Upgrading Pc For My Birthday

Supernorn · May 2005

<div class="IPBDescription">recommend me something</div> Its my birthday next week or so, and I think I might get myself an upgrade for my PC.
I've got a fair amount of cash, but I dont want to spend too much on it. I'm planning on upgrading the processer, memory, and videocard and was wondering if you could recommend anything to me.

System specs:

AMD AthlonXP 2600+
1.91GHz, 768MB of RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9600 SE
Western Digital 80GB HDD
ABIT NF7-S NVIDIA nForce2 Motherboard
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1

Spooge · May 2005

What speed is your RAM? If your Mobo is a version 2.0, you can upgrade to PC3200 (400mhz) and a 400mhz CPU but you probably won't get a serious performance increase. For more power you'll probably need to upgrade the Mobo as well.

If you want a new video card, I'd say take a look at the X800 series.

CoolCookieCooks · May 2005

i dont think you should upgrade your ram. 768mb is fine :o

btw theres no point in upgrading to a better socket A processor, best off getting a socket 939 mobo with pci-e, a 64 bit 3200 and a pci express graphics card

Lt_Patch · May 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (CoolCookieCooks @ May 27 2005, 05:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> i dont think you should upgrade your ram. 768mb is fine :o

btw theres no point in upgrading to a better socket A processor, best off getting a socket 939 mobo with pci-e, a 64 bit 3200 and a pci express graphics card  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
QFT.
768MB RAM is fine for a system running off of a Skt A CPU.

Get yourself a good nForce 4 motherboard, and an A64 3200+ S939 version.
You can use your DDR RAM at the moment, but you will need to upgrade to PC3200 DDR400 at a later date.

Go for something like a GeForce 6600GT, and you won't be short from 400 quid, and you'll also have a solid upgrade path for the future.

DaJMasta · May 2005

Yea, 939 would be great and all, but 100 bucks for a decent mobo, 150 for the cpu, and 150-200 for a graphics card....thats without new ram..... (unless you have 2x 256 MB and 2x 128 MB sticks then you could actually use dual channel).

For less money, biggest impact would be a new graphics card, more ram always helps, but not that much, and you can really go up to like 3200 staying with an athlon XP, so upgrading cpu is 150 down the drain (you can get OC better than a 3200 fairly easily with a decent cpu cooler and mem to match).

Less than 200 bucks, go with a GeForce 6600 or 6600GT, of course AGP.
For a wee bit more, go with an x800 pro/xt in AGP.

either will at least double your video performance, and there aren't that many games out now which are demanding enough to need much more memory or cpu to get to a consistant 60 fps in almost anything.

BaconTheory · May 2005

More RAM. Memory is the cheapest and best upgrade you can buy. If you're planning on getting a new mobo, then get one that supports DDR2 and you could get a gig of that from Corsair.

DaJMasta · May 2005

eep, DDR2 isnt supported on A64 mobos....

and DDR2 sux0rz. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' />

Amplifier · May 2005

If you can afford it get a new socket 939 nforce 4 board, a64, and new video card

otherwise get a new nforce3 board with agp and socket 939 (msi k8n neo2 plat)

Actually check out the k8n models by msi, they have all different levels of power.

Status_Quo · May 2005

Yeah, I'd recommend a new 939 motherboard with PCI-E, Athlon 64 3500+ or possibly a 3200+ if you want something a bit cheaper, and a new GFX card. X800XL is supposedly quite good, or a GF 6600GT if you want something cheaper. Not sure how well the X700 cards work.

Cyndane · May 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Lt Patch @ May 27 2005, 11:41 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> </div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (CoolCookieCooks @ May 27 2005, 05:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> i dont think you should upgrade your ram. 768mb is fine :o

btw theres no point in upgrading to a better socket A processor, best off getting a socket 939 mobo with pci-e, a 64 bit 3200 and a pci express graphics card </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>
QFT.
768MB RAM is fine for a system running off of a Skt A CPU.

Get yourself a good nForce 4 motherboard, and an A64 3200+ S939 version.
You can use your DDR RAM at the moment, but you will need to upgrade to PC3200 DDR400 at a later date.

Go for something like a GeForce 6600GT, and you won't be short from 400 quid, and you'll also have a solid upgrade path for the future.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
QFT, QFT, QFT. :-)

( I would go with the new RDRAM, but then I like being unique. :-) )

Supernorn · May 2005

Thanks guys, I'll look into it.
I have a new question though. I'm looking for a decent TFT monitor that has a response time of 16ms or less that isnt too expensive. I know CRT's are generally considered better, but my monitor just takes up way too much room on the desk and the colours are off completely.

I've checked out Dabs.co.uk and they have a nice recommended selection, but I'm still not sure what to go for.

Cyndane · May 2005

Tiger direct and pricewatch.com also have excellent deals if you can find a decent one. Although I would again urge you not to buy a TFT for gaming.

Spooge · May 2005

Check out <a href='http://www.benq.co.uk/products/' target='_blank'>BenQ</a>. They seem to have pretty good stuff that's common in the UK.

Supernorn · May 2005

Ok I took on board your recommendations and these are the parts I'm currently going for:

<b>Motherboard:</b>
Asustek A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 nForce 4 SLI PCI-E ATX
<b>Processor:</b>
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Socket 939 512KB Inc Fan
<b>Graphics card:</b>
Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT 128MB PCI-E DVI-I

Just double checking to make sure these would be compatible with each other and the parts I'm not upgrading.

Cyndane · May 2005

Excellent choice in graphics card Norn. You have earned my Seal of Approval.

<img src='http://www.cigarlabelart.com/images/bulk%20sale/Seal_Of_Approval_TS.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

I won't comment on the processor.

You have done well with the motherboard, although now you must complete you half of a terabyte project.

Supernorn · May 2005

Oh yeah, I almost forgot:

Quiet 8cm Case Fan
£3.10 inc VAT

<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' />

Status_Quo · May 2005

I see no reason why those parts wouldn't work. I haven't had any experience with Gigabyte, though, so I don't know if they are a good choice.
You should make sure your PSU is strong enough as well. Take a look at the <a href='http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-d/overview.htm' target='_blank'>ASUS homepage</a> and check the power requirement for light or medium load and compare to your PSU specs.

The RAM you have is PC3200 (or DDR400), right? That should fit the new board. If it's not, you should check that out before you buy anything.

DaJMasta · May 2005

Great choices.

Only thing i could even reccomend is a simmilar stick/new sticks of memory to run dual channel, since you need essentially matched pairs.

Other than that, if I had a seal of approval as well, i would give you one.

Lt_Patch · May 2005

Wow, if you change the graphics card for 2 XFX 6600GT Gamer's Editions, then you have the core of my PC.

The 6-series cards are designed for the nForce4 chipsets, and give the best compatibility rating with them, against any other PCIe chipset.

If you're looking for a new PSU, then I'd recommend a Tagan 480-U01. It powers my setup, and I've had no problems with it. Tagan do actually do one with optional interconnection cables, so you only have the necessary cables in your PC, and not any that you won't use.

Upgrading Pc For My Birthday

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