upgrade suggestions

[Mattlock]

Well its been a long while since I've perused the forums for upgrades.

(I have no idea what the latest and greatest components are)

Here's my current system: (have had it for a couple of years now...been working fine)

Motherboard: Asus A7V600x, (via KT600)
CPU: Athlon XP (slightly overclocked to 1955mhz)
RAM: 1024mb (2x512mb DDR -SDRAM PC3200)
Video Card ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder 8500
DVD Player
CDRW
HD: several (60gig, 300 gig, 250 gig) plenty of space

I just purchased a 22 inch samsung flatpanel monitor so I am definitely needing to upgrade my video card.

I play games (battlefield 2, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty etc) occassionally but mostly internet and office application.

Question:

1) Is it possible to upgrade this system for 400-500 and get a substantial performance boot?
2) If so, what components would you recommend?

thanks
Mattlock

 

[o1die]

I recommend the following, all from newegg.com:

Gigabyte p35-DS3L $92 plus shipping

Intel retail boxed e6750 $190 shipped

Crucial pc6400 ddr2 (2 x 1 gig) sticks $50 after $25 rebate plus shipping

MSI or EVGA 8600 GT video card, both $90 after rebate.

Total: about $422 after rebates

 

[Mattlock]

Originally posted by: o1die
I recommend the following, all from newegg.com:

Gigabyte p35-DS3L $92 plus shipping

Intel retail boxed e6750 $190 shipped

Crucial pc6400 ddr2 (2 x 1 gig) sticks $50 after $25 rebate plus shipping

MSI or EVGA 8600 GT video card, both $90 after rebate.

Total: about $422 after rebates

thanks for the suggestion.

 

[AVP]

If you even occasionally play games you would see better performance by Getting an e4500 processor and a better video card.
E4500 This is easily overclock-able to 2.7 - 3ghz stock.

For video cards I would then go for either an ATI 3850, 8800gt 256mb or even if you are willing to push your budget, an 8800gt 512 or a 3870. They would triple the performance of the 8600gt

Also if you do not want to deal with mail in rebates I would get this GSkill Memory for $50

 

[heyheybooboo]

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X
for another $40 you could go 790fx for 2x PCI Express x16 slots supporting ATI CrossFireX
(the 790X will Crossfire 1 x16 - 1 x8)

POWERCOLOR AX3850 256MD3-H Radeon HD 3850
mmmm . . . HD 3870 for another $60 (if you can find one ) I would go really cheap here, anyway, and wait until Q1 2008 and see what 2XGPU cards pop up. Could it be time for a GPU War???

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz
If you go low on the video card you could go with a X2 6000+ Windsor at 3.0GHz here

With the GSkill ram - around 500 bucks total

 

[taltamir]

Check this thread for a quality build:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2125624&enterthread=y

its got some options and suggestions built in as to where to skimp and where to add and so on.

With what you currently have I would say you should get an entirely new rig.

 

[AVP]

I disagree with heyheyboboo's suggestions, the Core 2 Dup chips, when overclocked, are better than the x2's. However, AM2 might last a little longer than socket 775, something to consider.

 

[GundamF91]

AM2 is already obsolete, you should get AM2+ for Phenom. Even then, there's AM3 that's coming out. AMD platform is just as aging as the LGA775 is. Either way, you should just enjoy these as the last of the DDR2 platforms. The next platform will all be DDR3.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: GundamF91
AM2 is already obsolete, you should get AM2+ for Phenom. Even then, there's AM3 that's coming out. AMD platform is just as aging as the LGA775 is. Either way, you should just enjoy these as the last of the DDR2 platforms. The next platform will all be DDR3.

Yup. DDR3 is the wave of the future but today is 3-4 times cost of DDR2 - even more - to gain appreciable performance gain. 12-18 months from now DDR3 will be mainstream.

For light gaming and ""mostly internet and office applications"" any AMD or Intel platform will be fine. Intel has the enthusiast crown and will most likely OC 30-40%. AMD offers quite excellent 'bang for the buck' in midrange CPUs and will OC 20-25%. I know it's hard for "enthusiasts" to understand but not everyone wants to OC to a system's limits. Paying $130 for a cpu is fine but paying $90 for a cpu works well for some folks, too, without leaving a great deal on the table.

Here is Anand's Fall 2008 Midrange CPU Roundup

The GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X offers PCIe 2.0, 2 PCI Express x16 slots, firewire and the possibility of CrossFireX if so desired.

It's just a better mobo than the Gigabyte p35-DS3L, which is a fine mobo btw.

Let the flames begin

 

[Denithor]

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L + e2180 ~$180
Kingston N5 2x1GB DDR2-667 $47
GeCube Radeon HD 3850 512MB $216
Thermaltake 500W power supply $40 (after $25MIR)
Samsung DVD burner $30

Total: $513 after MIR

This system should easily overclock to 3GHz on stock cooling and will provide a huge boost in performance (both gaming and general use) compared to your current rig.

You can usually find a cheap case in the hot deals forums for your build. Sell your entire old rig to get back some of your cash.

This build has an eye toward the future, you could pick up a Penryn quad late next year (about the time Nehalem launches) for performance that will probably last at least 2 years from that time.

 

[jdkick]

Speaking from my own experience with games like BF2, you'll want at least 2GB of memory and a fairly decent video card (8800GT or something on par) if you want to play at the native resolution for your LCD.

I have a BfG 7900GS OC, which outperforms that 8600GT/GTS, and i'm below native resolution for my 20.1" WSXGA+ LCD... weak CPU is holding me back a bit tho (new build coming soon tho, yay).