question about a cpu and mobos

[bolaber]

I have a computer that i bought from 3 years ago that i made myself and it fried not too long ago... not sure how but the mobo is definetely gone.

My budget is not very high.. only about 550 ish.. and i'm trying to salvage as much as i can from my old system.

Things that i know i can salvage:
DVD-rom / DVD-RW
Hard-drives
eVga Geforce 6800 ultra (AGP)
2x GeIL Value 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
600w power supply (forgot name.. but it was ~150 dollars.. so it must be pretty good)

My Target:
-Fastest CPU possible (within my budget.. and i'm fine with over clocking)
-2GB of ram (hopefully i can still use my old ones for the other 1GB)
-Water Cooling system (doesnt have to be the best.. but it definetely has to be quiet)
-Water cooling block on my video card (the fan is too god damn loud)
-nice mobo with decent over clocking capabilities

I read from this article http://www.overclockers.com/tips00971/ that the Pentium D 940's are only 133 now... but no matter where i look, the minimum price seems to be about 250.. How much longer do i have to wait til it drops to 133 or where should i look?

I would really like to get a water cooled system/kit.. it doesnt have to be the best, but it definetly has to be quiet.

With those questions asked... I guess i have a few more ... that seems to be in my head..

1. which cpu is faster? amd 3700+ or the Pentium D 940? (for lets say... world of warcraft? and farcry?)
2. If Pentium D 940 is faster, does it have a mobo that supports AGP video cards, and the current ram that i have (and add 1GB more of it)?

If amd 3700+ is faster, which mobo should i get? My old mobo only had 3 ram slots.. (MSI K8N Neo Platinum Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb ATX AMD Motherboard )... if the one thats suggested to get has only 3 ram slots, is it still possible to get 2gb of ram and still keep my old one?

3. which water cooling system should i get? I heard the big water one was nice, but its only a kit (no case).. which case should i get with it, if thats the cheapest/best one i can get?

 

[o1die]

I'd go for the 3500 (about $120) which is a better value than the 3700 san diego. You can use it with the asrock dual sata II board (uses agp or pci-e) or what I use, a via kt800 pro chipset board for agp only. You can also try selling the agp card, and go ahead and upgrade to pci-e video. With pci-e, you'll have a great selection of nforce4 boards to choose from, which will overclock better than the asrock board. For the case, I would shop a case specialty store such as cable mart on pricewatch.

 

[Tattysnuc]

If you need to save a few quid on the watercooling of the system, and look at the Artic Cooling range of coolers. I couldn;t get over how cheap they were......

and quiet!!!!

As for memory, I'd save a few pennies and not bother with the 2 gig option. I blew £130 on 2gb, and nothing is using it! Call of duty, Fear. Must admit, I'm not bought a copy of Battlefield 2 yet, but when I do, I'm warned that this needs 2gb....

Personally I'd wait to see those AMD price cuts on Socket 939 to materialise, then go for a plucky dual core..... then overclock!

The motherboard is a bit of a pain. I would almost be tempted to ebay the gfx card (they are rare, so you might get enough to cover a PCI express one!). Have you considered selling up and going with a new platform entirely?

Sorry if that's not much help

 

[bolaber]

thank you guys so much for replying.

i have considered selling my card on ebay.. but no one ever seems to want to buy the ones that are already there for sale.

i only have about 550 extra spending money on me right now, and any more than that... well it'd be a while before i can consider anything else.

 

[firepyro555]

well, for now you could go for dual channel ddr400 ram, 1gb about 60-70, AMD 3800+ about 150 and if u can find one, An MSI K8N Neo2-F. and for cooling, a Zalman 7000. Then you should be set. if u want, PM me and we can talk, i got some stuff for sale becuase i built a new computer