Advice on future proof upgrade

[Roosti3]

Hi everyone......

Current PC running XP sp2 with dual 17ins's
Asus A8n-SLI Premium (socket 939, 4xDIMM 184pin DDR400 4GB max)
x2 3800+ , 1GB ram xms
Radeon X800 GTO (256MB DDR3)
Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja heatsink
Seasonic ss-600HT (S12)
Antec P180

I never got round to overclocking the above system (which was the original plan after the build) and have now left it too long for it to be worth spending money upgrading. As you can see I have been happily running this spec till now so don’t need high end kick ass stuff. Used for surfing, games and general stuff.

I have been out of the PC building/meddling scene for a few years so all advice welcome.

I am assuming my Seasonic and P180 are still within spec for another build. Can anyone confirm this? All parts are in good condition with medium to low usage for the last few years.

Also does anyone have any idea if the (socket 939) ninja will go onto an AM3. I will try looking for the fixing pack later. X800 will go in my HTPC and A8n-sli and x3800 eBay.

Looking at spending about 300 UKP so about 500 USD (although remember we don’t get US online prices over here in the uk , probably +20% at a guess).

after a quick search and a few reviews
phenom 2 x2 550 or athlon x4 620 (70UKP ish) no idea if more cores of clock speed is better
Radeon 5750 (100 UKP ish)
4GB DDR3 (1333mhz) crucial / corsair etc (80 UKP)
ASUS M4A77TD PRO/U3S6 (75 UKP) Always used asus and never had a problem
Windows 7 64 bit (75 UKP)

Went with AM3/DDR3 instead of intel since it was suggested longevity of platform better and can hopefully upgrade in the future.
I understand the 5XXX radeons have new features but lower performance that 4XXX. is it worth it?
I am considering waiting for a AM3 DDR3 asus board with onboard U3S6?
Have avoided upgrading to vista and 7 so far. do I finally have to upgrade from XP???

I have multiple sata150 5400rpm drives (new and used) is it worth using these (conventional or in raid) for the OS? Or should I stump up for a F3 etc

Cheers for the input

 

[MisterDonut]

I doubt AM3 will future proof your computer longer than an Intel system would. Your P180 is still mid tower, ATX sized right? The newer ones are mini-ATX. The Propus (aka x4 620) is a GREAT value for a quad-core, and 5750 is a good entry level card for DX11. Seeing as how you play games that do not require heavy set graphics, you should be ok with the 5750. However, keep in mind that it will not future-proof you for future heavyweight games should you decide to play. Go with a 5770 and CFX it down the road if you want to do that.

And stump up for a 640gb Caviar Black or a Spinpoint. It's....well....Fast.

 

[pcgeek11]

"Future Proof"

It don't exist!

pcgeek11

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

To future proof your rig, you'd have to stop all computer technology from evolving.

 

[taltamir]

here is how you future proof: "buy it in the future!"
historically, over 90% of "future proof products" were simply not!

The best thing for you to do is buy cheaper "today" technology and put the extra money aside, when the future arrives, you sell your current used tech, combine the proceeds form the sale with the money you put aside, and buy future technology.

Now, SOMETIMES pay very very little extra for a big tech can be useful... but you have to really understand the tech and the situation and rule it on a case by case basis.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Anytime you buy something along the time continuum, the next moment after it is purchased it is no longer future proof cause the time before you bought it is the past which was the future but no longer is, thus it is not future proof.