$1000 to upgrade this system, looking for advices

[cloudymind]

I didn't expect to do any upgrades but my son's pc suddently died last night. Well, here comes an opportunity to build a pc for him using my old parts, and get some upgrades myself

The budget will be around $1000-1200, which will include a new LCD as well.

My current PC is
AMD64 3200+
Epox 9NPA+
2G DDR (crucial)
Evga 256M 7900GT KO ( 580/1580M)
Dell 20' widescreen (good enough for me)

Almost nothing can be savaged from my son's 6 year old pc so we are going to build it from scratch. But being 7 years' old only, he wouldn't mind using any (old) parts as long as it's working.

So is there any worthwhile upgrades for my own pc? I don't usually follow hardwares unless it's time to upgrade. It's been a year or so since I did that. Are there significant better CPU GPU around? I do play games a lot so faster is better.


Thanks in advance


Jacky

 

[Gautama2]

Hmm, only thing i would think of in your rig is just give your son the 3200+, and get a x2 3800+ and overclock the hell out of it.

And then if you wanna buy more think about case mods, silencing your pc, liquid cooling etc.

Otherwise your pretty much well set.

(Many people here will recommend you get a conroe, but I doubt you will want to spend all the money on a new mobo, cpu, and ram.)

 

[dBTelos]

Yea, upgrading your processor would be the first thing I recommend. What PSU do you have?

 

[cloudymind]

My PSU is from a
Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1430SWS Silver 0.8 mm SECC Chassis , Plastic Front Door ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply

As for CPU, oh my, my knowledge is totally outdated now.
My previous setup is,
EPoX EP-9NDA3J Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 2.0GHz Socket 939 Processor

So is that x2 3800 the duo core one? does it work on my Epox 9NDA or I need a new mb ? A year ago duo core wasn't popular at all so I know nothing about it

Since I have to buy a new set of CPU/MB/Memory anyway. It might be possible to go the Intel route, E6400 is $227 now, but guess I need new memory and Mb, any recommendation here please ?

Thanks again

 

[QueZart]

You may needa BIOS Update but an X2 will work just fine in that MB.

Other then that you got a pretty good RIG. Unless Build a new C2D RIG your not gonna get much better. Take your budget and Buidla new rig for the Kid

 

[LOUISSSSS]

with $1000 to upgrade that system, you can get a 3800x2 and overclock (the poormans way out), or u can just get X2 4800+. for $280 newegg
with 720 left, u can get an x1950xtx ($500), a nice sound card for (anything x-fi) $100, and maybe a set of speakers ($120)

or lower the video card to a x1900xt and get a second matching monitor for dual monitors =]

 

[EagleEye]

i would up the CPU and thats all. everything else seems great!