Looking for a cheap upgrade of my T-bird rig

[swanky]

Hi,

lately I've noticed that my rig has started to slow down. This doesn't surprise me as it is over two years old.

At the heart I have:

- Athlon T-bird 1,33 GHz
- 256 MB SDRAM
- MSI K7T Turbo mobo (133 MHz)
- Western Digital, 40GB HD (7200 rpm)
- Radeon 9500 Pro (128 MB)

I bought the video card a couple of months ago, after my old GeForce2 Pro called it a day.

First of all, I don't play games. I might say to myself that I will pick up HalfLife 2 when it comes along, but that will not happen. I do use Photoshop and Dreamweaver, but that is as hardcore as it gets. No DivX stuff, no video editing. What I need is a good, reliable system that will cut it for the next 18-24 months.

You could say I'm looking for the "bargain stars" of today. Money isn't an issue really, I just doesn't feel like spending too much on stuff that I don't need. To put it this way; I can come up with the extra $100 if it means it's a better buy.

Let's say I want to spend $300-400 - where would my money be best spent? I'm getting a 17" LCD and a digital camera as well, so it would be appreciated if I could keep this upgrade at that budget.

thanks for taking the time to read through this.

swanky

 

[jfall]

I would look into getting an Nforce2 board such as the Asus a7nx8 and an XP Barton 2500+ throw in a good 512mb of ram, your HDD and your 9500pro, overclock the hell out of it, you should be able to get it up to a 3200+ - the board comes with very good sound, and ethernet.. plus SATA if you get the delux version.

Very good price for the performance

You will have a 3200 which should last quite some time, especially since you aren't much of a power user. A video card that is DX9 compatible, DDR ram, and SATA support which should be around for a while

 

[Sheriff]

Get some more RAM and find out if your Mobo suppoerts the XP CPU's

 

[swanky]

Originally posted by: Sheriff
Get some more RAM and find out if your Mobo suppoerts the XP CPU's

My mobo supports the XP1800, but that hardly seems worthwhile. After all, wouldn't that be just a temporary upgrade?

I've looked into the Barton XP2500, and at the price it seems like wuite a bargain. About the RAM - PC2700, PC3200, PC3500 - what's the best choice?

Thank you for your fast replies!

swanky

 

[jcwagers]

I would imagine that you could get a pretty nice upgrade for $300-400. Here are a couple of options for you.....all from newegg....of course. 🙂

Option #1

Epox 8RDA+ - $83
2500+ Barton(1.83 Ghz) Retail - $96(only $1 more than OEM and you can always use a spare heatsink...just in case)
Geil PC3200 512 DDR - $85 ($4 shipping)
Thermalright SK-7 - $19.99 ($6 shipping)
80mm case fan($8 at a local shop or free if you have an extra lying around somewhere)

Total - 293.99 shipped(without the case fan)

Option #2

Asus A7N8X - $99
2600+ Tbred B - $100
Corsair PC3200 512 DDR - $96
Thermalright SK-7 - $19.99 ($6 shipping)
80mm case fan - $8

Total - $320.99 shipped(without case fan)

Of course, you can mix and match from either of those two options and still get a nice setup for less than $350. That would almost give you enough extra to check on a new power supply. That can be very important if you're going to overclock so you might want to check it out if you're running a generic power supply or a 300 watt. Good luck on your purchase as I'm sure it will be a lot faster and hopefully you'll be happy with it. 🙂

jc

 

[Sheriff]

Quality PC3200 RAM is good enough and if you get the Barton or 1700XP they both will travel over 2GHz and when you upgrade the MoBo put the old CPU back in the MSI.