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$600 and a headache

G

garrius

Junior Member
Right, I've been trying to spec an upgrade for $600 (can't be a penny more - that's the absolute limit!) and I'm driving myself nuts. AMD or Intel? Dual or single core? ATi or nVidia? Less on the CPU more on the video? Less on the video more on the CPU? etc, etc.

Current rig is a 3.0GHz P4 Northwood and a 6800nu 128MB AGP unlocked to 16/6 and overclocked a chunk. It's not a bad system by any means, but it is starting to struggle in the latest games. I also want to move over to PCI-E and 64bit.

I'll need: CPU, Mobo, video card, RAM and PSU.

Some notes:

Motherboard MUST have two IDE connectors - I have a bunch of drives that aren't SATA 🙂 This one has been causing me problems with finding Conroe boards...not many have 2.

I'll only be getting 1GB RAM to start with - I plan on adding another 1GB later on when I have a bit more to spend. I don't think the extra cost for 2GB is worth it yet. I'd prefer to spend the money somewhere else in the system for now. So 4 RAM slots is also a must on the mobo.

With the exception of the RAM, I won't be able to throw any more money at my system for at least 12 months. Maybe it's worth holding off on dual core until then? Or is it worth it now?

I'm not a hardcore overclocker. I don't mind clocking the CPU and video card a bit if it's easy, but I don't want to spec a system purely with overclocking in mind. I want something that's fast "out of the box" and that I can maybe clock a bit later, should the mood take me.

Obviously I want an improvement over what I have now, but it would be great if I could easily upgrade again in another 12 months without needing a new mobo, ram and PSU. So I want some future-proofing if possible.

So...throw some options at me.

 
AM3 CPUs will be backwards compatible with AM2 boards, so your board could last you a long time. If you'd want to keep it that long, I dunno, but you asked.

If you don't want to buy again for a long time you'll probably want DX10, so I'd wait for R600, it may be better, but either way, competition will drop the prices of all DX10 cards, and they may even have some midrange out by then. Then again you could pick up a 7600GS if graphics and/or DX10 isn't so important to you.

Whatever you get AMD or Intel, you'll want dualcore, and really it's getting hard to avoid dualcore nowadays, which is good. I kinda doubt you can get a 6300 for a 600 dollar build, so I'd say to look for an X2 4200/4600 on AM2. But if all you're upgrading is mobo, memory, PSU, CPU, and GPU, you probably can get a Core 2 Duo 6300 or 6400, which both overclock like dreams and I'd guess either of them will beat, as far as bang/buck ratio, whatever you can get from AMD at stock. If you OC them at all, The C2Ds hands down. The mobo probably won't last you as long, unless maybe you get one that supports Core 2 Quad, but it'll give you a lot more performance so you won't need to upgrade so soon.
 
Originally posted by: bob4432
what is the computer used for?
Click to expand...

He said he was using it for gaming:

Originally posted by: garrius
Current rig is a 3.0GHz P4 Northwood and a 6800nu 128MB AGP unlocked to 16/6 and overclocked a chunk. It's not a bad system by any means, but it is starting to struggle in the latest games. I also want to move over to PCI-E and 64bit.
Click to expand...

I'll take a stab at it.

CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6300 - $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115005

Motherboard: Gigabyte S3 - $116
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128017

RAM: Gskill DDR2-800 2x512mb Sticks - $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231102

Video Card: eVGA 7600GT - $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130062

Power Supply: Antec Smartpower 400watt - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103935

Total = $591
 
Originally posted by: stevemedes

CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6300 - $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115005

Motherboard: Gigabyte S3 - $116
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813128017

RAM: Gskill DDR2-800 2x512mb Sticks - $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231102

Video Card: eVGA 7600GT - $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130062

Power Supply: Antec Smartpower 400watt - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817103935

Total = $591
Click to expand...

His current system is 3 GHz. 😉

 
CPU-Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
MB- ECS NFORCE 570 SLIT-A
GPU-eVGA 7600GT PCI-E
Memory-pqi TURBO 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400)
PSU- SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W

The Total is $607(no tax or shipping added in yet)...but honestly after mail-in rebate(total $50)It's $557.

I would not skimp on the PSU.
 
Honestly, i'd stick with what you have for a few months, play some old games that you never really let go of, and wait until you have the money for a really nice system for ~$1000.
 
Originally posted by: garrius
upgrade for $600 (can't be a penny more - that's the absolute limit!)

I'll need: CPU, Mobo, video card, RAM and PSU.

Motherboard MUST have two IDE connectors

I'm not a hardcore overclocker. I don't mind clocking the CPU and video card a bit if it's easy, but I don't want to spec a system purely with overclocking in mind. I want something that's fast "out of the box" and that I can maybe clock a bit later, should the mood take me.
Click to expand...

 
Thanks for the replies - given me some more food for thought.

The combo of an E6300 and 7600GT was already up there on my list - it's a solid choice. However, how about getting an AMD X2 3800+ and AM2 board (there seem to be more cheaper AM2 options) and then spending more on the video card - say a 7900GS or X1950 Pro? Wouldn't this give me more of a performance boost over what I currently have? I'm just worried that a 7600GT won't really knock my socks off compared to what I have already...

I'm coming around to the idea of spending more on the PSU. I wasn't going to totally skimp anyway - I had a mental budget of $50-60, which would get me something pretty good. But I'm thinking of maybe spending closer to $100 now and getting a Seasonic or Silverstone.

As for keeping what I have and saving up for later.....that's no fun 🙂 I get my bonus from work just after Xmas and that's when I want to spend. Besides, I wouldn't want to spend $1000+ anyway - and by that time the wife would probably decide we needed a new kitchen or something instead 🙂
 
Will you be able to add any $$$ if/when you sell off your current setup? It's relatively easy to build a c2d setup for $600 but it's not so easy to do it with quality parts and still get the 'WOW' factor out of the upgrade.
And keep in mind that you don't have to limit yourself on the MB's with 2 ide's since an add-on IDE controller card can be had for $10 or so and will add 4 channels with little to no effort.
 
is the machine only for gaming? also, do you mean the latest like brand new or games in general within the last year? what is your current ram setup?
 
Originally posted by: ADDAvenger
AM3 CPUs will be backwards compatible with AM2 boards, so your board could last you a long time. If you'd want to keep it that long, I dunno, but you asked.
Click to expand...

theoretically. that is the problem - look at how many people got burned by their intel m/bs tha was suppose to be c2d compatible and then it turned out that intel changed the electrical requirements right before launch and many people where unable to use there "c2d ready" boards that they bought before the c2d launch.

word of advice - buy/build for now and now what may or may not be compatible with next generation anything regardless of what a manf says.

 
Originally posted by: bob4432
word of advice - buy/build for now and now what may or may not be compatible with next generation anything regardless of what a manf says.
Click to expand...

QFT.

I have a thread of similar thought going here, but with quiet operation rather than gaming performance in mind. Some of the suggestions made may still be good for you (though not my passively cooled video card).
 
Originally posted by: bob4432
is the machine only for gaming? also, do you mean the latest like brand new or games in general within the last year? what is your current ram setup?
Click to expand...

Yes, mainly for gaming. Games that are struggling are things like COD2, F.E.A.R - they play OK but I really like to use FSAA as I'm limited to 1024x768 on my CRT (any higher and the refresh rates are awful.....lovely picture quality tho...) and obviously things start to chug a bit then. I'm not expecting too much from this upgrade - I'm looking for smoother framerates with FSAA and also the 128MB RAM on my 6800nu is holding me back a bit with texture quality.

My current RAM setup is another problem. I'm using 4 sticks of 256MB TwinMOS PC3200 and it's awful stuff. I get errors in Memtest which means I also get the occasional crash in Windows and games too. I really want to bin it and buy some good stuff.


 
since you need ram anyway go c2d and 2GB. the reason for 2GB is that games are really starting to use more than 1GB quite often. i know bf2 and coh both use ~1.3GB by themselves when running @ 1280x1024 with all/most on high.

for your setup the most important item will be gpu->ram->cpu->hdd->m/b in that order. i would get the slowest c2d and then spend the bulk of your $$$ on gpu and ram. 2GB is needed because regardless of what gpu you have, if you are always accessing the pagefile the game will run like sh!t.

as far as a m/b i would get a medium c2d setup, don't worry about anything fancy, just reasonable in price and from a good manf.

unfortuanately you are in a pickle because you need ram. if you didn't i would just suggest a x800xtpe or x850xtpe in agp and stay with that until you could put a bit more toward the system, but since you need ram you may as well buy ddr2.....

what has been listed is good, but just be aware of the pagefile issue if you go 1GB, which will keep your gpu setting still in the medium at most @ 1280x1024 but fps should be more than playable
 
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