Which CPU/Motherboard Combo should I get?

[jxcheng]

My old computer just went dead recently, and I plan to build a cheap, stable system, with reasonable performace. I am going to reuse many parts from my old computer (Floppy, Hard Disk, CD-Rom, Keyboard, Mouse, or even Memory and Video Card). This computer will be primarily used for office applications, web-surfing, emailing, occasioningly programming, and personal photo viewing/editing ( I am not a game fan).


I am considering building my own PC using one of the CPU/Motherboard combos from Fry's, because it is much cheaper than buying CPU and motherboard seperately.

Currently, Fry's has the following two combos on sale:

1). AMD Athlon XP2200+
plus ECS K7S5A Pro Motherboard

2) Intel Celeron 2.0G
plus ECS L4VXA2 Motherboard

The second combo (Celeron) is only $5 cheaper than the first one.

I know that Athlon is probably faster than Celeron. But I am not sure about other factors:

1). How about the stability of these combos?
2). Is Athlon easily got overheat?
If so, how much will the cooler (CPU fan, heatsink, etc.) cost ?
3). Does both motherboard support large hard-disk (>137GB)?
4). Is the difference in speed between Athlon and Celeron noticeable?

Thank you!

Jim

[Urban_Squrill]

If sold as a combo they usualy have a hs/f with them. Some correct me if I am wronge but I think those support lard HD's. As for speed difference I dont know. The 2.0ghz celeron is not that great a cpu(at elast I think) beacsue of the cache is small.

I am a AMD fanatic I vote Althon XP2200+

[jmebonner]

Another vote for the AMD.
The stability should be fine, make sure you have a decent psu and ram for the K7S5A
No, Athlons don't easily overheat, unless you've sone something wrong. They do run hotter than intels, but overheating is not an issue unless you're o/c or. like I said, you've messed up
It should support Large disk
YES! The difference would be noticable esp in gaming and graphics intensive applications.

[wju425]

The athlon will be so much better than the celeron and there's no comparison. The athlon will run hot but with a good h/f and good case cooling it'll rock even with the goodies from the old system. Using the celeron will just make you disgusted with it. I have an athlon xp1700 and when I work on my friend's 1.8 celeron system I hated it. My system made his system look like a 286.

\o/ Billy

[shawshank62]

combo should have the hs/f on it already, do you have a link? imo celery is a piece of crap worthy of using it as toilet paper (ok not really that bad....but none the less no way near as good as a xp 2200). I dont see why it wouldnt support the hard drives, unless your talking about serial ata. Also the motherboard click here says this:

Supports DDR266 / DDR200

Now correct me if im wrong, dd3266 is pc2100 ram, which means it runs at 133fsb x2=266. But the processor you are getting will be running at 333fsb (at the max that is, it can run at 266 also) but you wont be able to fully utilize the 333fsb, so you may want to look into just buying the cpu and mobo seperatly. How much is this deal anyway?

EDIT: just checked the price of that mobo over at newegg, it is $47 and the price of a XP +1700 is $44/XP+1900 is $59. If it is cheaper to get a 1700 and the mobo seperatley i would take that route. why pay extra if you cant use the increased fsb anyway?

[jxcheng]

In the Combo, the Athlon CPU is a bare CPU, not in a retail box. So I doubt that it has heatsink/fan....

The ECS K7S5A Pro support DDR 266/200 or SDRAM 133/100.

Yes, the combo is cheaper than getting a motherbooard and a XP1700+ seperately.

Thanks!
Jim

[shawshank62]

i would get the +2200 and pick up a hs/f combo. also what kind of ram do you presently have?

[jxcheng]

Currently, I have PC133/100 SDRAM from my old computer.

[EvilCrow]

Another vote on the AMD here. Just can't beat AMD performance...

[shawshank62]

that mobo supports 133 so i would definetly go with the AMD combo