Help a friend upgrade.

[MTDEW]

Friend is on a $130.00 budget...NO MORE!

What he has now.

Asus A7V8X
Athlon 1700xp (palamino)
256mb Crucial PC2100 DDR
GF3 Ti200 @ 220/490
12gb 5200 rpm hdd
Onboard sound and NIC

Our understanding is that the Asus A7V8X will allow multiplier adjustments up to 12.5 with a tbred.
Correct?

Ok, what should he get?

1) 2100xp cpu and another 256mb pc2100

2) 40gb 7200rpm hdd and another 256mb pc2100

3) a 512mb stick of PC3200 and ditch the pc2100 (for future upgrades of course)

4) 1700xp Tbred and 512mb PC2700 and overclock it (12.5 x 166 = 2075mhz)
(assuming the 12.5 multiplier is true for the A7V8X of course)

Any other ideas?

 

[nebula]

I'd say option #2 is the easiest and will show performance gains. Finding a 1700+ the is very overclockable nowadays for a reasonable cost might be difficult. Besides, you should be able to OC his current chip some.

 

[Bonesdad]

Other option: Save more $$ and do some real damage...

 

[Skitzer]

Faster Hard Drive and more memory would be my choice

 

[infinite012]

2 or 4...2 would be my personal choice because more space is always good.

 

[NYHoustonman]

12 GB? Definetly 2. How do you manage not to fill up 12? Although, you might want to JUST get the new HD, save up for new processor/better RAM/better video card around when HL2 and Doom3 come out.

 

[Shimmishim]

i think you could fit a cheap 1700+ in there....

how much does a stick of 256 2100 ram go for? relatively cheap right?
how much does a 40 gig 7200 hard drive go for? relatively cheap right?
how much does a 1700+ tbred b go for? 42? 43? maybe..

i think you can squeeze all that in with 130

 

[nebula]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
i think you could fit a cheap 1700+ in there....

how much does a stick of 256 2100 ram go for? relatively cheap right?
how much does a 40 gig 7200 hard drive go for? relatively cheap right?
how much does a 1700+ tbred b go for? 42? 43? maybe..

i think you can squeeze all that in with 130

Yep, probably could, but he's already got a 1700+ Paly, so is it worth it to swap that out? Save the money for the next upgrade!

 

[Corporate Thug]

personally i would save the money but if he MUST buy something i would get #4