$150 to $200 upgrade

[neonmonkey]

I am hoping to upgrade my motherboard, processor and RAM for about that much.

I was thinking maybe just a small AMD MOBO and a athlon II x2 or X4 and 2 gigs of RAM since i am running windows xp proffesional 32 bit.

I have a 410 watt PSU if that matters at all

any suggestions? (i prefer newegg or tigerdirect or zipzoomfly

 

[jay2tall]

I think you are right on the money. Do you need a motherboard with or without video?

 

[neonmonkey]

no video, i already have a geforce 9800 gt. will a 32 bit OS run all the processors out there? (excuse me if this sounds like a noob question)

 

[jay2tall]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130237 $70
MSI 785GTM mobo w/ATI HD4200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694 $90 AMD Phenom II x2 545

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098 $36 G. Skill 2GB DDR2 800 Memory kit.

$196 TOTAL

 

[jay2tall]

^just turn off the onboard video. If you get a board w/o it actually cost more.

 

[neonmonkey]

sweet thanks, i may go with the 2.8 ghz athlon II cause its $30 cheaper but the rest looks awesome!

will a 5 year old 410 watt psu run this processor alright? i am currently running a pentium IV @ 3.6 GHZ

 

[jay2tall]

Just remember the Athlon II's do NOT have an L3 cache onboard. Plus you are going form 3.0 to 2.8 GHz, so you will loose on performance. However, you have to determine whether the cost is justified.

If you are running a P4 with a 9800GT already, I don't see an issue. What kind of PSU is it? I'd be kinda iffy on it with new hardware. However, technically the AMD setup will draw less power than your P4.

 

[neonmonkey]

ya i am still debating on the processor which is good cause i cant make the purchase at the moment...maybe a athlon II x4...

the psu came in my HP workstation and its made for like nvidia quadros so i think its a decent one.

 

[jay2tall]

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3638

Food for thought.

 

[neonmonkey]

oh wow! I am a gamer and the phenom x2 easily beats the athlon II x4 weird...I may have to go for the phenom, the only thing the athlon performed better on were things i dont use.

 

[jay2tall]

oh wow! I am a gamer and the phenom x2 easily beats the athlon II x4 weird...I may have to go for the phenom, the only thing the athlon performed better on were things i dont use.

Exactly. You buy for what you use it for. Most games prefer faster dual cores over more cores at a slower clock. Plus in gaming there is alot of redundant data, so more cache allows it to access this redundant data faster.

Its more fun to respond to these threads than the ones that say, "I have $2000, help be build a computer". That's easy, just buy all expensive fast stuff. It's when you have to work on getting the absolute best bang for your buck that is the most fun.

 

[neonmonkey]

haha yes thats true. (i wish i had $2000 to spend on a computer but most people have to work with what they got)

once i get this i will actually have a computer i can be proud of instead of having to tell people that i have a pentium IV still

 

[jay2tall]

Yeah the P4 is a bit dated. I usually upgrade my PC once a year in some way. I sell the old parts to get money for new ones. That way its this whole circle where I get rid of it while it is still of value to someone. Like I'll sell my video card for $100 to get a $250 but only need to fork over $150.