Upgrade questions?

[Interphantom]

I want to upgrade bits over time and I'm having trouble thinking of the best steps to do this. Here's my setup at the moment:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2200Mhz)
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Memory: 2GB PC3200 SDRAM (2x 1GB)
Video Card: Geforce 8800GT, with a 7600GT to run a third monitor.


Here's my dilemma; the northbridge fan died on my motherboard, so instead of getting a new fan, I figured I would just get a new motherboard and CPU (which I've been wanting to do since my CPU is getting a bit on the slow end for newer games). The problem is that I can't buy everything together. Also, I'd really prefer not to have to upgrade the RAM. I'm trying to keep this on the cheaper side, because I'm a tight budget (aiming for $100 for each).

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm trying to figure out if it'd be better to buy a higher end CPU and use the motherboard for a bit, or vice versa. Thanks to anyone with any suggestions, I appreciate it.

 

[Proximon]

I had the identical system, really. Except I just had the 8800GT and the non-SLI version of the A8N Deluxe.

1. I upgraded to a 3800+ and it did nothing for me.

2. I upgraded to a E8400 on a P45 board and it just blew the old system away.


You can't buy a 939 CPU any more, and you will also have a hard time finding a motherboard that supports PC3200.

So, you can reuse your video card

 

[Interphantom]

Ugh... any ideas on how to keep a cheap build then for close to $200? Oh, and I'm not sure if this factors into anything seeing as I last built my system a couple years ago, but I'm running a 480w Thermaltake Xaser III.

 

[Akebono 98]

So, you can reuse your video card

... to run a third monitor :lol:

 

[Interphantom]

... to run a third monitor :lol:

I just threw the 7600GT in recently because I got a small HDtv hooked up next to my box (which is running two monitors) I only use to the TV to watch movies. My plan is to get another 8800GT down the road and run them in SLI, but want to upgrade the bottlenecks first, especially the motherboard with the dead fan on it.

 

[aford10]

The problem you face is, you pretty much have to upgrade the cpu, board, and RAM at the same time if you want a good upgrade. Your current board doesn't even support DDR2 RAM or above athlon x2. You need a new board for both cpu and RAM. Your old RAM and cpu won't work on new boards. My advice would be to wait, save up, and buy all 3 at the same time. Then build around those 3 components.

 

[Akebono 98]

Well, you could always look at the combo of:

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L $85
E5200 $73
Mushkin DDR2-800 $44

That should tide you over for about 2 years until Windows 7 SP1 comes out, at which time you could spend the big coin for a 32nm Westmere build.

I'd lean towards trading your card for something faster rather than SLI'ing the 8800GT.

 

[ozarkamax]

Well, you could always look at the combo of:

Gigabyte EP45-DS3L $85
E5200 $73
Mushkin DDR2-800 $44

That should tide you over for about 2 years until Windows 7 SP1 comes out, at which time you could spend the big coin for a 32nm Westmere build.

I'd lean towards trading your card for something faster rather than SLI'ing the 8800GT.

+ 1

maybe save up and also grab something closer to an e8400 as well.