Upgrade Athlon 64 and Gygabyte 939 socket board

[Hunter_I]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a minimal $ upgrade to my current (and quite old) PC.
What I have right now is:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2GHz
MB: Gygabyte 939 socket
RAM: 2GB DDR2
GPU: Nvidia 8600GT DDR3

At this point my system does run all of the more/lessthe modern games (Fallout3, AVP, STALKER), but clearly not in high details. But I do lack the multi core capability in day-to-day life and Starcraft 2 is about to be launched...

So, I was thinking, is there any way I can reuse some of what I already have, to maximize the boost/$ coefficient. Maybe get some x2 core CPU for 939 socket (if such thing exists at all) whould that do any good to my system?
Maybe reuse the memory I have. And I sure do hope I wil be able to use my GPU (it sure isn't top of the line, but it's not too bad either).

Any comments are welcome.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Well,your CPU,RAM and GPU should be upgraded if you want to play games on good settings.An Athlon X2 would give you a good boost but they are quite hard to find now because they aren't produced any more, so you better upgrade your whole rig to an AMD Phenom II(or Ahtlon II X4)/Intel Core i5/i7.

 

[badge]

+1 Maziar

RAM: 2GB DDR2

939 uses DDR, not DDR2. One BIG reason the socket was shortlived.

 

[Hunter_I]

I see.
What do you say about this:

MB: Gigabyte GAMA785GMTUD2H
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 Socket AM3
RAM: two of Kingston KVR1333D3N9/2G
GPU: keep my good old 8600GT, until I got spare money

1. By the way, how does it work in modern memory, is it worth to split the RAM between separate slots or it's the same as bying one 4GB?
2. i didn't plan to overclock, should I get some "special" cooling or cheapest off shelf will do just fine?

 

[Tamz_msc]

The Athlon II X3 440 is a really good choice for gaming.But in order to derive any benefit you must upgrade the video card to run modern games decently on high settings.The 5750 is a good choice for 125$

 

[Maziar]

I see.
What do you say about this:

MB: Gigabyte GAMA785GMTUD2H
CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 Socket AM3
RAM: two of Kingston KVR1333D3N9/2G
GPU: keep my good old 8600GT, until I got spare money

1. By the way, how does it work in modern memory, is it worth to split the RAM between separate slots or it's the same as bying one 4GB?
2. i didn't plan to overclock, should I get some "special" cooling or cheapest off shelf will do just fine?

It looks good but i strongly recommend you to upgrade your VGA,because 8600MGT isn't a great card for gaming.
1_It depends,if you want to upgrade later, then either 1x4GB would be the best,otherwise 2x2GB is just fine
2_No

 

[dfusco]

I beleive your old bd has an AGP video slot. The new bd has a PCI-express slot so you can't reuse the video card.

 

[megamanx00]

That's tough. While you could get an X2 for your 939 board on eBay, the cost is crazy. Since I think your CPU would generally be the limiting factor upgrading to an X3 CPU would be a big improvement. I say get a crossfire board like this one.

ASRock M3A785GXH/128M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157167

So that when you upgrade your video card to something like a 5770 you can add another one down the line to run in crossfire. Of course, this board is a little bit older so make sure to pick a CPU that is supported with the initial BIOS .

 

[megamanx00]

^@ dfusco

Most socket 939 boards were PCI-E you know. You can't say you believe it's AGP without knowing the model number. Boards based on the nForce 3 or VIA K8T800 were AGP, while nForce 4 and K8T900, along with ATI chipsets, were PCI-E

I'm also pretty sure there were not AGP 8600GT cards though I may be wrong.

 

[Hunter_I]

My Video card is PCI-E all right.
Crossfire? What is this good for?

 

[logainofhades]

My Video card is PCI-E all right.
Crossfire? What is this good for?

Crossfire = 2 or more ATI cards linked together depending on motherboard = increased gaming performance.

Your earlier mentioned hardware would work but I would look @ getting a decent 2x2gb dual channel kit of ddr3 1600 instead. You might be able to sell all of your old parts, including the 8600gt, to make enough money to buy a new graphics card.

 

[Hunter_I]

I'm back.
tonight my GPU died on me, probably some sort of voltage spike, the electrolite capacytors opened like roses
The mobo and HDs are ok thought.

So, I'm adding another input to the same Q. What would be the better choice:
Nvidia GT240, Nvidia 9600GT or ATi HD5570 (that's, more or the less the budget I have).
From the benches I found so far, Gt2400 seems to be faster than HD5570, but HD5570 has Dx11, while GT240 does not...

Target games would be mostly Starcraft2, Diabolo3 and occasional shooters like Fallout3, AVP, STALKER.

What say you?

 

[Maziar]

GT 240 is a good mid-range card and its faster than a 5570.I think it can handle those games fine on medium settings