Planned upgrade

[malachiv]

Hi, I'm hoping the experts can help me on this. I'm a veteran PC builder, but lately I've been out of touch with my technology. With that respect I have a PC that's long overdue for an upgrade. I plan to only upgrade the motherboard, CPU, memory and grfx card, since everything else if pretty good. This is what I currently have for each component:

CPU: Athlon XP 3000+
Motherboard: Gigabyte with nVidia chipset
Memory: 2x 512 GB DDR Memory
Graphics card: nVidia GeForce 6600 (AGP)

So, with that said, I'm looking to upgrade to an Intel chip. For the motherboard, I'm looking for it to include at least 2 SATA, 1 IDE (for my two optical drives), PCI-e and built-in network... in other words, just what every motherboard out there already has. For memory, I'm considering getting 2 GB, but I don't know if it's worth it. And for the graphics card, I'm definetly not going to use dual cards. One is enough for me. Oops! I almost forgot my budget: I'm planning to spend less than $500 the the CPU, memory and motherboard, and less than $300 for the video card. Of course, the less I spend the better!

Basically, I'm only using this computer for the following: World of Warcraft, internet, schoolwork and business. That's it. I'm not looking to make the baddest gaming machine, in fact, I want something stable and will allow me to run WoW at full blast, which really isn't that much to ask for.

So while I've read up a bit on platforms and CPUs and GPUs and all that good stuff, in the end I'm a bit overwhelmed as to what's stable, what's overkill and what's too cheap to believe. If you experts can give me some advice, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Oh, and a small note: I have a 480 watt PSU, I hope that's enough juice for what I'll upgrade too (I'll be running two SATA hard drives, a sound card, and two optical drives). Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice.

 

[smokegfx]

do you have a budget?

 

[malachiv]

I forgot to include that! I edited the original post, but basically my budget is between $400 and $500 for the CPU, motherboard and memory, and about or less than $300 for the grfx card.

 

[malachiv]

I was actually able to find one of my original posts from 2006 when I was thinking of a complete overhaul, but later put those plans to rest. With the help of some friendly advice I had put this list together:

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB PCIe x16 - $270
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - $313
Cosair XMS2 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 - $160
MSI 975X Platinum - $165

As far as the CPU, I'd probably go with a cheaper one, but everything else seems to be within my budget. Could anyone offer their opinions on these choices? Please remember these prices are almost a year old, so I haven't checked to see if they've gone down (which is probably the case). Also, would all this work for my 480 watt PSU?

 

[malachiv]

I looked up the components on Newegg for updated pricing:

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB PCIe x16 - $219
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - $275
Cosair XMS2 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800 - $74 - 92
Asus P5W DH Deluxe 975X ATX - $128 - $175

A few notes: for the memory, I found two prices, the only difference is one is "SLI ready" and the other one uses "DHX technology" (DHX is the more expensive one). I never heard of SLI for memory, and I have no idea what DHX is. I hope someone can tell me. For the motherboard, it shows the MSI Platinum as deactivated, and this Asus is the same or better. The difference in price is one says retail (the $175 one), the other one doesn't, so I'm assuming OEM. Is it worth the risk to grab the OEM?

Please, any opinions or suggestions are welcome. If it's worth paying more for something that will give me more bang for the buck, or if I'm splurging to much in one area, I would love to hear it. And I don't plan on overclocking.

 

[malachiv]

Bump

 

[Onus]

I would not trust MSI for motherboards. I'd choose Gigabyte or Biostar based on personal experience; or Gigabyte or Asus based on reputation. Specifically, for that system a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L meets your stated requirements for $100.
Since the game you want to play is WoW, unless you're playing at 1600x1200 or higher, there's no need for an 8800 (although it's a great card). For around $180, you can get a HD3850 which will handle your needs just fine.
Get an e6750 CPU. They are $189 (vs. $229 for the slower e6600).
480W is enough wattage for the PSU, but I'm suspicious of its quality. If it came with your case way back when, it could be pyrotechnics waiting to happen. Choose one in the 450W-500W range from tier-3 or better from the list at http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon. Your budget will easily allow this, since the other parts won't come near your limits.

 

[malachiv]

Wow, I didn't know there was a faster chip for less. And the PSU that I have is an Antec, so I think it'll be with me for a while. I might actually stay with the 8800, since I do occasionlly play the higher end games, and since the difference between that card and the card you suggested is surpassed by what I'm saving with the motherboard and chip that you suggested, I should be fine. Thanks!

 

[smokegfx]

cpu : Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache - $224 usd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&Tpk=e8400

motherboard : ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $119 usd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142

RAM : CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $74, usd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

so that makes $417 usd for cpu/mobo/ram at newegg, well below your budget.

now for the gpu, you said below $300 so here we go :

ASUS EN8800GT TOP/G/HTDP/512M GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $280 usd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121220

or the :

ASUS EN8800GTS/HTDP/512M GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - $340 usd

i know this card is sligtly above your budget but since i saved you some cash on the cpu/mobo/ram i figured i would mention this card because it is just awesome.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121218&Tpk=asus%2ben8800gts

 

[malachiv]

Wow smoke, that was one helluva response! Thanks! I looked through the items, and I think I'm going to go with the Gigabyte motherboard that jtt recommended. It has more slots, a faster bus and is cheaper. I don't plan on going SLI, I'm not that hardcore. HOWEVER... you shouldn't have mentioned that 8800 GTS card, because I do like it a lot! So I might get that, and that way I can run my more intensive games whenever I want. As for the CPU, jtt recommened a slower chip (E6750), yours is faster for $35 more. Is it worth the extra $35 as far as performance gains are concerned? Thanks again for that great response.

 

[Onus]

If I were buying now, I'd get the e8400 myself; problem is it is out of stock.

 

[malachiv]

(sigh) You're right, that chip is out of stock. Oh well, here's the list that I have setup for the upgrade right now (all prices through Newegg):

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 - $189.99
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - $89.99
Cosair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 - $74.00
Zotac GeForce 8800 GT 512MB Overclocked (660 MHz) - $229.99
Total - $583.97

That, I think, is not bad at all, for what amount to an almost total overhaul of my PC. Please critique as much as possible. I'll probably put the order in tonight. Thanks again for the suggestions. Oh, and one last question: the current PC that I have, I made sure I matched the FSB to the CPU and the memory, is that a big deal or it really doesn't matter these days?

 

[smokegfx]

i would wait for the e8400, they go out of stock all the time,
didnt notice that about the motherboard sorry about that.