Dead computer...upgrade to AM2, PCIe on the cheap!

[splendorlex]

I have a system I built about three years ago, and when I got home today it was plain dead. No posting, no nothing. I believe I may have a fried processor. It's an old 754 socket mobo with a first gen A64. I don't have much at all to spend, but I need a new mobo, cpu, memory and PCIe video card. What are your thoughts on this build on the cheap?

Newegg build

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

SAPPHIRE 100164DDR2L Radeon X1650PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 35W Processor - OEM

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail


This very nearly puts me at the outer limit of spending, and it's actually a fairly substantial upgrade. Any thoughts, tweaks, or ways for me to save even more?

 

[slicessoul]

can't see your links.
What's your budget ? Any thoughts to move to intel ?

 

[splendorlex]

My budget is around 250, max. I've been an AMD user for awhile, and would prefer to stay that way due to cost.

 

[kona]

The RAM is fine....take a good look around right now though as there is a whole lot of DDR2 RAM on sale at a very good rate. The board is ok too though I would try to find a 6150 chipset as there are some minor optimizations that took place and it will be right at about the same price as your 6100 chipset. The card however is a piece of trash, particularly because its running the DDR2 memory and not the DDR3. I had that same card and it was a POS because of that. Better off spending your money on a 7600GT or just buying the board, processor, and RAM first and using onboard video until you can afford a few more dollars for a 7600GT. The 7600GT will stomp the 1650Pro even when the 1650 pro card is running DDR3 let alone when its running DDR2 not to mention that the 1600 series of cards run hot hot hot. Nice choice on the processor I think....I have an X2 3800 and an X2 4200 running in 2 boxes and there isn't that much difference and the 3800 won't be maxed out anytime soon anyway.

 

[splendorlex]

How about this card?

XFX PVT73GUGF3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

 

[asgallant]

The Radeon X1650GT is on par with the 7600GT, but comes in a bit cheaper (~$75). Here's one at NewEgg.

The motherboard you picked is based on the ancient nForce 4 platform - you can do much better today. The nVidia 7025/7050 and the AMD 690 chipsets are much better than the 4 series, and you can get the motherboards cheaper. If you can do without the extra expansion slots that a full ATX motherboard gets you, I would recommend any of these:

Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 AMD 690V micro ATX motherboard - $59.99
or
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G micro ATX motherboard - $62.99
or
Gigabyte GA-M68SM-S2 nVidia 7025 micro ATX motherboard - $69.99

The AMD 690V/G chipsets have better performance and lower power consumption than the nVidia 7025, but they are all good choices.

 

[splendorlex]

Thanks so much, asgallant. I think I will go with the Gigabyte 690g board and that Radeon. Both got largely positive reviews on Newegg. I upgraded to the retail box 3800+, and all together with 2nd day UPS I come out to around 277. Awesome! I'm actually a little glad that my comp went down, as it sort of forced me to do the upgrade I had wanted to do for awhile. I'll actually have some room to improve this rig in the future, as well. Thanks!

 

[tlmck]

Gigabyte 690g = excellent.

The rest are good choices as well considering the budget.

 

[splendorlex]

Thanks all for the advice. My order is in. I went with the Gigabyte 690g board, the 3800+ retail, the memory listed above and the X1650XT. I can't wait!

Is the stock heatsink/fan sufficient for the 3800+? I looked, but didn't see any better alternatives for the AM2 socket type. Also, when installing a new board, do you mount the CPU and Memory before inserting the board in the case or what? Thanks!

 

[Shadow703793]

The SHF is fine as long as your room temp is not too hot and u aren't OC'ing. I personally prefer to install the CPU and RAM before installing the motherboard in the case, but it depends on the case, form factor, etc.

 

[tlmck]

I generally build and test outside the case. I usually leave the anti-static foam on the bottom of the MB and set it on top of the closed MB box. This facilitates plugging in the cards. I start with CPU only, power it up to see if it spins, and listen for the appropriate beeps for the missing vid card, memory, etc. I then proceed memory, one stick at a time, then add the vid card, and finally the drives, booting up between each.

Sounds like a long process, but is actually faster in the long run, as you do not have to uninstall from the case should problems arise. It also speeds up troubleshooting. It is also preferable to do this on an anti-static mat, or a plain, clean wooden surface. I have a 3'x4' anti-static mat myself.

 

[splendorlex]

Ok, one more question. I have an Enermax 535w PSU. Will this be sufficient, at least for now? I will not do any overclocking or anything fancy, and have only a single drive and maybe 2 HDDs.

 

[tlmck]

Should be plenty of power. I assume it has a 24 pin main power plug for the MB? If not, it may still work. I know I had an old 20 pin ATX PSU running on a newer 24 pin Celeron board. I just plugged it into the first 20 pins of the 24 pin MB connector(only goes in one way anyway) and then the separate 4 pin connector, and it fired right up. I no longer have it or I would test fire it for you. I have a newer Antec PSU on my 690 board.

 

[einstein4pres]

Yes, plenty of quality power. 500W is around the max any system (even CF/SLI) actually draws.

 

[splendorlex]

Great. I started to get worried as I heard about 700w + PSUs!