PC Upgrading Help

[akastarks]

I'm ready to upgrade my cpu and ram but I'm not sure what to buy. I have a:

KM4M-V Motherboard (That's what it says when i boot up)
AMD Sempron 2800+
1GB PC2700 RAM
120GB HD
ATI Radeon 9600 256MB DVI+VGA

I checked my mobo settings and I see I can make the comp run at 400MHz instead of 333. But can I buy a 400MHz Socket A processor and work? Or do I have to get a socket A 333MHz cpu? Same for memory, PC3200 or PC2700?

Reason I asked is people are confusing me telling me different stuff. I don't wanna buy all the 400MHZ fsb stuff and they don't work. Can I get an Athlon XP 3200 400MHZ fsb? Or is the max I can get an Athlon XP 3000 333MHz fsb or Athlon XP 3000 400MHz fsb?

I appreciate the help people. I need to know ASAP so I can start doing some Digital Artwork. This dude I know said Sempron blows ***. Hope he's telling the truth.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Take a look HERE for your mobo specs.

Regards Howard :grinthumb

 

[akastarks]

I see that but how come I see socket A CPU's that have 400MHz bus? Will mine support it as well as RAM?

 

[vnf4ultra]

It seems your mobo supports up to a 333fsb, so I guess a 333fsb 3000+ is about as high as you can get for it. There are motherboards that support the 400fsb, but yours isn't one of them. You can get pc3200 ram and it'll work, but it will underclock to pc2700(ddr333). So if pc3200 is cheaper than pc2700 go for it, doesn't matter, either will work, just you may be able to reuse pc3200 later if you ever do get a system that supports pc3200.

 

[Didou]

AthlonXPs are no longer being produced so they're very hard to find in the first place. If you fo find a 3200+ it might be a rebranded 2500+ which could give you stability problems sooner or later.

The other option is the one vnf4ultra suggested a Barton 3000+ which runs off a 166mhz FSB. The only problem is I don't think it will bring you that much performance increase to really justify the purchase.

 

[akastarks]

Ok thanks for everything guys

 

[akastarks]

I managed to get an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 333MHz Barton cpu last week and got rid of the Sempron 2800. I notice a definate increase of performance in my games. Thanks for the help people.

But I have one question concerning OCing this PC. I hear you have to buy faster memory when OCing. So If I buy twin1GB PC3200 and change the FSB from 166 to 200 will it be ok? Or do I need like a new fan or something else.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I'm not sure about the jump from 166 to 200, it's definitely possible but your mileage may vary. Any way, yeah, even it you only get to 180, then the pc3200 ram would help by being able to run at the fsb speed. Or you could keep your ram and use a memory divider if your bios has the capability. It be setting your ram from 166(ddr333) to 133(ddr266) instead, but when oc'ed, the ram will be higher than ddr266, closer to it's normal speed.

 

[Didou]

If you get PC3200 you can raise the FSB step-by-step & keep the memory running at the same speed as the FSB.

Just be aware that Via based boards do not lock the PCI/AGP bus so once you start raising the FSB, the AGP/PCI bus will start going above 33mhz. You can get data corruption & HDD failure if you push it too far.