chipset. But its performance and compatability are surpassed by other chipsets.

Santa Cruz sound card and Hercules Game Theater use the same sound chip. Why get the Hercules unless you want the rack?

A GeForce 2 GTS will play old games Quake and Half Life just great. Its for future games it won't do as well.

If you will use Win2000 or XP have at least 256MB of ram.

[Ladogaboy]

Check the G|A deals page. Outpost.com has a Athlon 1700 + MoBo (I'm not familiar with the mobo though) for $199 shipped. Might be a good deal for you.

[sho.gun]

Were you referring to my thread (sho.gun PC)? If so I'd be getting the MSI board on friday maybe and I'll let you know how it is then.