Complete upgrade

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: BOLt

Originally posted by: Noubourne
FX-55 is single core. Don't do it. The dual-core isn't that much more expensive and you can overclock that (trust me).

The build I showed you was far less than $700 and it included DDR2 and a dual-core CPU.

Wouldn't recommend the FX-55. It's really only good if you need to replace a really slow single core s939 chip in a board you already had and for whatever reason you don't want to overclock at all.

The FX-55 is a god for overclocking. Unlocked multiplier? Woot! Do 3GHz+ with a low multiplier and a crazy high FSB. Use a memory divider to make even ValueRAM work. Have an insane FSB and quick RAM and 3GHz or more easily. All on stock voltages. I love it.

And the price... so cheap!

Sorry, I was just rambling at how much I want to get an FX-55 and sell my current CPU(s).

"FSB" doesn't mean crap on AMD processors, integrated memory controller and hypertransport links, remember?

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: Noubourne
AM2, and don't reuse the video card. It's time to retire it. There's no reason to cripple yourself with an AGP mobo if you're going to buy a whole new one: you might as well go AM2 and PCI-Express and get it over with.

You can re-use your hard drives. All the new mobos still have IDE channels on them - many devices (burners etc) don't have SATA versions.

Cheap non-OC route:
$75 Abit KN9 NF4 Ultra mobo
$120 RAM 512x2 DDR2 800 OCZ Gold
$160 CPU AMD AM2 X2 3800 (65w)
$117 eVGA 7600GTS 256MB 560/1400

That's $475 for a whole new rig basically. Assuming you don't need a new PSU. Which you probably do. Which would probably put you at $575 or so.

This would be pretty nice, but I'd say more CPU and less memory, especially since current games aren't optimized for dualcore yet. Say a 4200 with 667mhz memory. It's been shown that the K8 isn't very responsive to increased memory bandwidth. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2762&p=12

Edit: about your last post, yes, pretty much all mobos still use the ATX formfactor. You can still find microATX or ITX, but ATX is dominant.

 

[Migroo]

Thats great, thanks! Understood re CPU/RAM.

Am I sacrificing anything by going with the KN9 motherboard? I'll admit I'm not fully briefed on the whole motherboard market. Is the Abit a good board? I've been using Gigabyte for years but truly, I'm at a total loss, apart from Noubourne's recommendation (since I'm probably going with a dual-core setup).

 

[Ruptga]

I have no idea about specific motherboards, but I know someone around here does, just keep looking.