Computer Upgrade

[What Guy]

I will soon be ugrading my socket A 2500+Barton setup. The things I will be keeping is the :
lian-li pc1000 case
dvd rom/burner
Monitor

What do you think of my core upgrades? Could i go a different route with same performance/less money. there will be slight overclocking. Not too big of a gamer, but what i do play, i want to look good. Could someone also recommend a PSU for this setup. Thanks

Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

DFI LanParty UT nF4-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Platinum System Memory

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor


Any other changes? Please dont hold anything back.

 

[What Guy]

Somebody?

 

[Jeff7181]

You've waited this long, you might as well wait 6 months for socket AM2 to get a more future proof design since you obviously don't upgrade every year.

*EDIT* Or at least wait for the 7900's to come out so you can pick up one of those.

 

[What Guy]

So the 7800 isn't worth buying? Future proof? If i wait another 6 months and ask this same question, somebody will say wait another 3 months for the ...... Is there anything wrong with specs i have laid in front of you?

 

[Jeff7181]

The 7800 is nice... I like my 7800GT. But the 7900's are just around the corner with faster memory and low power requirements and potentially higher clock speeds.
The reason I say wait for AM2 is because it's "the next socket 939" for AMD processors and will give you a much better upgrade path down the road, should you decide in 2 years a 2.8 GHz quad core Athlon 64 for $300 is something you'd be interested in, but don't really want to spend $1200 on an entirely new PC.

*EDIT* As far as PSU's... I haven't taken my own advice yet because mine is working fine so far... but I'll never buy another power supply made by anyone other than PC Power and Cooling. They're expensive, but when you consider that EVERYTHING in your computer is depending on the PSU for clean, stable power, it's not a bad investment. This one should work fine.

 

[LW07]

Drop the Raptor 150 and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148039
Then with the $280 or so saved, step up and get a Radeon X1900XT

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: LW07
Drop the Raptor 150 and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148039
Then with the $280 or so saved, step up and get a Radeon X1900XT

I'd be tempted to visit Best Buy or Circuit City or Office Max and grab a 300 GB hard drive for $25 more if you're looking to replace the Raptor.

 

[What Guy]

I see I see. Thanks Jeff for your replies

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: What Guy
I see I see. Thanks Jeff for your replies

Oh... and you might consider this if you decide to do as you planned and build now rather than wait. I bought those and am very happy with my purchase considering I'll be able to take advantage of eVGA's step-up program and get a 7900GTX for $120 with the trade-in of my 7800GT... all while enjoying a brand new nForce4 SLI motherboard.

 

[What Guy]

can you really see a difference between the 8 and 16mB caches running regular apps(Office)? what about game play? and thanks to LW too

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: What Guy
can you really see a difference between the 8 and 16mB caches running regular apps(Office)? what about game play? and thanks to LW too

I can't say for sure, but I think you'd actually have to measure performance to notice the difference. Although if you're like me... 0.5% here and 0.5% there adds up and results in a very snappy and responsive PC that people are amazed at after coming from a $2000 pre-assembled rig to mine.

 

[markkleb]

I have noticed differences, before I had 2 raptors in raid o. After I sold them I got 1 7200 hd with the 16mb buffer and it seemed faster.

I think with 2 7200 16mb buffer hds in raid0 would be cheap and very fast.