Budget Upgrade - Need your help!

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DarkNessBear

Member
Sep 21, 2008
33
0
0
Hey! Yea it's a lot asking for help, especially to some new guy. I found these forums through a friend who recomended them to me, and I am definitely interested and sticking around. But I currently am in need of some assistance of how should I go about upgrading my current system, and I don't want to take the advice of some guy at PCClub.

I only have $300-400 and I don't want to have to start from scratch, but I really want a top of the line comp. To play games like WarhammerOnline, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Age of Conan, Crysis ect. as well as run Vista and I am a graphics whore (Majoring in 3D Design) so it has to look perfect!

Sorry, no more small talk! Here's my current rig, please ask if you need any more details!
(I will try to provide links to all my components)
CURRENT RIG:
MOBO:
nVIDIA nFORCE4 SLI (GA-K8N-SLI)
CPU:
AMD ATHLON 64 2000mhz (10x200) 3200+
SYSTEM MEMORY:
2048 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
VIDEO CARD:
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (256 MB)
POWER SUPPLY:
Allied 500w SATA

That was all from using EVEREST Home, I have the full report if needed.

This was a suggestion of somebody. But I kind of want to stay in the Nvidia side of things and im not sure what is supported with my Mother board.
NEW RIG
GFX CARD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102770
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103773
MOBO (I dont want to have to upgrade my mobo... but if its cheap and necassary I will):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131249
RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145184

I'm not entirely sure if all that is good or not, seems like some is a little wonky but I think you guys will know best!

Thanks for the help!
MUCH appreciated,
Luke

 
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shuji07

Member
Sep 20, 2008
33
0
0
Honestly, I'd switch that 6000+ with an e7200, if you're going to oc (you'd have to switch to an intel board as well). The link to ram shows nothing either...but you should get 4gb ram since it's so cheap. OCZ 4gb 2x2gb packages have a 30 mir making a lot of them in the 40 range after mir for 4gb at newegg.
 
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shuji07

Member
Sep 20, 2008
33
0
0
If you're not planning to OC then what you've linked looks pretty decent for the price. Not sure about the mobo. If you want to OC I'd go with an Intel cpu/mobo, if you don't mind forking a little more over.
 
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shuji07

Member
Sep 20, 2008
33
0
0
Honestly, the items you linked already are good for the price. I'm not sure if your current psu is good enough, maybe someone else can help you some more. Good luck DNB, do a little more research on your own before you click that buy button!
 
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AnnoyedGrunt

Senior member
Jan 31, 2004
596
25
81
What resolution are you going to run?

If it's high rez, maybe just a Video upgrade would be sufficient? The card you linked looks pretty good. There's also an EVGA Nvidia 260 card for $230 after rebates:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130370

A bit more expensive but slighly faster than the ATI card (which is probably one of the best values right now).

You have a socket 939 motherboard, so you'll need a 939 chip to upgrade just the CPU. There's an A64 3800+ (2.4 GHz, rather than 2.0) for $30:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103571

If you go with just a new CPU, make sure that your motherboard can handle the chip. If I recall, when AMD changed from 135 nm to 90 nm some mobo's didn't work quite right with the new chips, so just confirm that any new CPU will work with the board.

I have a similar setup:
A64 3200+
X800XL
2 GB RAM

I haven't decided whether to upgrade a couple things or just buy a new computer.

EDIT:
The stuff you linked originally looks good for a more significant upgrade than what I mentioned.

-D'oh!
 
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DarkNessBear

Member
Sep 21, 2008
33
0
0
I'm currently trying to find a cheap widescreen 26" monitor. So I would probably run it at a fairly high resolution.

So I am gonna have to upgrade my MOBO to get a good upgrade? I just want to run my games at full settings, currently running WAR on full I get 10 fps and 1-5 in PVP. And I like the SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB. But I prefer NVIDIA, is there an equivalent? And I would like to upgrade to at least a DUAL CORE processor.

Thanks!
 
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Roguestar

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
6,045
0
0
Agh, at least describe the links for your components so we don't have to click through to find out what you're buying! :p

The Radeon HD4850 is a really great buy for the money, and Sapphire's new board revision model is cheaper and has a much better cooler than the stock version.
I'd personally go with a low-ish Intel CPU like the E2200, then a Gigabyte P35 DS3L and overclock it up to around 2.8GHz. RAM looks good.

 
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DarkNessBear

Member
Sep 21, 2008
33
0
0
So will all that work; the saphire, ram and CPU. I heard its essential that I get a dual core processor for gaming, and I would like one. And are ATI gpu's good? Ive heard they got problems...
 
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betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,677
0
0
C'mon, help ol' Roguestar out (and the rest of us) by giving a brief description of what lies behind those links. Some of us only want to hit the egg when we need to buy.
 
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Roguestar

Diamond Member
Aug 29, 2006
6,045
0
0
That GPU would be compatible with any motherboard with PCI-Express x16 slots.

As to whether or not ATI GPUs are any good, the 4850 is pretty much the best purchase at its price range. Check out AnandTech's own 4850/4870 review article.
 
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