First of all, I have been a big fan of the site for a long time. That’s why I have finally come to the forums to request some assistance with my current system.
I want to upgrade. Bad. But on a decent budget. I need your help pointing out the weakest parts and where I would see the biggest bang for my buck. I am a little rusty with my lingo so bare with me.
Quick Story: I was really into building about 3 years ago and built my first one to be a sweet multimedia and.gaming pc. It turned out to my only one cause I got busy with school and finding my first job. About a year ago, it stopped booting up and I couldn’t figure out why, after now defunct compusa discovered I had bent a pin in my processor, a local computer tradeshow guy hooked me up with a new motherboard and AMD processor to replace my busted intel and chaintech pcjs motherboard.
I haven’t really been happy with it since. It wasn’t a downgrade or anything, but I didn’t have a say in the matter and that’s what ticks me off about it. Plus, it has started to show its age on games like Call of Duty 4, C&C 3, and the Crysis Demo looks awful…
So if you think you can help I would be greatly appreciative. My details are below and if you want any other info just let me know.
Case: Antec Plus 1000 SOHO File Server Case (the only part I regret. Ugly gray, huge and heavy)
PSU: Antec True Blue 430W, came with case.
Motherboard: ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, AMD socket 939, up to 4gb pc4000, ULi® 1695 chipset (what else do you guys need to know here…?)
Graphics Card: PNY GeForce 7600GS 512 MB pci express x16 (I think… kind of embarrassed here, got it for xmas)
Hard Drives: 2 Maxtor Diamond Plus 9 6Y120M0 120 GB SATA 7200 RPM w/ 8mb buffer. (I am a little worried about these, when my systems slows up they make a lot of noise…)
TV Card: ATI TV Wonder Eilite
Sound: In Board Realtek AC97
Monitor: Nice Samsung 920BW I got for xmas last year.
Windows XP SP2, directx 9.0c
Magicjack Phone (if you haven’t heard of this, try it. IT’s Awesome and CHEAP!)
One thing I want to keep is the ability to output video to my TV. Right now the Geforce 7600 GS has a great video out with S Video and composite so any new graphics card would have to have that.
e2160 - $80
p35 mb (ds3l if its in your budget) - $70-100
2 gb ddr2 800 ram - $40-50
8600gt or 2900xt, whichever is cheaper - $75-100
fsp or antec neohe/earthwatts, whichever is on sale ~400 watts - $50
case to your likeing - $50
new hdd (sata only) 250-500GB, depending on cost and needs $65-100
if you have extra money in your budget, spend it on the video card. if you won't overclock the cpu (i recommend you do) then spend a little more for 2+ GHz, otherwise the e2160 overclocks really well.
if this is over your budget, get a 939 X2 for ~$100 and an 8600gt/2600xt ~$100 and another 1GB of ram for ~$50. this will get you better performance than you currently have for less, but a new build would be better.
I would not dump too much into the 939 system. You might also consider an AMD Socket AM2 system. I think you can get the boards cheaper, and the chips are not bad. Oh, newegg just had 2 gb of Wintec ddr2 800 memory for 35.99 as of yesterday.
Budget wise: I have $300 to work with from xmas, plus whatever I can scrap my current parts for on ebay or the like (i also have an ATI AIW 9800 PRO laying around).
I really like nvalhalla's set up, but why do I need a new PSU? Doesn't the one I have in the Antec suffice?
I am aiming for the same kind of performance that was accomplished in the System Build Marathon Low Cost System in the article On this site back in September, if that helps.
I think if I can flip it I want to go back to Intel, that was the way I originally wanted it and i think i like their sets better anyway. To save money, I may be willing to stick with the stupid case and PSU (if it will suffice) because I am more concerned with performance than looks right now. When i feel like splurging i will upgrade the cosmetics of it.
I have never overclocked before but I think I want to try it with this upgrade. Parts that are easy and stable to overclock would be a plus
Message edited by chuccck on 01-12-2008 at 08:02:51 PM
