Upgrade or New?

[Wheelman101]

Well, i think its time, eathier i update my computer till its 100 pounds of upgrades OR get a new custom computer,

well first off

Current specs:

*AMD anthlonTD 64 processor 3500+ with EnHanced Virus Protection(s)

*2.5 GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM memory

*200GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive(500GB External)

*Lightscribe double layer 16x DVD+R/RW Drive with CD writer capabilities

*ATI Radeon 1950 Pro

*Windows XP Home

* Nod32. Anti Virus.

*Sonic DigitalMedia

*56k Modem

*10/100 base T network interface

Or New:

well, post some stuff, Im spending eathier 500 for a upgrade or 1000 for a new one, Games i play are BF2, Crysis, GTASA etc,

Edited March 12, 2008 by Wheelman101

[WRX22B1998]

So what is it your tryin to accomplish with this upgrade? I suppose you want faster performance for games, so maybe change the AMD64 to a higher spec AMD (maybe a X2 or something) - does your motherboard support that? Do the new AMD CPU's use the same slot or whatever?

Then mayb change your graphics card - i dunno. Is it PCI-e already? Just upgrade to a better graphics card.

[Slyde]

You don't need to buy a new pc imo as your current build is already pretty good.

CPU definitely need an upgrade, a Intel E6750 would do the job.

Graphics i would recommend the 512 8800 GTS. Better than the GT and come close to the GTX. Money wise, it's better than the GTX.

Unless you want to spend less, get a 9600GT. It's about 10~20% worse than the 8800 GT. Obviously, even if u wait the 9800 it is going to be too pricy for your budget.

Oh and your modem sucks. That's all i can say right now.

[chris82]

Getting an Intel processor would require that he get an entirely new motherboard too.

If you've got $500, however, get an Intel-compatible mobo, an E6600, a nice Zalman CPU fan and Arctic Silver 5, and an 8800.

Also, get rid of that .5 GB of RAM, Windows XP won't make use of it and it slows you down because you're not running in dual-channel mode.

[Spaz The Great]

Getting an Intel processor would require that he get an entirely new motherboard too.

If you've got $500, however, get an Intel-compatible mobo, an E6600, a nice Zalman CPU fan and Arctic Silver 5, and an 8800.

Also, get rid of that .5 GB of RAM, Windows XP won't make use of it and it slows you down because you're not running in dual-channel mode.

That does not sound like it's in a $500 price range. And what does XP support? It seems my 2GB system didn't run any faster than it did with 1GB. Now it's done to 1.5GBs and it's still, running the same((decently crappy)).

Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a better CPU that the motherboard still supports? Otherwise he has to take the ENTIRE PC apart, pretty much. Which is fucking annoying.

[chris82]

Really, not in $500 price range?

Intel E6600 C2D Conroe - $230

nVidia GeForce 8800GS - $150

Intel LGA775 PCI-e mobo - $100

Roughly $480 and that's in USD, not Canadian so it'd be a bit lower for him.

Also, you that's a pretty good setup so you won't need an aftermarket CPU cooler or you'll have to spend about $40 more...but with an aftermarket it'll be a lot quieter and better for overclocking.

And taking the mobo out of the case takes like 5 minutes, Spaz.

Windows XP does support more than 2GB of RAM but won't really make use of anything beyond that...the only way to utilize, say, 4GB of RAM with Windows is to, unfortunately, get Vista.

Any non-even amount of RAM disables dual-channel mode which slows down your memory if your motherboard supports dual-channel operation.

EDIT: Oh, you'll have to get new memory for this too, but DDR2 memory is around $20/Gig so that shouldn't be a problem.

[Pandora]

I wouldn't go for an E6600. E8400, yeah

Also a Geforce 9600 is, in my opinion, a much better choice than the 8800 GS. And it performs better than the 8800 GT in Crysis too. On top of that the card is far from expensive. It's 150 EUR here, so probably the same but then with dollar sign in front of it for you (or Canadian dollar sign.. if that exists..)

There is this one major downside about this E8400 though..

It takes a loooong time to arrive. I've got all my parts now, with exception of the graphic card (That will either be a 8800 GTS G92, 9800GTX, or a 9600GT (and then I'll upgrade to the GT200/G100/D10E when it's released)), but the CPU is only expected to arrive on the 8th of April. Intel has promised to have a steady supply of these things by the end of March though..

[Spaz The Great]

Really, not in $500 price range?

Intel E6600 C2D Conroe - $230

nVidia GeForce 8800GS - $150

Intel LGA775 PCI-e mobo - $100

Roughly $480 and that's in USD, not Canadian so it'd be a bit lower for him.

Also, you that's a pretty good setup so you won't need an aftermarket CPU cooler or you'll have to spend about $40 more...but with an aftermarket it'll be a lot quieter and better for overclocking.

And taking the mobo out of the case takes like 5 minutes, Spaz.

Windows XP does support more than 2GB of RAM but won't really make use of anything beyond that...the only way to utilize, say, 4GB of RAM with Windows is to, unfortunately, get Vista.

Any non-even amount of RAM disables dual-channel mode which slows down your memory if your motherboard supports dual-channel operation.

EDIT: Oh, you'll have to get new memory for this too, but DDR2 memory is around $20/Gig so that shouldn't be a problem.

Wouldn't it be HIGHER in Canadian? Everything I ever see has a higher price in Canadian money...

I was simply saying that out of the entire PC, the mobo is the biggest bitch to replace. Most everything else you take it out and replace it. With the mobo, you have to take EVERYTHING out, except the PSU. You have to disconnect everything and then reconnect it all. Poses the most risk of frying something((fried my motherboard when transferring cases once.... Pissed me off ))