Showtime

I recently read a post on Athlon/asus overclockablility(is that right and can i use it in Scrabble?). I would appreciate any input on the cheapest way to put one together. Whats the slowest Athlon process I should go with and how high can I safely overclock it. What vid/sound cards and any cheap alternatives. Ram type. Case/power. Cooling/fans etc. I was thinking an Athlon 700 w/Asus K7v kt133(no sound$300+) and that 20G WestDig 7200 HD($60) at Sams. This will be my 1st build so any help would be greatly appreciated.

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spigidygak

To save some more cash, I would go with a Duron 650. And instead of the Asus mobo, the Abit KT7 is a keeper. Ram is something you do not want to skimp on at all if you plan on overclocking. The best are infineon/siemens (both are virtually the same chips). Also for a ps, you want at least 300w, you probably could get away with 250w. As long as you don't have two hd's and two cd drives. And for case, if you can go to a computer show you'll save at least 25 bucks on shipping. Just get something that's easy to open. Even if there are a couple screws, you can always change them to thumb screws to make the case tool less. Cooling for the proc, I recommend a Globalwin fop, don't go with gorbs, they suck. If you can spend a lil' more go for the Alpha coolers, those are even better.

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Showtime

thanks for the info. can you tell me how using the lower end Duron chip will affect the performance and how much can you overclock the 600-650 duron(safely)? Thanks and I respect yah authoratah.....

spigidygak

The major difference between the Athlon and Duron is cache size and fsb speed. Athlons have twice as much cache and run fsb at 200 MHz while the Duron runs at 100 MHz. But that can change with a lil' overclockin'. The only problem is that you need to have a conductive silver pen, most Durons are locked, but with a lil' tinkerin' on the proc itself with a conductive pen and you can be overclockin' But it's a little risky. I'm not sure if you can modify the mobo of an abit KT7 to overclock like the asus A7V. But the Abit is a better mobo. Overall you shouldn't notice too much difference. If you get it to overclock, most people have gotten the 650 to run safely anywhere from 850-950 MHz. What is your money limit? Depending on how much you have to spend there may be a better alternative.

Showtime

thanks capt spigy, did some research and agree, will keep you posted as soon as I make final decisions(may be a lil while).

tophenhaw

the only difference is the L2 cache (128k for duron vs 256k for tbird). the bus speed is the same.

the kt7 lets you set the cpu clock multiplier in bios provided the L1 bridges on the chip are connected.

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spigidygak

Yup, all you need is a silver conductive pen to connect the bridges. Sorry about the fsb speed, I was thinking of something else.