Cheap Mobo / Gfx / PSU to upgrade an old beast. Help please

[bgriffin]

Hello all,

Just finishing University so I am pretty low on funds, however 1 of my 2 DIMM slots is broken and I have 3x 1gb sticks to use so figure I better do a small upgrade for now.

Budget: 100 (give or take 10&#37

I mainly use it for gaming.
I plan to buy all the parts from the United Kingdom.
I have no brand preferences.

I would only like to replace the mobo/gfx/psu. However since building this PC (at the start of university) I haven't really kept up with technical information so I really need advice on what's the best bang I could get for my buck (Except in Pounds Stirling).


Specs:
Radeon x1950 GT
mobo: M2N-MX SE (AM2)
Amd Athlon 64 x2 4600 + (AM2 [940])
3 x 1gb crucial ballistix DDR2 RAM
350w Jeantek ATX (sorry for this terrible thing)


All the best and thank you in advance,


Ben.

 

[DaveSimmons]

With a budget of 100 pounds you probably need to buy used parts, from the well-off gamers that all moved to Sandy Bridge.

Perhaps find a Hot Deal on a good new power supply that might be good enough for your next build (shop carefully, get a good 600-650 watt not a junk no name), then add a cheap used AM2 motherboard and maybe something like a used 4850, 70 or 90 GPU.

 

[bgriffin]

Ok, what are your thoughts on these GFX cards:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...ortby=priceAsc

These Mobos:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...ortby=priceAsc

And this power supply:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=123&subcat=


Would this be a decent combo for under 105?

Or do you believe I would get better value from the second hand market?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Do you have a regular case or will it only fit microATX? Those microATX board look like they all only accept 2 sticks of DDR2. If you picked up a used full size motherboard it would have 4 sockets.

For a gaming card, I don't think you'd want to get anything less than a 5670, it's a decent card for gaming at 1280 x 1024 for some games, 16x10 for others:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2917/6

With the 500 watt PSU you're looking at ~130-140 new, less if you get a used motherboard.

 

[bgriffin]

Regular ATX, how are second hand 4850/4870s?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Both are still good cards, the 4870 is only a little slower than a 5770.

 

[mfenn]

I did some searching, and it looks like AM2/AM2+ motherboards with 4 DIMM slots have all but dried up. The best I could find was a Biostar A770DE+ on Ebay, but at 50 pounds, it's hardly worth it IMHO.