Will anything go wrong?

[MasterMoogle]

I'm planing to upgrade my Advent 3218, and having never done this before, I'm wondering if this should all go smoothly, and if I would need anything else (fans etc.)

Here's the specs:

CPU AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (2.167 GHz)
Motherboard MSI 6716 ver. 1
Memory 512 MB DDR RAM - PC2700
Hard Drive 120 GB Seagate ST3120022A
CD Drive Pioneer DVR-106D
Sony DDU-1612 DVD-ROM
Video Card nVidia GeForce FX 5200 (256MB)
Sound Card Realtek AC'97 audio
Speakers Advent SP-120N
Case ATX Case

with:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ S939 OEM
XFX Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR-3 PCI-E
Maxtor 300GB DiamondMax 10 SATA OEM
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
1GB of RAM (not sure which type to use)

[Playbus]

Your motherboard doesn't support PCI Express, so thats the gfx card out, and the best RAM it can take is the stuff you've got already. It also doesn't support S-ATA, so that's the hard disk you want out of the window too. Oh yeah, and the processor. It's the wrong slot, so that won't fit either.

Get a new motherboard, something like this (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=230492) , and then you'll be able to fit all the parts you listed onto it.

Oh and you'll need a new case and power supply, at least 350w but preferably 400 or even higher. Otherwise things won't work properly.

Good luck :D

[Darkscull]

Your motherboard doesn't support PCI Express, so thats the gfx card out, and the best RAM it can take is the stuff you've got already. It also doesn't support S-ATA, so that's the hard disk you want out of the window too. Oh yeah, and the processor. It's the wrong slot, so that won't fit either.

Get a new motherboard, something like this (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=230492) , and then you'll be able to fit all the parts you listed onto it.

Oh and you'll need a new case and power supply, at least 350w but preferably 400 or even higher. Otherwise things won't work properly.

Good luck :D

ie. get a new PC

[MasterMoogle]

Hehe, thanks anyway. :slash:

I shall consult the financial advisors (my parents)

Just noticed on the link, the motherboard overview says,

Four 184-pin DIMM sockets
* Support 4 DIMM Dual DDR 400/333/266 non-ECC memory
* Support 4 DIMM up to 4GB Max.

Does this mean that it would still accept the DDR RAM or would I have to buy new RAM?

[3v1l |\/|1NiOn]

In relation to the power supply, get a 400W or higher BRANDED power supply. An eBuyer generic just won't supply the necessary currrent.

I recommend any of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Power_Supplies_123.html

other than Q-Tec and the 'other' section.

[The Grim Reaper]

Also, make sure the PSU(power supply) has PCI-E support preferably, along with sata support too, otherwise you have to use clumsy adapters. I was told for my 7900GT to have at least 20A on the the +12V rails (look on the side of the PSU, there is a chart with the voltages and amps.)
RAM? well use some branded stuff (kingston comes to mind), everywhere exept this country, branded is only 3% more on cost.

stuff you can and cant use from your old setup:
CPU AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (2.167 GHz)
Motherboard MSI 6716 ver. 1
Memory 512 MB DDR RAM - PC2700 (you'll want more than this with that spec...)
Hard Drive 120 GB Seagate ST3120022A
CD Drive Pioneer DVR-106D
Sony DDU-1612 DVD-ROM
Video Card nVidia GeForce FX 5200 (256MB)
Sound Card Realtek AC'97 audio (assuming onboard)
Speakers Advent SP-120N
Case ATX Case

And may i suggest, a nice Opteron over the 4400? They overclock really good, and they are cheap for performance. The Opteron 170 can overclock past the spec of a 4400 on fan cooling. (dont quote me on that.)
Opterons are made for servers, but gamers use them because of the overclocking potential and because they can multitask very well.
go to www.tomshardware.com for any advice on any hardware, they know their stuff (forumz)
If you do get one, made sure its got the 1 at the front(ie. 165, 170 etc), which means its a Socket 939 board and is for single processors.
btw, the 165 and up are duel core as well.

[Playbus]

posted by MasterMoogle
Does this mean that it would still accept the DDR RAM or would I have to buy new RAM

It still uses DDR RAM - but can take faster DDR RAM than you already have.

Your current board supports up to DDR333 (which is also known as PC2700)

The newer board I linked to supports up to DDR400 (PC3200)

Both are esentially the same type of RAM, just one's a weee bit quicker.

Your current RAM would work in the new board, but if you go down this road, you're limiting yourself, as RAM only operates as fast as the slowest piece of the chain.