Some opinions about what to do next

[amantonas]

I've been trying to get the absolute most out of my money, and I'm pretty happy with what I have now. I've got 3gb of ram, an E2200 overclocked to 2.7ghz, and an XFX Radeon 4650 1gb. Here are my questions -
1. My ram. I've got a 2gb stick of pc6400 and a 1gb stick of pc5300. I'm just wondering, does is make sense to spend $100 on some new ram (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276)? Or should I just keep what I have

2. I'm also thinking about buying a 500gb hard drive, because I have an 80. And I'm on a very low budget right now. Like 100 bucks every couple of months to buy something nice for my system. But what's a 13 year old to do...
Anyways, should I buy this, or the ram? Or, maybe even a new power supply? I have an OCZ stealthxstream or something, but it's only 400 watts?

I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? By the way, I'm getting this and an E8200 for Christmas, and I use the box for mostly gaming.

 

[Niklas_13]

Find what your PC don't do for you and then upgrade that. If your getting low on storage a 500 gig samsung F3 would be a nice 54.99 upgrade.

 

[obsidian86]

i'd say keep what you have for now the samsung f3 500 gb is like $50 that would be perfect but then again i wouldn get the e8200 and the x48 board,socket 775 is dead keep the ram you have save up for some ddr3 ram since ddr2 and ddr3 prices are so close and look into skipping the e8200 for an i5 750 with ddr3 and a new 500 watt + psu or an amd am3 720/955 with ddr3 and 500 watt + psu

 

[amantonas]

Well, the 775 will have to do, over the next year I may be able to accumulate enough money to go ahead and get a new Am3 motherboard and processor, but definitely not now. The motherboard and processor are sitting under the tree .

So, a samsung f3 over new ram?

 

[amantonas]

Ok, lets say I return the motherboard and processor. If I get an Am3 board and a new processor, that means I have to get DDR3 right? I don't have the money for that.
I also don't have enough money for an i5, as appealing as it sounds. I'm almost old enough to get a job, then I'll go crazy .

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Don't you already have a 775 mobo? oh well too late I guess.

If you get a 500gb hard drive,make it the samsung spinpoint f3.
If you go for PSU, go for corsair. OCZ seems to be slowly dropping in terms of brand reliability.

That RAM would last you for at least one rebuild though. So it might be useful to have. I'd say next a hard drive, then PSU, then graphics. And if you do it in that order, more than likely you'll be able to find something better graphics wise. You'd have to wait until you're ready for that and see what's the best for that much then.

 

[obsidian86]

yeah well ok but get the f3 that would be suffice for now the extra ram wont really benefit if you only using a 32 bit o.s.

 

[amantonas]

Nah, I'm using a 64 bit, at least now. I don't see any disadvantages to it...

 

[obsidian86]

then you could try and find an identical stick of the pc6400 you already have

 

[amantonas]

Yeah, that sounds pretty good. I guess I'm pretty limited because of the pc5300 bogging it down. So I'll buy a new hard drive, new ram, and keep am3 in mind when I have enough money to build a new system.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Ok, lets say I return the motherboard and processor. If I get an Am3 board and a new processor, that means I have to get DDR3 right? I don't have the money for that.
I also don't have enough money for an i5, as appealing as it sounds. I'm almost old enough to get a job, then I'll go crazy .

If you return those You'd have enough for an AM3 CPU and mobo and probably then some. If you were thinking of getting DDR3 anyway, you should still be able to do that. I'd recommend the Athlon II x3 or x4. You could even get a aftermarket heatsink and overclock.

 

[amantonas]

Hmm, I have a coolermaster hyper n520 with the am3 bracket (I think)
The main thing I'm thinking about is hurting my parents feelings, or having them be pissed off at me for putting them through returning them. lol. But, that actually sounds really good. Does anyone have any suggestions for motherboards?

 

[obsidian86]

the amd 720 x3 and e8200 are the same price good boards for crossfire the 790x/gx boards i personally got the asus 790x td
you can use am3 cpu's with ddr2 or ddr3 hey

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

You don't have to have a unlocked multiplier to overclock. With a Athlon II x3 or x4 will be between $70-100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392
for a mobo

 

[amantonas]

Is there anything on tigerdirect because newegg charges me sales tax, which is 10% here .

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Just search for the same model there. Both the things I suggested are very popular.

 

[amantonas]

I couldn't find that there, but I found this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4624697&CatId=4296

and

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4924301&CatId=4431

How do those look?

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

The motherboard is pretty good, but that CPU just isn't as fast
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5315073&CatId=4919
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5315072&CatId=4919
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5073818&CatId=4919

 

[amantonas]

Ok, thanks, I'm talking to my parents about the RMA now. I'm gonna get the X4. If you guys have any suggestions, I would be really happy to hear them.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Are you after the crossfire or would you be up to a cheaper board?

If so I'll check out the ones on tigerdirect for you.

 

[amantonas]

My idea right now is to get a processor and motherboard that both equal about the same price as what I was getting before, which was about $220. I'm afraid that I'll be caught off guard if I ever want to do crossfire, but truthfully, I really don't think I ever will. So, if you're willing, that's probably better. Thanks for all your help.

 

[obsidian86]

ddr3 boards

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4540507&CatId=4296 cross fire

non crossfire

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4965075&CatId=4296

ddr2 boards

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5019773&CatId=4296

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4499996&CatId=3504

nice combo
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5569226&CatId=4296

 

[amantonas]

What are the differences between the biostar and the first one you posted.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Well, I mean, this one is cheaper but they don't seem to have a great selection of them compared to newegg.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4846662&CatId=4296
So really either this or what you were after before.

That combo is DDR2, I'd go for ddr3 at this point anyway.

 

[obsidian86]

not much they bout the same but i cant find the biostar seperately