140.00 Challenge

[parkerkane]

I have a bit of money from Christmas and I could really use an upgrade in components. Now, what I'm asking may not be feasible (and that's part of the reason for asking).

My current system is:
P4 2.8 (Socket 478)
Abit IC7
1 GB of ram
2 Seagate 120 GB drives
Ati 9800XT

I think those are most of the pertinent specs.

What I would like to do is move to Socket AM2 or 775(preferably Core 2 Duo) (I'm not particular about Amd or Intel, whatever is the best bang for the buck)

To do that I will need a motherboard, Ram and a CPU. I have an MSI MX6600 PCI Express card (crap, but free!)

I have been on TigerDirect, Newegg, ZipZoomFly, MWave, Pricewatch, and I am just not really finding anything very good. (course, that may be because I am dreaming, but hey. . .)

Anyway the challenge is if anybody can come up with a decent group of stuff for 140.00 USD. If I'm insane and just need to save up more money, let me know.

The gauntlet is thrown. Good luck.


PS. I am a casual gamer. Will be mostly used for gaming and DVD creation.

 

[Assman]

if you mean 140.00 USD for all the stuff you need for an upgrade than yes, you are insane.

 

[Bjorn0]

Well, you are not going to get much for $140 at Newegg.

You could get an Asus M2V-TVM motherboard ($57.99) and an AMD Sempron 2800+ AM2 ($43) with a 512 stick of Corsair value ram ($53.99) Plus shipping. That is about as close as you are gonna get unless you want to drop the ram to 256MB.

The Motherboard is a Micro-atx board, the reviews are not stellar, but Asus is usually pretty good about fixing issues.

The processor may seem like a weakling, but those Semprons are known for 800 MHz+ overclocks. Though the board may not be capable of supporting that type of overclock, you should still be able to glean a couple hundred more Mhz out of it.

 

[parkerkane]

That's pretty much what I was coming up with so thanks for the confirmation.

 

[Assman]

no problem just save more money and go with c2d setup

 

[parkerkane]

Hmm, didn't think about the Sempron's. That's not a bad idea because it still allows me to upgrade later. Thanks.

 

[apt403]

Insane is an understatment if that price is in USD, get $300 atleast, then we can talk about a c2d or am2 rig. The components that you could for $140 would under perform the pc you have now.

 

[Assman]

i was just gonna say it thanx

 

[lordaardvark2]

i don't think that you could really be satisfied with a $140 build honestly... you could get like the shittiest mobo with no features and a filler proc for a later upgrade... this may not be what you want to hear, but i'd say save: throw it in the bank and collect some "free money".

 

[Bjorn0]

The components that you could for $140 would under perform the pc you have now.

You do have a point, I really didn't look at his original spec's.


I think a better idea would be to just invest the $140 in a high end motherboard. That way you can just buy the sempron and the memory later when you come across another $60-70 bucks. Then you can add a stick of ram later, then an x2 processor even later, and a SLI setup if you are interested in that sort of thing.

 

[NumenorLord]

Just save your money.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

One other thing, you didn't say what you would be using the computer for mostly. I take it PC Games because of your current video card?

I think your system isn't too moldy yet to be honest. Do you already have a DVD Burner and soundblaster X-Fi? Or maybe buy a nice mouse for gaming like the logitech G5 or a gaming keyboard?

Yes, I might recommend the RAM upgrade. I think 2GB is a good place to be at. Problem is DDR400 is not made anymore and the prices keep going up.

Maybe buy some new PC Games and peripheals for now and save you money for a new system when DX10 hits the mainstream.

 

[lambofgode3x]

he did mention what the comp will be used for...

PS. I am a casual gamer. Will be mostly used for gaming and DVD creation.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

he did mention what the comp will be used for...

PS. I am a casual gamer. Will be mostly used for gaming and DVD creation.

Thanks for pointing that out, I obviously missed his postscript

What resolution do you run at and what games? I bet your system plays almost every game just fine with the possible excepton of oblivion.

If you really want to upgrade, you will be better off buying a compleletly new system when VISTA comes rolling out.

You'll need, like you said, new ram(DDR-2/3), video card (PCI-E), Possible DX10 compatiblity, CPU, Motherboard, Powersupply.

Keep your current system as a backup gaming rig and you could let you buddy use it when you play LAN or something.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

LambofGodE3X wrote:

Congrats on breaking 100 posts today :lol:

 

[lambofgode3x]

no problem about the pointing out thing, and thank you. i was quite happy about breaking 100 posts too. my next milestone is 1,000. :twisted:

you bring up a good point...he should wait. amd is moving the release dates for their new processors up, and dx10 games are going to start appearing soon, so upgrading now would be kinda pointless. especially on that budget. i agree with cletus on this one.

 

[joewho]

About as close as I can get is C2D 6300 with AGP motherboard. You could use your 9800XT and Ram. Here in Houston FRY'S has the Mobo and C2D6300 for $169.

Good Luck

 

[chuckshissle]

You don't need to upgrade that system. Better off with saving up that money and upgrade to a Core 2 Duo setup like everyone else suggested.

 

[parkerkane]

Actually that's exactly what I want to hear. It's why I asked the question. I wasn't coming up with any kind of satisfactory results in my searches so I wanted to throw it out there and see if anyone had any brilliant ideas. The advice on these forums is generally really good and I thank all you people who jumped in for your advice.

 

[lordaardvark2]

good luck with your money, whatever you chose to do with it! i hope this computer comes to fruition and pleases the hell out of you!

 

[parkerkane]

I ran Oblivion and it really wasn't too bad. For resolution it depends on the game and what the card can handle. I run generally anywhere from 1024x768 up to 1280x1024. I was playing Gothic 3 (that's kinda choppy and I had to turn down the effects quite a bit) and Lego Star Wars 2 with my 6 year old(not really graphics intensive so that looks great). I would love to try out F.E.A.R. but I figure that should wait for a new system.

 

[parkerkane]

Can you give me the model # for that motherboard? Is it one of those that has both AGP and PCI Express?

 

[JMecc]

The AsRock 775Dual-VSTA ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092 ) has AGP and PCI-E (I think 4x though) and 2 slots DDR + 2 slots DDR2 and can use C2D. I think that's what JoeWho is referring to.

Jo

 

[ragemonkey]

Use the $140 to buy an 8-ball of crack

Smoke it

Hallucinate about all of the new stuff your now-uber computer has

 

[parkerkane]

Thanks for the constructive advice. :roll: