Considering an upgrade, please advise..

[ormandj]

Hi,

I'm running an ATI 9800 Pro, 1.5 gigs of pc3200 ram, an asus a7n8x-deluxe mobo, and an athlon xp 2600+. I've got two ata133 hds as well.

I am considering an upgrade, because my system really is starting to "drag" so to speak. I'm really waiting for the new technology to come out (conroe and the am2 stuff), but as always, no matter what you buy the day you buy it, it's outdated already.

I've been putting off upgrading (except the video card, went from a 4600ti to the 9800 a year or two ago) for quite some time. I always *wait* on the next generation. I guess that's why I've not upgraded anything.

Anyways, I'm looking to do a cheap upgrade to kinda pacify me for the next year or two until the newer stuff is out and established. I am not looking for insane performance or anything, just a bump from where I'm at now that makes economic sense to do.

I was considering the Intel 805 just because I would very much like dual-core/smp (all of my workstations at SMP, I have been living without it at home for FAR too long). It's cheap, and gives me smp. If there is something comparable from AMD, I would go that route if it made more sense.

I don't really think I need to upgrade my video card at this point, it's doing well enough for eve online and wow. However, seeing how video card technology progresses insanely fast, I'd like the option of later (down the road) upgrading video cards. This is another reason I'm thinking about doing an upgrade now, I can only support AGP cards. So a motherboard that could handle both AGP (to keep my current card) and PCIe (for all the pcie x16 cards that I see!). The way I see it, pcie looks like it's going to be around for a while, so whilest intel and amd will totally change their architectures/sockets/whatever, i could upgrade my video card in the future to pcie and not get left in the dust like I am now with my agp-only motherboard.

As for ram, I don't mind buying some DDR2 or whatever if it's necessary, ram is pretty cheap. If I can use the pc3200 stuff, that's def. cool though.

I've got an Antec Phantom 500, so I don't think power should be an issue. My case is also very well cooled, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I'd like a board with a good NIC on it, as I do dual-boot with Solaris. It tends to like intel/3com NICs. I'd have a preference to intel, but either/or is fine.

Stability is probably the most important to me, performance is secondary. I don't want flakey components! I just want to upgrade to a dual-core solution as a stop-gap method, that will allow me to upgrade video cards down the road for the concievable future.

Well, if anybody can help me out, I'd really appreciate any and all advice. If you think it makes no sense to upgrade in my situation right now, please tell me. I've just waited so damn long and I'm running pretty damn old tech.

 

[ormandj]

How much are you willing to spend?

The whole idea is to be economical. I don't have a set dollar value, I could spend 2 grand. Does that really make sense to do now? No. I'm just looking for something to "tide me over". I'll probably just end up getting whatever Apple laptop is based on conroe in the future. I'd get the current MacBook Pro right now, but it's first generation and (from the support forums) got the typical kinks of a first gen product.

So as to how much I'm willing to spend, less is better (within reason). Otherwise I'd just go get a X2 4400+, a 7800gt, a couple gigs of ram, some WD raptors, and be done with it. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to do, I'd be in the same situation I am now. My current stuff is so outdated there is NO upgrade path. 939 is about to be the same way. So is whatever Intel's equiv is. That's why I was thinking dump 150 in that 805, 50-100 in the mobo, and if I need new ram, 100 in that. Make sense? I'm just looking for advice.

 

[jokersgrin]

Consider this
New tech will always have its bugs for the first year or so, till its a proven platform
This also means that along with the bugs you get the higher cost for the new tech.
Going with a proven platform, example: socket 939 and nforce 4 chipset with competitive prices you get a computer that will last you till your ready to upgrade again, by then the AM2 and Intel will have proven platforms and chipsets that will have competitive prices!
This way you'll have a screamn rig ( whatever your verison is ) to play games and run the lastest apps....etc

If anything always do the research first then buy!

 

[pengwin]

yah just spend like 900 buck snow and get akick arse PC

u got a case and PSU so u need a mobo a gfx card a CPU

around...500bucks maybe 600

 

[ormandj]

yah just spend like 900 buck snow and get akick arse PC

u got a case and PSU so u need a mobo a gfx card a CPU

around...500bucks maybe 600

That'd be a waste though. I'd blow 900 on getting a system that I intend to upgrade in the next 6 months, and have to spend another 900 on.

 

[pengwin]

well no

Abit KN8 SLI - $100
New RAM - $100
7800GT - $280ish
CPU
-Opteron 177 - ~$170
-3200+ ~$168
-3800 X2 (dualcore) ~$295
-Opteron 165(dual-core) ~$330

u got everythign else

so its not too expensive

 

[ormandj]

well no

Abit KN8 SLI - $100
New RAM - $100
7800GT - $280ish
CPU
-Opteron 177 - ~$170
-3200+ ~$168
-3800 X2 (dualcore) ~$295
-Opteron 165(dual-core) ~$330

u got everythign else

so its not too expensive

That is pretty expensive for gear that I'd only expect to last 6 months. Again, I'm not looking to build some crazy gaming rig. I just want dualcore/smp. I'm not interested in building a system to last 3 years. Adding up those prices comes to ~800$. I don't need or want a new video card right now, I don't need or want to spend 300 on a cpu. Spending 150 for a 805, 100 for some ram, and 50-100 on a mobo that supports AGP and PCIe makes a LOT more sense for me. I'm just asking for advice on the motherboard I suppose, too many people here keep trying to talk me into spending huge bucks on something I intend to toss out in a few months.

 

[Caboose-1]

I hope I don't sound rude, but if you already know what you were going to do, why did you post? You want a dual core Sempron i.e., a 165 or 170

 

[ormandj]

I hope I don't sound rude, but if you already know what you were going to do, why did you post? You want a dual core Sempron i.e., a 165 or 170

Don't sound rude at all. I know I don't want to spend 800 on upgrades. I, however, don't know what exactly I want. That's why I posted. I don't know what mobos to look at, don't know what cpu (I was looking at the 805, didn't know there were dual core semprons...), etc. I was looking for advice in this regard.

 

[parlee]

the 800 dollar rig he showed u, 3800 and 7800gt will last at least a year, longer if performance isnt that important to you, that will also be a rock solid setup... and if u dun want to drop ur 9800 right away get the asrock 939 motherboard that supports agp and pci express, then the upgrade will be 500 and you can keep the 9800 for another 6 months or so.

thats ur best bet

amd x2 3800 295
as rock mobo ~ 80
i duno if ur rams good or not, but u could always upgrade to 2 gigs if urs isnt too bad...

so u could spend under 400 and get a much faster computer.... dual core semprons arnt out i dont think? if they are some1 post me a link, im interested

 

[Heyyou27]

Go for the FX60, a crossfire motherboard and two X1900 XTXs, pair that with four GB of Corsair RAM 4 optical drives, two Raptor 10,000RPM 150,GB and another two 250GB 7200RPMs. :lol:

 

[pengwin]

yah the dual 1900XTX's will run u over 100 bucks ...no

if u want long term preformance get FX-60 and 2 7800GTX's in SLi with a thermal take Tia Chi case.

Or you can wait until the end or march and get dual 7900GT's which will be a crap load of money

 

[Caboose-1]

I hope I don't sound rude, but if you already know what you were going to do, why did you post? You want a dual core Sempron i.e., a 165 or 170

Don't sound rude at all. I know I don't want to spend 800 on upgrades. I, however, don't know what exactly I want. That's why I posted. I don't know what mobos to look at, don't know what cpu (I was looking at the 805, didn't know there were dual core semprons...), etc. I was looking for advice in this regard. Good, I don't like to offend people, unless they really piss me off, but as in the case of the CPU and MOBO go for a inexpensive Sempron Dual like 165 or I don't know if they go lower. For the Mobo try and get a hold on a Asus they are pretty good, but can be large and expensive depending.