Member Avatar for dcc

Over the last couple of months I've had to replace my FDD, CD-ROM, and HDD. I had hoped that the new HDD would solve some problems I've had, but they're back, so I guess it's time to get rid of this old slot A mobo. What I'm thinking about using is this:

BIOSTAR NF325-A7 Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Sempron 64 2500+ Palermo 800MHz FSB 256KB L2 Cache Socket 754

pqi POWER Series 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory

I'm on a tight budget at the moment, so at $156.00 this is appealing.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome.

I do have one question, the power supply is a 300W Antec, is this enough for this system?

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Dani AI

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A few practical notes to tie the thread together and help prioritize the $200 budget.

Keeping the old AGP card means choosing a motherboard that still provides an AGP slot; opting for onboard video (and audio) will save the cost of a separate card but will reduce 3D/graphics performance. For a tight budget, prioritizing a board with the features needed (AGP if reusing the card, or onboard video if avoiding a new GPU) gives the most predictable path without buying extra adapters.

Power: raw wattage is less useful than quality and the +12V capacity. A small, older 300W unit can be marginal once a discrete graphics card, a couple of drives and the CPU are added. A modern, well-built 350–400W supply with a strong +12V rail (roughly mid‑teens to low‑20s of amps depending on the GPU) and a separate 4‑pin CPU 12V connector is a safer choice. Age and capacitor condition matter — a years‑old PSU or one that has been run hot is worth replacing even if its stickered wattage looks adequate. Echoing , allowing headroom avoids unstable behavior under load.

Build and troubleshooting tips: test the system with only one stick of RAM, the CPU, one drive and the GPU (if keeping it) to isolate problems; swap in a known good PSU if the system randomly reboots under load; inspect the old board for bulging or leaking capacitors (a common failure mode on aging motherboards). Given the $200 constraint, spending a little more on a quality PSU and a solid motherboard (as and suggested) will deliver far better reliability than skimping on those and buying a marginal power supply.

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Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

I'd recommend a 400W PSU from Antec. The AMD 64 bit CPUs are power hogs(all 64 bit CPUs are).

As for the mobo, I'd recommend one with an nForce4 chipset. How about the MSI 7135? I'm using this mobo and it's great....

Member Avatar for dcc

Hi goldeagle...I looked for the MSI 7135 at newegg and tiger direct without luck, do you have a link for this board?

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

The boards marketing name is MSI K8N NEO3-F. You can find it on NewEgg.

Member Avatar for dcc

Thanks goldeagle and chrisbliss18...one of the advantages of the Biostar is that I can still use the AGP card from my old unit, I would be more interested in a board with on board audio and video if I'm going to spend more money. I'm already looking at another $42. for a video card with this board. I have a total of $200. to spend on this and it looks like my Antec 300W PSU may not be enough for this system.

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

The Asus K8N-E has AGP, nForce4 chipset, and Realtek ALC850 audio chipset. It seems to fit the bill, but it is a bit more expensive than the Biostar NF325-A7.

Member Avatar for ISPkiller

if it's just 20-50 bucks difference, just get it for a better board and name.

Member Avatar for dcc

Thanks chrisbliss18...I like Asus better anyway, I guess I'll have to go without my meds for a while :eek:

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