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$300 to spend on upgrading...advice requested

rivethead

rivethead

Platinum Member
Ok here's what I have (built a long time ago.....):

Motherboard: ASUS A8N5X (NVIDIA NForce 4) Socket 939
CPU: AMD Athlon Socket 939 basic chip (can't remember). Has an "English City" core. Pretty basic. Stock is 1.9 gigahertz, I've got it OC'd to 2.25.
Memory: 2x512mb Cosair ValueSelect
HD: 180 GB Seagate
VC: Winfast 6600 XT TD

Answers to the sticky questions:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Communications, browsing, occasional gaming.....basically a jack of all trades.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$300, although I'm leaning towards spending $100 of it on new headphones which are badly needed (headphones for gaming and listening to mp3s while I browse)

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

AMD and ASUS have never treated me poorly. NVIDIA

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I'd like to use as many existing parts as possible. Primarily I'm looking to upgrade the CPU and memory. Upgrading the Mobo is my last choice.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

A little. Everyone seems to be building from scratch.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I'm cheap and I love the thrill of getting a little more bang out of my buck via a slight OC. The ASUS mobo I have currently makes that so easy.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

After College Football Bowl season is over.


So the ASUS website says the following about my mobo: "Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64FX / Athlon 64 / Athlon X2". Does that mean I could slap in a X2 chip and upgrade to a dual core processor? Would I need to do anything else (like flash the bios)?

Thanks for all thoughts and advice!




 
You can, yes, spend money on an X2 chip to upgrade, but you are going to have a fairly hard time finding Socket 939 chips since they've been phased out. A trip to eBay might yield something, but last time I checked it was pretty expensive. All in all, its easier to just upgrade your entire system CPU/Mobo/RAM/Video Card.

CPU - E2200 2.2GHz - $70 or E5200 2.5GHz - $80~
MB - Asus P5KPL-AM ~ $50
RAM: 2x2GB - 40-50$
Video Card: 9800GT ~ $125
-----
$295.

And if you want AMD rig, just look for AM+ ones, and you can get one for pretty cheap as well. X2 6000+ are around 70$.

If you are insistent on using Socket 939, then the best upgrade is probably DDR RAM @ 2x1GB @ $60-70. And a video card upgrade assuming your motherboard can support PCI-E.

Edit - Looking at eBay, the CPU for S939 is looking to be around 150-300$ range.
 
Thanks for the reply Zerogear!

The mobo I currently have is PCI-E as is the winfast video card, so I have that going for me (a PCI-E VC).

But I didn't really want to mess with the hassle of a new mobo. Sounds like I don't really have a choice if I want to get the most bang for my buck. Bummer.
 
Yeah, you've got the idea right there, your bang for the buck upgrading an older s939 system is extremely low (parts are slow and cost a lot compared to newer stuff).

Here's what I'd do with $300.

e5200 $83
Foxconn M7PMX-S $50
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $40
HIS 4830 $90AR
OCZ 500W PSU $25AR

Total: $288 after rebates

You will be amazed by the difference in overall feel & game performance compared to your old system.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Denithor.

He're a question: that Foxconn Mobo has integrated video (GeForce 7100). Why would you suggest an additional VC?

I currently have a Winfast 6600 XT PCI-E. It's plenty fine for what we need currently.

Would adding my current VC to the Foxconn help or hurt (I'm guessing 7100 is better than 6600....but that's just a wild guess)?
 
Originally posted by: rivethead
Thanks for the suggestions, Denithor.

He're a question: that Foxconn Mobo has integrated video (GeForce 7100). Why would you suggest an additional VC?

I currently have a Winfast 6600 XT PCI-E. It's plenty fine for what we need currently.

Would adding my current VC to the Foxconn help or hurt (I'm guessing 7100 is better than 6600....but that's just a wild guess)?
Click to expand...

You said occasional gaming which the external videocard would help immensly with but who knows what games you plan on playing.
 
Originally posted by: rivethead
Would adding my current VC to the Foxconn help or hurt (I'm guessing 7100 is better than 6600....but that's just a wild guess)?
Click to expand...

The 6600 is faster than the integrated 7100. Generally, the hundreds place in nVidia's XXXX naming scheme determined the power of the video card within a given series. So a 7100 is a low-end 7000 series card, while a 6600 is a mid-high end 6000 series card. The mid and high range cards from a previous series almost always beat the low end cards from 2-3 series later.

With that said, if the 6600 is already handling all the games you through at it, I'd grab a decent CPU, motherboard, and memory, then get your headphones, and call it a day. You can always upgrade to a newer graphics card later.

Look into a Core 2 Duo / Quad, P45 Motherboard, and 4GB DDR2. You could also grab a socket AM2 X2, AM2+ motherboard, and DDR2 memory, then consider grabing a Phenom II later depending on their price.

Finally, if you're upgrading to a new chipset (new motherboard), you'll need to reformat anyway. You can generally get a pretty decent improvement by getting a newer, faster hard drive. You may want to consider that now or a bit later down the road.
 
Originally posted by: CurseTheSky
With that said, if the 6600 is already handling all the games you through at it, I'd grab a decent CPU, motherboard, and memory, then get your headphones, and call it a day. You can always upgrade to a newer graphics card later.

Look into a Core 2 Duo / Quad, P45 Motherboard, and 4GB DDR2. You could also grab a socket AM2 X2, AM2+ motherboard, and DDR2 memory, then consider grabing a Phenom II later depending on their price.

Finally, if you're upgrading to a new chipset (new motherboard), you'll need to reformat anyway. You can generally get a pretty decent improvement by getting a newer, faster hard drive. You may want to consider that now or a bit later down the road.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm thinking that's the best route for me. My current card handles everything we play today (although my 10 year old got Spore and I did notice some lag when he was playing), but who knows what we'll be playing a year from now. I could always buy a new card if we need it. Actually, I should say WHEN we need it, because that day will come (I can hear it now...."Dad Call of Duty 17 "Universe at War" is out, but our computer won't run it......").

"Finally, if you're upgrading to a new chipset (new motherboard), you'll need to reformat anyway." - I'm a bit confused by what you mean here. Reformat the hard drive?

Maybe a dumb question, but why couldn't I just plug the new drive into the new mobo and download any necessary new drivers needed?
 
Maybe a dumb question, but why could I just plug the new drive into the new mobo and download any necessary new drivers needed?
Click to expand...

If you're using an existing drive with Windows installed, transferring it to a different mobo usually doesn't work. Windows doesn't like it and I doubt it would boot at all. At the very least you'll have to reinstall the OS.
 
Would it have to be a fresh reinstall (reformat the drive) or could I just do the "repair" option?

Backing up everything, reinstalling windows, re-downloading all the apps we use would be a real pain. Plus I'd have re-purchase downloaded software like Microsoft Money (which I just bought a few months ago). That would suck too.
 
Originally posted by: Denithor
Yeah, you've got the idea right there, your bang for the buck upgrading an older s939 system is extremely low (parts are slow and cost a lot compared to newer stuff).

Here's what I'd do with $300.

e5200 $83
Foxconn M7PMX-S $50
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $40
HIS 4830 $90AR
OCZ 500W PSU $25AR

Total: $288 after rebates

You will be amazed by the difference in overall feel & game performance compared to your old system.
Click to expand...

Can get the same g.skill in 1066 for only $10 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231226

And the same power supply for $20 more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817341010

This will put you slightly over budget, but you get a little more performance and a bigger PS for the future
 
Originally posted by: CoinOperatedBoy
Originally posted by: akshatp

Can get the same g.skill in 1066 for only $10 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231226
Click to expand...

I seriously doubt he's going to be running an E5200 with an FSB > 500MHz. Why blow money on DDR2 1066 unless you're underclocking to get better timings? In that case, why not just get the highly-rated 4-4-4-12 DDR2 800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231209

I agree about not skimping on the PSU though.
Click to expand...

At $10 more for 1066, he can underclock it now and still be able to use it with a mobo in the future and utilize the 1066
 
I'm currently using a 350W Antec PSU I bought two years ago. Will that work (for now) on the mobos suggested in this thread?

Rather not upgrade the PSU too.

If I buy anything in addition to the mobo, CPU, and RAM, sounds like it'll have to be a new hard drive (currently using a 180GB Seagate Barracuda).

As ofr OCing, I'm not daring. I won't mess with voltages or RAM timings. If I get 10-20% increase of out just messing with BIOS settings or using mobo OC software - I'm thrilled - it's enough high for me.

 
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