Computer Upgrade Help

[doomduck]

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking to do an upgrade of my computer over the next month or so. Here are the current specs:

Motherboard: ABIT KN8 Ultra 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD (Needs Upgrade)
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ Manchester 2.0 GHz 939 Dual-Core (Needs Upgrade)
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels PCI (Needs Upgrade)

Memory: 2GB 184 Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Video Card: eGeForce 9800 GX2 1GB PCI Express 2.0x16
Power Supply: Xigmatek ATX12v Ver2.2 650W SLI ready

It's a bit disorganized 'cause of my video card having problems earlier this year, so I went ahead and upgraded it when I replaced it and the power supply. I'd mostly like mobo and processor advice.

I'd like SLI support if possible. I won't be overclocking. And my budget for the components is about 1000 dollars but the better the bang for the buck, well, obviously the better. I'm impartial between Intel or AMD - whichever you guys feel is better.

Appreciate any help - thanks!

~DD

 

[tkgclimb]

I wouldn't go with AMD not because I don't like them but because trying to have a newer AMD supporting motherboard by Nvidia (for SLI) is a problem, there is the 980a and the 780a's but if you want a newer AMD CPU like a phenom II then the 780a's will work but the 980a would be better (and I can only find one of those). You will just have a lot more options if you go with intel because of SLI support. But they are more expensive, i would get an i7 mobo with a 920 or higher (depending on what you want) and then get some memory. that should run a little over 500$.
I would either do that or hold out on AMD with an 980a mobo and an phenom II 955 (any CPU really your call). or get a 780a sli mobo, but since there isn't much price difference it doesn't really make sense. And i'm not sure if you would have to upgrade your memory with a 980a. hope this helps
PS I know nothing about sound cards sorry

 

[doomduck]

Haha, no prob on the sound cards. I figure once I'm set on the major components I'll hop onto that part of the forums *grin*.

Thanks for the advice - you figure something like http://tinyurl.com/6pjnku and http://tinyurl.com/5lwcwl then? That seems pretty reasonable.

~DD

 

[mlcloud]

Are you really a serious audiophile? I honestly think the onboard sound on modern motherboards is plenty for even most classical-music lovers.... I would think that the headset/speakers would need more investment than the sound card.

And you really don't think your memory needs an upgrade? Once you upgrade your motherboard, you will have to get DDR2, and if you go with the i7, you'll have to get DDR3 memory, and a LOT more of it than 2GBs to make it worthwhile.

And just to confirm; your budget is $1000 for your upgrade which you only need the CPU, motherboard, Sound Card, and memory?

Damn. Nice budget.

i7 + Gigabyte UD4P motherboard $492 (3way SLI/CrossfireX support)
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P

OCZ Platinum DDR3 1600 $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381


And there, you have ~$400 to spend on your sound set.

Actually, no wait. I've been saying this in more and more posts but.... Once you get to high-end quad core, your harddrive will end up being the biggest bottleneck in your system. I would consider investing more into a pair of fast harddrives or an SSD (expensive! $$$$) in order to minimize load/boot/file-transfer times along with minimizing a certain, rare phenomenon called "hard drive lag," where your whole computer stutters due to harddrive load. Up to you, but the warning is out there from this kid.

 

[doomduck]

Ha, yeah it is a pretty excessive budget.

I have 1000 bucks I *can* burn and I like my computer, so I am willing to spend it all on the upgrades, but hopefully can stay under budget a good bit for extra goodies.

Good deal on that first one, thanks for the link! Yeah, looking at the suggestions I definitely will need new RAM, I guess I overlooked it in my first pass. Thanks again *grin*.

Lastly, as for sound... really I'd just like a decent sound card for gaming, but that's something I can apparently research on my own and just find a good deal on without feeling too lost. I used to be up to date on hardware 4 years ago... but when I started to look around at mobos and chipsets I was feeling a bit lost with some of the newer specs and comparisons.

You guys have been very helpful.

~DD

PS: Oh! And I will consider the harddrive suggestion. I didn't realize it'd become a bottleneck. Heck, out of habit I ignore the speed and focus on the size since it didn't cause terribly significant slowdown. Guess I shouldn't anymore.

 

[mlcloud]

I mean for the average user, one hard drive would be fine, but when we start reaching high-end quad cores built for the purpose of high-speed everything... I think the level of performance should be "level" and storage/read/write capabilities should be part of that level, balanced computer build. And since you do have a such a large budget I thought you might as well....

And I mean, it's really irritating that your CPU is at 15% load but your hard drive is holding back your game's load speed =/.

 

[doomduck]

*nod*

I hadn't even realized that. It certainly points me in a direction for the next important upgrade, as long as I'm hoping for a top-notch gaming system.

~C

I mean for the average user, one hard drive would be fine, but when we start reaching high-end quad cores built for the purpose of high-speed everything... I think the level of performance should be "level" and storage/read/write capabilities should be part of that level, balanced computer build. And since you do have a such a large budget I thought you might as well....

And I mean, it's really irritating that your CPU is at 15% load but your hard drive is holding back your game's load speed =/.