Ok, first of all I am about to get a new Mobo (ECS N2U400-A), and a new Graphics card for my system. I have to keep my Duron 1.6 for now because im under a budget. I used to have a AMD Athlon 2000+ but I sold it because this crappy Shuttle Mobo ran it at 1.85 core voltage and I could not change it. I have a cheap case too. I plan to nibble out the 80mm intake and exhaust for better airflow and put chrome grills on the fans. And I'm going to use nibblers to cut out a window, and put in a window kit. I already have a decent cold cathode and UV rounded cables. I will get Vantec toronado's for intake and exhaust, And a Vantec Cpu fan. I want to know what kind of Video card I should get. I love Nvidia, so I am thinking about getting a Geforce fx 5200, or something a little bit better. I plan to overclock the Video card (and the duron of course). So one of my questions is, Should I get a 5200 or the 5500? I dont see too much of a difference in the specs. Since I am overclocking the 5200 will it be as good as the 5500 or better? What would the Overclocked 5500 perform like? Can someone give me feedback on my plans, and answer my questions please. Much appreciated. Peace

The 5200 is a horrible graphics card. No matter how much you overclock it, its overall crappiness would prevent it from being a better card. I say get a 5700 Ultra or a 9600 Pro with your budget.

As for the ECS motherboard, there's a thread somewhere that basically stated those mobos are crap.

I can only spend about 80 bucks on a graphics card, and I know the 5200 isnt the best card, but it is indeed better than my current Geforce 4 mx 440. What about the 5500? As for the Mobo it is a very good motherboard, my best friend has one, they are cheap, and supports overclocking, Athlon 3400+, DDR 400, ATA-133, 6.1 onboard sound, LAN, and has the nforce 2 chipset. Can you beat those features for 53bucks? ECS isn't crap in my opinion, but I will look into finding a different board if I can. I don't like ATI. So screw the ATI advice you gave me (lol). But thank you for your advice, and any other info would be appreciated.

For the video card, I would suggest this. Better than a 5200 but still pretty cheap.
For the mobo, I would look at this. It has all the options you want and has a good rep (better than ECS).

Thanks man, those are both very nice suggestions. Soon after your comment on the 5200 and 5500, I decided to look at a 5600 . And does shuttle have a better rep than ECS? I have a shuttle now, and it is very reliable....just doesnt have the new features like newer boards do now. Man technology advances quickly. I think I will go with a AN35N The thought crossed my mind, but didn't know if shuttle was the way to go or not. The 5600 is a nice card for the right price also. You are the man thanks for the advice. I will post pictures and info on how everything goes. peace

I did 250 FSB with an AN35N Ultra, so I KNOW it will clock. And take a look at the ATi side of things, they really do offer superior image quality...

Quote: Originally Posted by gorked The 5200 is a horrible graphics card. No matter how much you overclock it, its overall crappiness would prevent it from being a better card. I say get a 5700 Ultra or a 9600 Pro with your budget. As for the ECS motherboard, there's a thread somewhere that basically stated those mobos are crap.

yeah Its right here----->>>> http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....&highlight=ECS

The Shuttle linked above is the best budget AMD board out there.

how does a 5600 overclocked sound? I will definatly get the AN35N board..its nice and cheap

btw check this out....my duron 1.6 has been running stable at 12.0 x 160fsb, until earlier....when my comp restarted...and all my icons and start menu sh*t was gone..i tryed system restore....didnt help one bit because i havent had XP on here very long....so its just like i reformatted.....isnt that a messed up overclocking experience??? and can anyone tell me why it did this...???

Sounds like it ****ed up man, sorry, i think you dont need to overclock that far.........

how does a 5600 overclocked sound? I will definatly get the AN35N board..its nice and cheap

btw check this out....my duron 1.6 has been running stable at 12.0 x 160fsb, until earlier....when my comp restarted...and all my icons and start menu sh*t was gone..i tryed system restore....didnt help one bit because i havent had XP on here very long....so its just like i reformatted.....isnt that a messed up overclocking experience??? and can anyone tell me why it did this...???

From my experience, having OS corruptions like that occurs from Memory overclocks more so than Processor overclocks. If you push your memory a bit too far then it may end up with bunk data and your system might not realize it. Then you shut down, it re-writes some system files and ka-boom.

my current mobo only supports 266fsb...and i have 333mhz memory (kingston 512 mb) ....i overclocked it to 320mhz (160mhz fsb instead of 133)......and im pushing my ram too much?

YOu may wish you had kept that XP2000, I have one in a Shuttle AN35/N Ultra and with relatively meager cooling I have pulled 2.44 out of it and I only had to up the voltage to 1.75 for that.
My everyday running speeds are usually 166x12 or 12.5 though and those are at 1.65v.

For god sake's don't be a moron like me and buy ECS!!!

LIke your Shuttle the Vcore is non-adjustable with them so headroom sucks for overclocking.

At this point, I would choose Asus, Abit, DFI, MSI, or Soyo for a mobo, all have good overall features and overclock capability. For your budget I'd go with AN35.

We'll see how good the Soyo Dragon2 KT880 is when I get one soon hehehe.

I think you will be pleased with the performance of the AN35/N, but the key to good overclocking on it is really good RAM. I have seen a 293FSB with it using Corsair XMS PC4000 and an XP2400.

I wish i did keep my 2000+ man....but the voltage was horrible on this board....and i need the money....i sold it for 40 bucks....brand new 2000+ tbred core.......and i got this Duron 1.6ghz for doing a lil work for my friends dad...he owns a computer business....computer repair and they sell systems........this duron will reach 1.9-2.0ghz...isnt that decent enought for now til i get a new CPU?...and how good do you think kingston 512mb of 333 will overclock if i put ram sinks on it and everything ?

I take it you are talking about the Kingston value RAM? I have Kingston HyperX myself so I can't really say but I have learned that (at least on the AN35/N) quality RAM is crucial to the higher FSB O/Cs.
I am sure you can get a "decent" OC with your RAM, but nothing to write home about.
From the research I have done on this mobo, the best timings to use (for PC2100-PC3200) tend to be 2-2-2-11 and for higher than PC3200 3-4-4-8. Don't take this as gospel though because your mileage may vary but RAM that can handle those timings will generally get you higher OCs, at least as far as the FSB is concerned.
The HyperX PC2700 is good RAM, but I am not going to "settle" for a mere 210-220 FSB when I know what this mobo can do so I will be upgrading to PC3500 or PC4000 in the relatively near future. If I am lucky, I will win the Corsair giveaway..... but I am not holding my breath.

Thanks for the info guys, pretty soon I will have an AN35/N mobo with a geforce FX 5600, running 512mb ram, and a Duron 1.6 overclocked. That sounds pretty decent in my book. I hope I don't have any more OS corruptions (that's what I guess what happened) due to memory overclocks. I also want to know, do ram sinks help with the memory overclock signifigantly? What are some good fans for overclocking, and cheap(Can't afford the badass swiftech heatsink that costs like 40bucks)? I'm thinking about the Vantec Tip-magnetic drive fan, or the Thermal-take Silent-boost fan with copper heatsink. I really appreciate you guy's help.