Best and CHEAP upgrade option

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imported_SC4RF4C3

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Dec 23, 2004
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Currently I have an asus A7N8x Deluxe MB and a Athlon XP 2500.
Geforce 6800 GT
2 gigs of ram

nothing really special anymore.

What I would like to do is upgrade the CPU and MB while still using my vid card which puts me in a dilema not many AGP boards out there that use current CPU's


any advice is appreciated.
 
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DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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It doesn't make sense to buy an AGP motherboard now and the AGP + PCI-E motherboards are second-rate.

What speed is your DDR?

If it's PC3200 / DDR400 then a socket 939 PCI-E motherboard might be the best choice, and selling your 6800GT to help buy a 7900GS or better.

Or just waiting a little longer until you can save up more.
 
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Seekermeister

Golden Member
Oct 3, 2006
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There is less shortage of AGP motherboards, than AGP video cards. Do you have any specific requirements, or will any good mb do?
 
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imported_SC4RF4C3

Member
Dec 23, 2004
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anyone really but better than what I have now looking for a cheap upgrade for now just twant to max out what I have so in a few months I can buy everything new.
 
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Seekermeister

Golden Member
Oct 3, 2006
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If you are going to upgrade again soon, I would suggest an AM2 motherboard and processor, but that would also require DDR2 ram, which may or may not fall within your budget. A X2 combo would be cheaper overall, but not as upgradable. How many PCI slots do you require?
 
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Atheus

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: SC4RF4C3
anyone really but better than what I have now looking for a cheap upgrade for now just twant to max out what I have so in a few months I can buy everything new.
Click to expand...

Don't bother - full upgrade now or just wait.

You will waste hundreds if not thousands if you buy an 'interim system' then upgrade again because you're not satisfied.
 
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w00t

Diamond Member
Nov 5, 2004
5,545
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Originally posted by: SC4RF4C3
Currently I have an asus A7N8x Deluxe MB and a Athlon XP 2500.
Geforce 6800 GT
2 gigs of ram

nothing really special anymore.

What I would like to do is upgrade the CPU and MB while still using my vid card which puts me in a dilema not many AGP boards out there that use current CPU's


any advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'd upgrade the processor and motherboard and try to keep the 2GB a long with the video card. you could always try to look for like a used AMD dual core cpu and motheboard with AGP

upgrading the video card wouldn't be worth IMO

Originally posted by: Seekermeister
Here is a link to some combos:

http://castle.pricewatch.com/s/search.asp?s=am2+agp

The only ones that I'm familiar with are the MSIs, but I'm sure that there are others.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is he would still have to get DDR2

I am suggesting probably just wait it out and get a new rig that's what I did with my old rig instead of attempting to upgrade it I just saved my money and bought a new rig :)
 
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hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
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I recommend you wait. AMD is sub-par at the moment, and the Pentium D lineup is even worse. Core 2 Duo is the way to go right now, but only if you can upgrade to PCIe x16 and DDR2.

If you insist on an interim upgrade, however, you have the right idea with a Pentium D 805. Rather than that ASRock board, though, I'd get one that supports PCIe x16 and DDR2, so that you can upgrade along the way. The ECS PT880PRO-A should do just fine, and costs a mere $54.12 shipped. That's $147.12 with a retail 805.

But like I said, your best bet, in my opinion, is just to wait.
 
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zeeon2003

Member
Aug 13, 2003
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How many sticks of DDR RAM do you have? Both the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA and ECS PT880PRO-A have 2 slots that support DDR; the other 2 are for DDR2.
 
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imported_SC4RF4C3

Member
Dec 23, 2004
89
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AGAIN if you read my first post it says I want to KEEP my existing stuff for a few more months but want to upgrade on the MB and CPU possibly now even if its not a major upgrade at this point..
and as far a s waiting goes wait for when? 3 months 6 months ? you can always wait and something better will be on the horizon...
For me right now I want a cheap quick upgrade and was wondering if what I was/am looking at will do i.
NO DDR2
NO PCI-E
not interested at this point.

I have 2 gigs or DDR now pc3200
 
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hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
Originally posted by: SC4RF4C3
AGAIN if you read my first post it says I want to KEEP my existing stuff for a few more months but want to upgrade on the MB and CPU possibly now even if its not a major upgrade at this point..
and as far a s waiting goes wait for when? 3 months 6 months ? you can always wait and something better will be on the horizon...
For me right now I want a cheap quick upgrade and was wondering if what I was/am looking at will do i.
NO DDR2
NO PCI-E
not interested at this point.

I have 2 gigs or DDR now pc3200
Click to expand...

What we're trying to say is that upgrading is a bad idea if you aim to keep DDR1 and AGP. We can't give you any good suggestions in that regard because none seem to exist. Unless you have enough money to buy a new GPU and memory, as well, upgrading the motherboard and CPU is just a bad idea. You could get a Pentium D combo for around $150, but that's not going to be much of a performance boost unless you overclock--and there aren't any LGA775 boards that can overclock well *and* support both DDR1 and AGP. The only way I can see this "interim upgrade" idea working for you is if you use it as a stepping stone to upgrade to DDR2 and PCIe later on. And the best way to do that is to get a board that features DDR1, DDR2, AGP and PCIe x16, all four. Newegg has three such boards, the best of which is probably the ECS PT880PRO-A. You can put an 805 in that and overclock it just a little bit, perhaps to 2.8 or 2.9 GHz. You could keep your memory and video card until you're ready to upgrade them, at which time you can keep your motherboard.

But like I and most everyone else here has said, your best bet is to wait until you can upgrade all four components: CPU, motherboard, video card and memory. I know you're itching to get something new, but be patient. What you're planning is just not a good idea, I'm sorry to say.
 
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imported_SC4RF4C3

Member
Dec 23, 2004
89
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ah that makes more sense I didnt mean to sound rude or anything but that was more of an answer I was looking for.

I guess my athlon XP 2500 isnt that bad in the grand scheme of things.
 
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CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
Oct 21, 2006
5,401
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If you want to keep your graphics card and memory, go with:

AMD Opteron 165 s939 - $158
This would give you the best performance, however, it also costs the most. It's also dual core, and a very well known overclocker.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ s939 - $59
This is the cheapest processor, giving the least amount of performance - but still much much more than your current processor. Single core.

Intel Pentium D 805 s775 - $93
Dual core, offering decent performance and decent overclocking for a decent price. However, if you upgrade to a Core 2 Duo system in the future, you could upgrade your motherboard, graphics card, and memory first, and stick this in in the mean time until you get enough cash for the actual Core 2 Duo processor.


I'll leave the motherboards up to someone else to suggest... I'm not really up-to-date with AGP boards.

If you want to go super super cheap, look around for a used single-core AMD socket 939 system, or an old Pentium 4 Northwood / Prescott HT and matching motherboard. Either system would perform better than your current setup, and you could probably get it for $100 total or less.
 
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hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
9
81
NewEgg has a grand total of ONE socket-939 board with AGP support: the ECS K8T890-A ($60.12 shipped).

If you would be satisfied with a single core CPU, you could try the Epox EP-8KDA7I and Sempron 64 2800+ for $83.11 shipped. The Epox board should be able to get the 1.6GHz Sempron to 2.3 or 2.4 GHz, thus giving it the performance of a virtual Athlon 64 3200+ or 3300+. Incidentally, this is almost exactly the setup I have (except my board is the older EP-8KDA3J, not the 7I). But it will not offer a significant performance boost from a Barton 2500+. I can't recommend spending $83.11 on such a minimal upgrade.
 
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imported_SC4RF4C3

Member
Dec 23, 2004
89
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wow all pretty much the same no sense in a small upgrade....

ok that being said what if anything would give me a good boost if I were to spend $500 now and be able to upgrade in the future?

example would I want to go opteron as opposed to athlon 64 x2 or Intel? and mother board?
DDR2 would naturally be in
video what is a good card but better than mine also pci-E? pretty much any one out now?

I know some of these questions seem bland but I havent really followed the tech curve the last couple of years on whats good and not.
 
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hurtstotalktoyou

Platinum Member
Mar 24, 2005
2,055
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81
I can't speak on the subject of video cards (I never, ever play games, and therefore I don't pay attention to GPU technology), but as for platforms, you'll definitely want to go with Intel Core 2 Duo. A nice little combo might be the E6300 and GA-845P-S3. Maybe get the Patriot Signature Series 1GB DDR2-667 kit, and spend the rest ($113.31 if you have a $500 budget) on a video card.
 
Zap

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
7
81
Originally posted by: SC4RF4C3
ok that being said what if anything would give me a good boost if I were to spend $500 now and be able to upgrade in the future?
Click to expand...

Is that $500 before or after you sell off your old parts? $500 can buy a mobo, C2D and 2GB RAM, but not the video card. However, you can sell off your old stuff and get enough cash for a video card that's much faster than yours.
 
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elkinm

Platinum Member
Jun 9, 2001
2,146
0
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In the hot deals forums there are constantly some Core 2 Duo combos with basically a free ASrock or ESC motherboard, as the combo is as much or less then a retail chip. Most are from Fry's B&M, but I have seen some online deals as well.
Otherwise, you should get the motherboard and a Core 2 Duo like the E6300, it is well worth it over the Pentium D and you can still use it later.

This will allow you to use your AGP card and old ram.

And when you are ready, just get a serious motherboard, RAM and graphics card and overclock the processor to get what you want.
The end result is that you get a cheap or free motherboard and good processor for future use.
C2D is the way to go these days, and will be for at least some time. No reason to go with anything else and you should definitely see a difference from your Athlon XP.

This would run you just over $200. To go any higher you would need at least a $100+ for a decent P965 motherboard, ~$200 for 2GB of ram and and ~$200 for a new video card which puts you somewhat over budget.
You could do less but that would not be worth the upgrade. I think lust the basic CPU + Mombo is definetly your best bet at the moment.
 
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