Budget system to hold me over 'till mid '09

[MeSh1]

First of thanks in advance and i hope all is well with everyone. Here's what im trying to accomplish. I'm in serious need of an upgrade, i'm on a socket 478 Northwood (I know right). Now i had intentions of a massive upgrade that would've included a Quad-Core Penryn chip and an Nvidia G92 video card. I stop in my tracks after finding out that in 2009 sockets are going to be changing. The reason is because when I upgraded my Northwood system I later realized that I didn't leave myself a good road map for future upgrades and thats something I want to avoid this time around. I still want to play new pc games being released currently and thats why I still want to upgrade. Ive been playing on my 360 and I really miss keyboard and mouse gaming. With that said I still want to do a small upgrade to hold me over. Im going to be able to get a free Ati 1950 and I already have a Antec P180 case (Silver). So my question is, what would you guys recommend to hold me over untill mid to late 2009? Im thinking Dual-Core hopefully with G0 stepping, a Tuniq (OC'ing), but im not sure about the mobo / mem though. I will be buying a OCZ psu ( I never go cheap on PSU's). Is a $500 budget too stingy? Anyway I just wanted the opinion of some hardware heads on this forum. Thanks again.



Peace,
JEMF

 

[JAG87]

you know in 2013 the sockets are gonna change again. come on dude there is no such thing as future proofing. buy when you need and buy the best you can afford. you need something right now, and the answer is Q9450 (January) + new nvidia high end (hopefully January or Feb).

But if your stubborn, then here is my last advice. E2140 + cheap P35 board + cheap 2GB ram + TR Ultra 120 Extreme. Crank the voltage and OC to 3.2 ghz and sail along with your 50 dollar processor. And OCZ psu? Ahem... try something like Corsair, Enermax, Silverstone, Etasis, Zippy, or PC P&C.

 

[newschool]

ocz psu = pc power and cooling. nice try.

beside that jag87 has a good idea. actually I bought a computer thinkin the same way. currently using a e4300 at 3ghz on p965 (there was no p35) and its performing more or less like an e6700 on a x38.. what can i ask more. I want to play crysis but none of the current vid cards can get 60fps, so I just said fck it and I bought an old x1950xt for 200$ (when the 8800gts was 380$ and no hd3xxx or GTs) . I play cod4 at very high and will just wait till the GeForce 9. After that the next upgrade will probably be with the new cpu from Intel that finally integrates the memory controller. I mean Penryn is good but is not worth the upgrade for someone who has a 3ghz core 2.

You should always check the roadmaps from nvidia,intel or amd. That way you know if can buy somthing now and be happy with it for a long time.

 

[MeSh1]

My bad, I meant a Corsair http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139001

Thanks for your advice. I understand what you're saying, but I want to avoid being in the same position i am now. Where nothing is upgradeable it LICKS HELMET! Again, thanks.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: newschool
ocz psu = pc power and cooling. nice try.

ya? open up a Turbo Cool PSU (not a silencer) and tell me if looks anything like an OCZ PSU. nice try.

 

[MeSh1]

So this is what im thinking.

E4300 (if i could find one) - $129
GIGABYTE DS3L (if i could find one) - $95
Need Memory recommendation if possible
Antec p180 (already have it)
Radeon 1950 (already have it)
Corsair 520W PSU - 129 aftre rebate

Thoughts?

 

[JAG87]

save on the cpu, get a 2140 and be reckless with it.
ok motherboard
try to find Crucial Rendition PC6400 Value, a birdy told me it has D9GKX on it which can do 800 mhz cas 3 with 2.2v, and its dirty cheap
ok case
ok vga
dont waste money, buy a psu that you will use with your next build too. get an enermax infinity 650w or a silverstone decathlon 650w. higher wattage if you plan multi-gpu.


edit
ps. dont forget a TR U120 extreme

 

[MeSh1]

almost forgot . Thanks again

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: MeSh1
So this is what im thinking.

E4300 (if i could find one) - $129
GIGABYTE DS3L (if i could find one) - $95
Need Memory recommendation if possible
Antec p180 (already have it)
Radeon 1950 (already have it)
Corsair 520W PSU - 129 aftre rebate

Thoughts?

A couple comments.

Go with an E4500 instead of an E4300. They're just as cheap, and you get an 11x multiplier instead of a 9x.

As for RAM, this G.Skill kit is 49.99 with FS for 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231098
Look around and you might find even better deals.

You can get a much better price than 129 for the Corsair 520HX. In addition to Newegg/Mwave, check ClubIT, Zipzoomfly, and buy.com.

Other than that, looks pretty good. Do you need a new hard drive or optical drive?

 

[Denithor]

GA-P35-DS3L + e2180 + Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 for ~$222 at Mwave
Antec Earthwatts 500W for $50 at Newegg (after $40MIR)

I would recommend the e2180 over the e2140 and/or the e4x000. The 10x multiplier will give a high OC without straining your other components as much and at 3GHz (typically easy to reach with this chip on stock cooling) you won't notice the lack of 1MB cache (see this article for details).

Toward the end of next year (or early 2009) pick up a Penryn quad when prices fall due to the Nehalem launch. That will give you plenty of power to use for at least a year or two before you do a full upgrade to Nehalem (or an AMD build if they have improved their performance at that time).

 

[newschool]

what really differentiate e2xxx and e4xxx , not really much but you get 2Mb of ram with the latest, wich is proved to be better in new games (ex: ut 3) and the e4500 have 11x multipler. the multiplier allows you to o/c higher without stressing your motherboard and other components. I said e4300 because thats what I bought -back in the days-..

while the crucial ram is assured to use D9s chips, I wont kill you if you get the Gskill because normally you cut on the ram to save money . In that case it wont be dramatic because you are using a higher multiplier for overclock so the ram can use a lower freq.

I never liked Antec powersupply, and there is a 620 Watts version of the corsair. Future proofing vs powersupply is an oxymoron because the cpus and graphics are usually consumming less power because of the smaller processing. For example 65nm core2 to 45nm penryn and AMD 55nm with HD3xxx graphics.

btw I dont open powersupply for fun.

 

[Skott]

As long as you are running just one video card the Corsair HX520w will be fine and thats including if you OC. Save a few extra dollars over the HX620 if cash is a major concern. The HX620w would buy you a little longer future life if you keep it and the case though. I consider the HX620w upper end for single card setups. Both are quieter than most other power supply units. High quality too.

 

[vailr]

ClubIT has the Corsair 620HX for $120, after a $20 MIR:
http://www.clubit.com/product_...l.cfm?itemno=CA6200027
They're currently out of stock on the 520HX; it's listed at $90, after $10 MIR.
http://www.clubit.com/product_...l.cfm?itemno=CA6200026

 

[MeSh1]

Ohh.. i just pulled the trigger on the 620. thanks man. much respect.