Rig upgrade

ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi! Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
edited July 2007 in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">..yes another thread D=</div>Okay so my computer is getting pretty aged now, setup as follows...

2.4 GhZ Celeron D Processor
1GB PC2100 DDR1 SDRAM
160GB Maxtor 7200RPM IDE HD
Gigabite Nvidia 6600GT 128MB 8xAGP
ASRock P4i65G Motherboard (<a href="http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P4i65G" target="_blank">Spec Sheet</a>)

It doesn't run games all that great. HL2 barely hits 20FPS on low settings, pretty much thinking the CPU & RAM being so cheap, crappy and old holding it back. I'm on a tight budget and I want something that can play old games well and possibly some next gen, but <i>atleast</i> play HL2 nicely.

Proposed new specifications:

2GhZ AMD 64
1GhZ DDR2 PC6400
ASRock Motherboard with 8x AGP graphics (I'm pretty keen on ASRock, always good budget in my opinion)
- - -
160GB Maxtor 7200RPM IDE HD
Gigabite Nvidia 6600GT 128MB 8xAGP


So I looked up and thought about these replacements...

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600 Retail AM2 (<a href="https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/AMD/Athlon+64+X2+Socket+AM2/AMD+Athlon+64+X2+3600+Retail+AM2+-+ADO3600CUBOX+?productId=26792" target="_blank">Spec/Price</a>) (<a href="http://www.chiefvalue.com/product-_-productdetails.cv_-_item--19-103-760" target="_blank">Independent Spec</a>)

Asrock AM2NF3-VSTA Socket AM2 Motherboard(<a href="https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+AM2+(AMD)/Asrock+AM2NF3-VSTA+Socket+AM2+Motherboard+?productId=24271" target="_blank">Spec/Price</a>) (<a href="http://prices.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000838,36219709,00.htm" target="_blank">Independent Spec</a>

Arianet 1GB PC2-6400(<a href="https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+(PC6400)/Arianet+1GB+PC2-6400+?productId=26111" target="_blank">Spec/Price</a>)

I'm buying from Aria.co.uk like I always do and it's going to cost in the region of £105 including delivery if I'm patient and £120 if I am impatient. I'm basically asking for your guys opinions on this budget upgrade, if it's worth it, will do what I want gaming and application wise, and/if to make any changes around the budget of
£120 maximum.

Personally I want to go for it but I'm not up to date with everything technically and compatability wise which is another reason I'm asking for advice. I don't want to find out my motherboard and processor don't get on, which I know a few people have had in the past for Venice Core'd AM2's atleast.
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Comments

  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    What video card do you plan to get?
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    I'm not really all that in to the latest games and wanting to play them on super settings so I'm stick with my GF 6600GT, I can't really afford to upgrade that at this current time either.
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  • TykjenTykjen Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12552Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Get 2gig of ram. Gets the comp outta the soup it will be down in with 1gig.
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  • ThansalThansal The New Scum Join Date: 2002-08-22 Member: 1215Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1639573:date=Jul 19 2007, 02:43 AM:name=Tykjen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tykjen @ Jul 19 2007, 02:43 AM) [snapback]1639573[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    Get 2gig of ram. Gets the comp outta the soup it will be down in with 1gig.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    indeed.

    currently RAM is the cheapest and most effective (bang for your £) way to upgrade your computer.
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  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    Dear god, gf6600gt with celeron, lol bottleneck much?

    <a href="http://digg.com/tech_deals/How_to_build_a_sweet_gaming_PC_for_538" target="_blank">My Webpagehttp://digg.com/tech_deals/How_to_build_a_sweet_gaming_PC_for_538</a>

    Also, the intel core duo's are getting a lot cheaper soon.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    July 22nd, Intel fires its broadside in the price war and CPU prices fall faster than a baby from a dead stork. Wait for it, then pounce!
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  • EpidemicEpidemic Dark Force Gorge Join Date: 2003-06-29 Member: 17781Members
    edited July 2007
    You might want to shop around for used parts..
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  • ubermenschubermensch Join Date: 2002-12-31 Member: 11692Banned
    <!--quoteo(post=1639604:date=Jul 19 2007, 06:52 AM:name=Thansal)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thansal @ Jul 19 2007, 06:52 AM) [snapback]1639604[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->(bang for your £)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    lol.. "bang for your pound"... that doesn't quite have the ring to it that that the original American idiom does.. amusing little linguistic anecdote there.

    "Quash for your quid" perhaps? "Push for your Pound"?

    I'm wracking my brain to come up with a comparable awkwardly humorous UK English -> American English idiom translation and realizing in the process that I don't watch enough UK TV.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    How about just value for money? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    Speaking of 'bang for your dollar', I've decided to wait 2 months and then get a new budget PC... the below worth it?

    <img src="http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/319/pcbudgeten7.png" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
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  • MonkfishMonkfish Sonic-boom-inducing buttcheeks of terrifying speed&#33; Join Date: 2003-06-03 Member: 16972Members
    ATI crossfire ram with an 8800GTS?
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1639760:date=Jul 20 2007, 03:15 AM:name=Sonic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sonic @ Jul 20 2007, 03:15 AM) [snapback]1639760[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    ATI crossfire ram with an 8800GTS?
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    It's exactly the same as the normal stuff and from what I see all it has is a funky ATi heatsink.

    Although I've sold out further and am going to wait 3/4 months and get this beast now,

    Case: NZXT Classic Alu Tower Chassis £84.54 inc. VAT
    PSU: Thermaltake W0132RB 1000W Modular PSU £158.57 inc. VAT
    Motherboard: ASUS M2N32-SLI DLX nF590 Socket AM2 £93.94 inc. VAT
    CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ 2.80GHz (AM2) £99.82 inc.VAT
    System Memory: Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 C5 XMS2 DHX (4x1GB) £146.82 inc. VAT
    Graphics Card: XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB XT (x2 / Sli) £408.78 inc. VAT
    Hard Drive: 750Gb Western Digital Caviar SATA £146.82 inc. VAT
    Disc Drive: HP dvd1040i 20x DVDRW £24.62 inc. VAT
    Sound Card: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer £59.87 inc. VAT
    Software: Windows Vista Home Premium 64 OEM £70.44 inc. VAT
    Additional Cooling: Thermaltake CL-P0333 Blue Orb FX £22.27 inc. VAT

    Comes to a grand total of £1316.49 and this case is just lush <3

    <img src="http://www.aria.co.uk/dynres/cHJvZHVjdF9pbWFnZS53aWR0aD0yMDA=/bWFpbmltYWdlcy9DU0UtTUlELUxFWEEtQlMuanBn.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
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  • WarriorWarrior Join Date: 2003-02-16 Member: 13624Members
    edited July 2007
    Why AMD?

    4 gigs of ram is a waste if you dont already have a 8800GTS 640MB or a GTX.

    Are you going sli? Don't its a gimmick and a waste unless you have money to burn or a 30in monitor. You are better off putting that into a quad core.
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  • TykjenTykjen Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12552Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    4 gig of ram is definatly for mapping, 3d rendering apps and such. Really not needed unless you do alot of stuff like that. And I'll agree to dump SLI for quadcore.

    Dont know if you know, but PCI express v2 is on the way as well, might wanna wait a little longer.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    Yeah SLi and AMD quite simply because in the past I've had a better experience with AMD than Intel, namely being my old P4 system exploding on me one time. I'm looking to do more mapping again so the 4GB RAM will come very much in handy.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    edited July 2007
    <Stupid double post. Fix that button :@>
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  • EpidemicEpidemic Dark Force Gorge Join Date: 2003-06-29 Member: 17781Members
    edited July 2007
    Pentium 4 was known to run notoriously hot. Core 2 duo however is fastest game on the market atm (just check all benchmarchs!) and runs pretty cool. Your experience might simply be the luck of the draw and I doubt intel processors explodes anymore than AMD, especially with the current gen of CPUs.

    In 4 months the market will look abit different, allegedly both intel and Nvidia will introduce the next-gen chips in Q4, so it's gonna hard to recommend anything now.

    Also, I would recommend against buying that expensive, a good budget PC can these days be very powerful <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
    A few weeks ago I bought all the parts for a high-end computer for 750£, however I'm kicking myself not to go a slightly cheaper road to 500£ since the difference would have been neglible.
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  • ubermenschubermensch Join Date: 2002-12-31 Member: 11692Banned
    <!--quoteo(post=1639752:date=Jul 19 2007, 09:03 PM:name=Thaldarin)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thaldarin @ Jul 19 2007, 09:03 PM) [snapback]1639752[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Speaking of 'bang for your dollar'<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    *'bang for your buck'

    Also, I second what Warrior said.
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  • cerberus414cerberus414 Join Date: 2005-05-07 Member: 51098Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited July 2007
    <!--quoteo(post=1640040:date=Jul 21 2007, 12:54 PM:name=ubermensch)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ubermensch @ Jul 21 2007, 12:54 PM) [snapback]1640040[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    *'bang for your buck'

    Also, I second what Warrior said.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Lol, you actually corrected him. gg. Bang for your dollar makes just as much sense.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    It's not about making sense. It's how it sounds when you say it. Bang for your buck's got the alliteration, plus buck and bang are both monosyllabic. Bang for your dollar just doesn't work.
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  • CrispyCrispy Jaded GD Join Date: 2004-08-22 Member: 30793Members, Constellation
    You still didn't say why you want a SLi? I got a SLi not because I was gonna run a SLi but because it had a nifty heatpipe on it for silent running. Don't bother running a dual gfx card setup it's money down the drain. Word on the street is that graphics has peaked and physics is going to be the next drive for PC games (that means soon having (a) good CPU(s) will be far more important than what graphics card you have if you're looking to play next gen games).
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    As of yet PhysX cards haven't seemed to make current existing games much more "wow" from reviews, images and video clips I've seen.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    He's not talking about PhysX cards, just a beefy CPU that can do physics calculations, because that's what games are starting to load up on.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    Ah I see. Possibly, I won't really be running/playing next-gen game to be honest. Haven't got the time nor patience to learn something new and I haven't really liked the newest stuff out so it's not the neccessary.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    Then why the heck are you upgrading to an expensive gaming computer? If all you want to do is run Half-Life 2 there's no point in spending so much money. Just get a new video card.
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  • TykjenTykjen Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12552Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I belive, if you read the thread, he already stated he will do some mapping and similar stuff, that will favor getting Quadcore imo, instead of SLI.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    It's not like Hammer is multithreaded (at least, not the version Valve gives us). If the difference is a 12 hour compile vs an 8 hour compile and he's not using the computer for gaming anyways, it's a little silly to spend vast amounts of money to save him time just when he's mapping.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    Maybe it's not just hammer I'm going to use? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    Well what, are you going to be mapping for games you don't play or something? I'm a little confused.
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