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Happy Birthday to Me! Yes, my birthday isn't until early March, but I'm planning while I have the $$. After a couple of hours of scavenging NewEgg, I've put together two potential computers for myself. As follows:

Computer #1: 754 Build

ECS nForce 3-A Socket 754: $49.99

AMD Mobile Athlon 64 3000+ DTR: $115.00

pqi 1GB (2x512MB) DDR400 RAM: $77.99

Spire SP779B3-1 Copper HS + 70mm FAN: $16.79

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound: $5.99

Shipping: $18.45
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Total: $284.21
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Computer #2: 939 Build

Gigabyte GA-K8U-939 ULi M1689: $58.00

AMD Athlon 64 3200+: $160.00

pqi 1GB (2x512MB) DDR400 RAM: $77.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound: $5.99

Shipping: $13.78
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Total: $315.76
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Alright, I know people are probably going to hate me for even considering 754, since it's so outdated, but with the M-2 coming out, 939 will be outdated soon, too. This will probably be my only upgrade for the next... 5 years or so, since it's a rare occasion that I have $300+ in my hands at any given moment.

Another reason I'm considering 754 is because my choice of mobos is larger. I'm running an AGP card still, and since it's fairly new, I'll more than likely be keeping it for quite a while. And with the $32 I save, I can get a good DVD-Burner for my system, since mine just died on me... damn motherboard. PSU's taken care of, I just got a new 400W not too long ago.

And another reason I'm thinking 754 is the cheap proc I can get for it. The Athlon 64 Mobile seems like a wonderful choice for overclocking, and it's 1MB L2 cache has me drooling.

Post your opinions people! And keep in mind, I'm just a poor HS kid doing odd computer jobs... trying to treat myself.

If you go with the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Motherboard for $67 you can use AGP and PCI Express. It also will take the Athlon M processor when it comes out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813157081

go the extra mile.. and grab the 939...

as for Mobo..http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128286 A better board than the one you had. and Nvidia Chipset.. FTW...

CPU.. 939 is where my heart lies man.... you know how I like mine.. and the 3200 isn't bad..

knowing that you have th Lanboy case.. and the ram youhave will go in it.. and a 400watt PSU should be

good.. I thinkthe extra $4 is well worth it to get a Nvidia Chipset. and not some off brand.. and the fact that the $4 more mobo. has GIGABIT lan.. FTW again.. and don't get the Artic Silver. I have some. you can use it.. I mean I have that kybd and headset for you as well.

my main rig is a DFI something 754 with a 3200 1.5 gb 800xl and it runs everything fine, but I was buying something now I'd probably go with 939

I'd shy away from the ECS mobo though...quality has been an issue

AT had a review of a 939 pcie/agp mobo a while back and gave it good marks and I remember it was cheap

the nvidia chipset is always reliable

Found another possible board if I end up going down the 754 route.

MSI K8N Neo3-F

Uses the nForce4 chipset, has AGP and PCIX 16X slots.

nice. but it max's at 2gb ram

Okay, need advice. Will I notice a performance hit if I run DDR333 instead of DDR400? I already have a gig of DDR333, and if I don't really have to pay the extra $80+ for new RAM, it'd be nice.

LOL
I run my ddr 400 at "ddr333 max mem". Sorry, thats funny to me cause it ends up @ 444mhz after the overclock. As for socket type, 939. Even with the release of a couple new sockets 939 will stick around for a while. If Im not mistaken, there is no support for dual core anyways on 754 is there? Save you $$$ and get a decent 939 mobo and ditch the 333 in my oppinion. As a matter of fact, what you want for the mem? Im wanting to put somthing together for the wife. How far from Austin are you anyways?

Key Keeper, a little over 400 miles from Austin, actually. Well, if I do go for the DDR400 as you say, sure, alright, the 333 is yours. You want an Athlon XP 3000+ to go with it?