Upgrading from Athlon64 + onboard graphics chip to play 2009+ games

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next Month BUDGET RANGE: $500 MAX

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, watching movies, surfing the internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, disk drive, hard drive, case

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: tigerdirect

PARTS PREFERENCES: ATI and AMD, other options are welcome

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920*1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Want a PC where I can play 2009 games at a nice 1080p/60fps but with vision for 2-3 more years without drastically upgraging again. When not in playing VG I usually watch high def .mkv movies, MSN and IE running background. Tend not to use antivirus so workload is relatively low.


My current system runs ok but i can't play very recent games due integrated Radeon Express 200 onboard graphics. Watching movies is smooth at 720p but 1080p gets freezy. I could drop current Mobo/Athlon 64 if it's necesary but will need to be max at 800dls budget limit.
.


Currently I have a:

Socket 939 motherboard
amd athlon 64 3500+ Socket939
1 gb ddr ram
onboard radeon x200
300w power supply from hipro
200gb sata hdd
old dvd burner

Didn't you already ask this exact same thing in another thread?

jitpublisger:

Before posting I read some similar requests, other guy had similar issues but he had different aproach on upgrading and i had an older system than his. Besides, i just registered yesterday .

Proximon:
Since i wont be upgrading in the next 3 years, is a 790x a better choice to be future-ready when choosing parts, i look on some research yesterday and even while the price is almost double than current 770 i think i wont need to drop Mobo again. But gives me another question, for the budget side, is it really the dollar diference a worth for the resolution i will be playing ????

Thank you very much in advance.

For $500 excluding Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, DVD Drive, HDD, Case You can fit a nice i5 build, Like this one maybe :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU: i5 750 Lynnfield -- $210
Main-Board: ASUS P7P55D LE LGA 1156 Intel P55 -- $144
RAM: OCZ Gold 4GB DDR3 1066MHz Cas7 -- $74
GPU: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 1GB -- $105
HSF: COOLER MASTER Intel Core i5 HSF -- $30 Or 2 -- $20
--------------------
Total: $563 Without MIRs, Combos or SH and Tax.

You can sell what you have to get the extra needed $63! (no offense )

Tell me if you need anything else.

Medo

Every time I see a system built with a 790X it's under-performing. I just need to see one that is not, but until then I won't recommend 790X.

790GX and 790FX are fine.

In fact, for the price this AM3 790FX is nice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product
That leaves all sorts of upgrade room.

Or for a bit less there is this Gigabyte 790GX board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product


If you can get into an i5, that would be best though.