Everything query

On a side note if you check out Price Watch you can pick up a lot of these companies KT333 based boards for the same price your lokking at for a 266 based board.
 
That Epox board is nice, the only problem is it doesn't have ATA/133 support, and the new HDD I picked up is, you guessed it, ATA/133. And yeah, I've been checking Pricewatch constantly. I see a lot of good KT333-based boards for cheap, but all of them seem to lack just one thing I need, like ATA/133 support, or PC-1600 RAM support, or more than three PCI cards, or something.
So far, that $59.00 Asus board at sofistic.com (A7V266-C) seems to fit everything perfectly.

Now, three new questions:

1) If I install my new HDD on my current system, format it, install XP, etc., and then later replace the MB and processor, would I have to reinstall Windows?

2) How does the MB, video card, and CD-ROM drive work initially during the whole setup stage without drivers?

3) I currently have an Asus A7M266 MB. I bought it last September with my 1.4GHz Athlon CPU. The manual doesn't mention Athlon XP support anywhere, but that's because Athlon XP was not out at that time. The Athlon XP CPUs are 462 pin, though, just like the older Athlons. So could I put an XP CPU in my current MB, even though it was made before Athlon XP came out?
 
1.) For best results, yes you should. You can get away with it, but considering how different the chipsets would be, you'll probably have some major issues.

2.)Windows has some very generic drivers so that it will work with pretty much any x86 setup (that meets the hardware requirements)

3.)Get BIOS 1006 or 1007 off Asus site and flash it for XP2100+ support.
 
1) Ah, too bad. Okay then, though. What kind of issues? Like lockups?

2) Okay, but what about in the pre-Windows stage? Like after I partition and format my drive and then want to boot off the WinXP CD? If Windows has the generic drivers, they're not there yet...lol.

3) Hmm, I may consider that then. Is it difficult to remove an already-present heatsink and processor?
 
Okay, time to continue this thread. My current (and probably next, as well) mainboard has 5.1 sound support. So I really don't think I need to get an extra PCI sound card. However, the 5 and 6.1 sound systems seem to need to be plugged into front, rear, and sub-woofer jacks. The mainboard only has one line out, a line in, and mic, though. So, if it supports that many speakers, how do you plug the things in?
 
Depending on the heatsink, it may or may not be a challenge. Most likely, you'll simply need a flat-head screwdriver to uninstall the heatsink. The old Athlon's with the Thunderbird core put out more heat than similarlly clocked Paliminos (like the XP2100+), so that XP2100+ should put out about the same level of toastiness as your current Athlon. It's just a suggestion, but you may want to look into a better heatsink while your at it as you've probably got a basic cooler that may be letting your CPU run a bit on the hot side.
If you decide to keep your current heatsink, make sure to clean off the side that contacts with the CPU core and apply a fresh, THIN coat of some thermal compound before reinstalling the heatsink on your new CPU.
One last thing: if you want to keep your current motherboard make sure to 1.) flash the BIOS prior to installing the new CPU and verify that everything works properly before the switch, and 2.) make sure you get an XP2100+ with the Palimino core. I don't know if the new Thoroughbred's will work or not. There is a beta 1008 BIOS for your motherboard, but there really wasn't any info on what it did. If your intrested to see if the Tbred will work on your motherboard, check out the Asus section of AMDMB.

If you don't reinstall, Windows basically gets confused by new hardware and will throw a fit. I switched mobo's with a Win2k (less pretty WinXP)/Linux dual boot and Win2k didn't like that. Linux worked fine however.

For 5.1 and 6.1 setups, consult the motherboard's and speakers manuals. Iwill uses the same C-Media sound chips on their motherboards as Asus, and Iwill has a bracket with a ribbon cable that hooks to the motherboard. Asus probably has the same thing, but if not, they'll have some sort of expansion card. Check with Asus to see about getting the extra bracket or card to get the rear and sub channels.
 
Thanks a lot. So you mean the motherboard comes with 5.1 support but does not come with everything you need to use it? How cheap of them.
 
Yeah, but they've probably done it to save money or didn't figure everyone would use it. You can either contact them about getting a bracket, or look into buying a realtively inexpensive solution like the Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1 or a Philips Acoustic Edge card. Both should be around $50 and shouldn't have problems like Creative cards do.
 
Why do Creative cards have problems?

Hmm...I looked on Pricewatch and saw 5.1 sound cards for $15. They must suck or be a really good deal.

Also, I bought the case today for my new computer. It's this one, only I didn't get it from there, I bought it at a computer show near my home today with a 400W power supply. What do you think? Anyway, the back of it is slightly different than what I have now. Instead of just being expansion slots and having one screw for each, there's a box next to all the slots that covers all of them vertically. To add or remove a card I must remove this box first, so everything is held in by it. I'm sure you've seen this before. I can remove the top screw, but then there are tabs all around that stick into the case. I can't figure out how to release those tabs and remove the box after I take the top screw out. Any help?
 
In addition to that, the time has come for me to purchase a new motherboard. I've narrowed it down to a few choices, all of which seem very similar to me, so I hope someone here can maybe tell me if one is better than another or not. Anyway, just in case you may know of other motherboards that I do not list here, the following is what I'm concerned with: ATA/133 support, AGP 4x, at least five PCI slots, 6-channel onboard audio, and AMD Athlon XP support as high as possible (2800+ or so).

Now, here are the mainboards that I was looking at so far. Once again, this is what I've narrowed it down to, and I can't make a good decision from here on my own since all of these boards seem relatively the same to me. In addition to the motherboard, I was planning on buying an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ or 2100+ processor. The cheapest I've found the 2100+ for, with shipping, is $85.11.

Biostart M7VIP

Biostar M7VIT

This combo (Question: It says 2.2 audio, but then it says 6-channel - so that is five speakers and a sub, right?)

MSI KT3 Ultra2-C

Asus A7V266C

There are actually a lot more MSI and Biostar boards that are very similar in features and price to those listed above, but I think you get the gist of what I'm going for. Thanks for any help.
 
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...=22&manufactory=1316&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

Currently 4 bucks for shipping via FedEx, making that 81 bucks

Pretty stripped of features, but it does feature USB 2.0 and the Via KT333 chipset. AOpen is pretty solid, although often overlooked due to not catering to the overclockers. I can't speak for Biostar, never having used them, but MSI is pretty good. However, that 2nd Biostar board looks pretty good.
Newegg has it for $73 with free FedEx shipping. It has a few more features than MSI, and uses the KT400 chipset.

Creative's drivers are bloated. The technology is good, but Creative doesn't seem to want to conform to some of the PCI specs, which have caused problems with previous Via chipsets for some people. Also, IMO, the Hercules Fortissimo II that I have sounds better than the Audigy, and is also almost half the cost.
The CMedia chips are fine, but they didn't have an EQ in the drivers last time I used them, and that can really limit how good any sound chip can be.
Also, the tough part here is that most companies don't include a bracket to take advantage of the 5.1 sound.
The 2.2 audio is referring to the version of the AC97 audio---which is very basic and not very good if you're an audiophile. You can either look into spending a bit more for the motherboard and get the bracket (Newegg's pics show you what's in the box) or you can buy a separate sound card. Soyo uses the CMedia chip and usually includes the bracket, but their motherboards run on the expensive side.

Yes, 6 channel sound=5.1 channel=5 speakers (2 front, 1 center, 1 rear) and 1 sub.
 
So let's see, I can cut out Asus A7V266C, as it'd be silly to get a mainboard with using the 266 chipset now, when there are two better ones out than it. However, I don't think I'm going to worry about getting a 400 chipset, as I've read it has little advantage over the 333. And since you said MSI is good, I'll either get that or the Biostart M7VIP.

Okay, I'll probably steer clear of Creative then. So, if it's 2.2, yet 5.1 and with the bracket, would it be okay, or still crappy because it's 2.2?

Oh, and you said 6 channel = 5.1 channel = 5 speakers. But the subwoofer isn't included as part of those "speakers," right? It's 5 speakers PLUS the subwoofer, is it not? Because one rear would be sort of odd - I thought it was front left, front right, front center, rear left, and rear right, plus the subwoofer.

Oh, and what about that case thing? Know what I'm talking about?
 
Here's a pic of the back of the case in case you don't know what I'm talking about.

case_back.jpg
 
Yeah the sub is the .1. Big B screwed up a bit :), should be two front, two rear and a center channel plus your sub.

For audio you might want to go with Hurcules' 7.1 solution, they're fairly cheap and will allow you to expand in the future if you decide to use a DTS ES or Dolby EX. Going with an external card should also help to minimalize the hit taken to CP cycles than an onboard solution would.
 
Pretty standard. If you get a motherboard with a different layout with the rear ports, you should get a bracket that matches it. Companies are pretty good about that nowadays.
 
Yes, but see that box sticking out the back? Well, I was able to figure out how to remove it, but I'm not sure if I even need to remove it to insert expansion cards. Anyone know that has a case like this?
 
How come? Usually they have waranties, insurance on the shipping, and the chances that the board will not work or work poorly if the seller has good feedback is low. Oh well, I missed the end of the auction anyway so I didn't get it.
 
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