Looking to upgrade VERY LOW BUDGET!

[scypheroth]

Current build:
-Athelon x2 7860 2.8ghz
-3G DDR2 RAM
-Generic MSI Mobo
-Radeon 5770
-Crappy ATA 250G HDD

So here is the dig. Im keeping the video card since its still a decent quallity card and im looking to upgrade the CPU, MOBO, RAM, HDD. With that said if i can just upgrade the CPU, and HDD GREAT! Im trying the HARDEST i can to keep it under 200. Mainly i need it to run Path of Exile since its kinda chopping in certain areas...

Here is what i was looking at:
OPTION ONE
-MSI FM2-A55M-E33 FM2 Mobo
-AMD A6-5400K processor
-Corsair DDR3 1600mhz 4G ram
-Western digital 5400rpm 250g SATA2 HDD
TOTAL:188.49 shipped

OPTION TWO
-MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) mATX AMD 760G AM3+ mobo
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 Quad Core Processor AM3 3.0GHZ processor
-Corsair DDR3 1600mhz 4G ram
-Western digital 5400rpm 250g SATA2 HDD
TOTAL:187.48 shipped

OPTION THREE
-Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV Mobo
-Intel Pentium G640 Dual Core 2.8GHZ 3MB processor
-Corsair DDR3 1600mhz 4G ram
-Western digital 5400rpm 250g SATA2 HDD
TOTAL: 189.31

anything helpful would be great. Post your own recommended build but if u want keep it under 200 or a little over. keep in mind to include shipping...im located in canada so stuff from the U.S has a high shipping tag to it.

[Vectronic]

If I assume your "generic MSI mobo" can overclock somewhat...

Better cooler: $60
More RAM: $20?
SSD : $90 -120

Just doing a quick scan of things, all 3 of your options, are pretty close for performance, but more importantly... they're basically the same as what you have already.

I can't build a decent config for anything less than $250... if you can come up with about $300, you can get something that's considerably better than what you have.

[LoveMachine]

I'd do option 2 for more cores, if you use any apps that benefit from them (transcoding, etc.), but most games don't. Option 3 will likely have the best single threaded performance, and will use the least electricity as well. Regarding the hard drive, can you add an extra $5 to 10 for a drive with at least double the space and 7200rpm? A 5400 primary drive will be less than spectacular for general use.

[SPBHM]

can't you find some i3 or better quad core ( FX 4100, PII X4 9xx) for the money?

[Binky]

What is the main purpose of the system? Gaming?

Don't replace a crappy HD with a crappy HD. Save up for something better. At least get a good 7200rpm 1TB+ drive. Larger drives are generally faster due to increased density. An SSD would be best but that would blow your budget.

I'd do option 3, but move up to an i3 processor, and re-use the HD for now. It's easy to upgrade a HD later, but it's harder to upgrade the MB or CPU.

[scypheroth]

thanks guys i was wondering how much better the i3's really were compaired to what i have listed...so SSD is the way to go huh? I figured as much my rig has a SSD and is stupid fast BUT it also has a i5. She mainly plays WoW but recently getting into PoE....the current build was ok for wow but now that she is starting to play PoE ive been noticing some shuttering lag in this game and now thing it might b time to upgrade.

ill probly do it by increment, ill get a SSD first then see how much that improves things, then go from there i guess...havent really been looking into overclocking her setup as shes not as hard into gaming as i am...like i said she only really plays 2 games but her HDD is ancient....so i assume that THAT is ehere her crappy performance is comming from.....

[Vectronic]

Maybe, maybe not... next time check how much RAM it's using... if it's running out of RAM and using the page/swapfile... then the HD would be to blame, an SSD would help (swap quicker), but considering the price of RAM that's an easy upgrade (assuming OS supports it).

It could be thermal throttling too (CPU, or video), might want to check temps, clean it...etc.

On the other hand, if temps are fine, you could probably do a mild overclock on everything, CPU, RAM, GPU... give you more time to save up, etc.

It's been a long time since I played with AMD CPUs (like original Athlon) but, 7860?... do you mean 7850? If so, then yeah... go for minor upgrades, and then overclock.

[DominionSeraph]

What's the model number of your current mobo? I want to see what processors it supports.

For all new parts, this is about the best I can come up with:
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/zEbn

Pentium G860 3GHz
Biostar Z68 mobo
4GB DDR3 1600
500GB Hybrid drive.
$193.85

Not sure what shipping will come out to.

[2is]

A quick newegg check shows 7200rpm drives either the same price or $4 cheaper than 5400rpm, 5400 shouldn't even be on your radar.

[asuka10456]

If you live by a microcenter, you can do quite a bit better.

[Bman123]

I'd hit the FS section here and see what you can find. For $200 it's going to be hard to get anything new cpu mobo ram and hdd wise. If you have to upgrade with new parts I would just keep the hard drive you have now and spend more on your cpu it will be worth it in the long run. You can always upgrade the HDD later

[shady28]

Originally Posted by scypheroth

Current build:
-Athelon x2 7860 2.8ghz
-3G DDR2 RAM
-Generic MSI Mobo
-Radeon 5770
-Crappy ATA 250G HDD

So here is the dig. Im keeping the video card since its still a decent quallity card and im looking to upgrade the CPU, MOBO, RAM, HDD. ...

Would suggest the $89 AMD FX4100 + motherboard bundle from Microcenter to start.
Add 8GB Crucial DDR3-1333 for $40 from Microcenter.
Add 160 or 250GB SATA-2 HDD for $28 or $36, from same place.

Total before tax/shipping ranges from $167 - $175.

Alternately, you could buy a PATA controller for $10 from the same place and continue to use your old HDD. That would save $18-$26, and they also have the FX-6100 + mobo at $99 (ie, you could go to the faster CPU).

I don't think you will find a huge difference between a 250GB PATA and a 250GB SATA drive. Low end hard drives are not capable of saturating even the old ATA-133 interface.

[DominionSeraph]

Why would you suggest microcenter in-store deals to a person who lives in canada?