Looking for barebones reccomendations

[elorenzen]

1st post, but hope you guys bear with me.

Basically, I'm doing some research into upgrading an old system (from 97). I would like to keep my old (IDE) HDDs and ATI AIW 9500, as well as the CDRW/DVD Combo.

I'd like to get a new mobo and processor, no preference on the CPU, and a DVD burner.

First prorities are price (about 500) and stability. There will be no ocing, but I'm looking for a mobo that will last the next few years in terms of features, ports, adding more RAM, etc, especially for a new graphics card next year. I also would prefer it to run cool to avoid any temperature tweaking or additional fans. Quiet is good. The system isn't going to do much, just minor photoediting, surfing, and some games (Civ 4, maybe some older FPSs)


Firstly, is a barebones kit the way to go? I'm assuming that I will have to get new RAM as well, as the old system is using DDR 266.
Secondly, what recommendations do you guys have? I have not been keeping up the last few years and have no idea what I should be looking out for,

Thanks in advance

 

[mordantmonkey]

you want to upgrade the video card next year but keep your current one... does that mean you want both AGP and PCIe ports?

 

[elorenzen]

Would prefer to stick with just AGP, but will AGP be dead next year?

 

[elorenzen]

bump

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: elorenzen
Would prefer to stick with just AGP, but will AGP be dead next year?

AGP isn't quite dead, but it's close to that, and it doesn't seem to make much sense to build a new system / upgrade around the limitations of 1 old video card with a dying interface. I don't know about the All In Wonder 9500 -- I don't see any benchmarks on it, and I assume that it isn't a large investment / currently decent performer that would make sense to carry along (as a 6800 GT or X800 might be).

A few alternatives come to mind:

1.) Get a MB with built-in video like Nvidia 6100/6150 (e.g. Asus A8N-VM CSM).
2.) Buy a lower-end PCIe video card (say $130).
3.) Build the system around a CPU, with AGP, and plan to replace the MB with the video card upgrade (more time, but cost around $50-100)
4.) Get a hybrid AGP / PCIe MB.
5.) Stick it out with AGP, and get a faster AGP video card when the time comes.
6.) Wait until June/July when the new AMD processor and motherboards are released, and do a composite upgrade after that.

(5) and (6) are essentially exclusive -- there may be some MB's that provide a new CPU socket and AGP video, but if they exist, they will be rare exceptions to the rule.

(6) Will take some time to catch on and will make help DDR obsolete in the process -- it will require DDR2. But as you can still buy SDRAM, DDR will be viable for some time.

I don't know how which old FPS you're referring to. If they're really old, then there's a chance that (1) will be OK. But since you mention FPS, the odds are that this is not the right solution, and you should consider something better, e.g. a 6600 GT (for ~$130) as in option (2) -- it is conceivable that this will be adequate for your needs, and allow you to delay the further video upgrade until much later.

For option (3), socket 939 will give you more in-place upgrade possibilities for the time being, and socket 754 will give you more AGP MB options, and overall reduced cost for the time being, but possibly fewer options to upgrade the CPU down the road.

Option (4) is not a bad idea, and apparently has no material disadvantages over (3), other than socket 754 probably being cheaper.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

For option (5), the 7800 GS AGP was just released, and presumably will still be available down the road; the 6800 GS AGP may give better performance/price. There will be more flexibility in price and power and probably a better performance/price ratio, and longer-term viability in PCIe.

Regarding option (6), considering that you've had this system since '97, perhaps a few more months is not a big deal -- there are usually advantages to waiting in terms of performance/price improvements, and a brand new platform would presumably have a longer viability / upgradability, and leaf-frogging into the bleeding edge would be kind of cool. The down side is that the new socket will likely be positioned at the higher end at initial release, and be priced accordingly, and time come, you might find that it's still not affordable.

Example setup (not entierly sensible because it includes both the AGP/PCIe MB and an PCIe video card):

AMD 64 3200+ 939 $160

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__AMD_Athl...00_Processor,__8098509/sort_type=price

ASRock 939 AGP/PCIe MB $65

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__ASRock_9...therboard,__11576580/search=ASROCK+939

XFX GeForce 6600 GT $120

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getp...masterid=4605894/search=geforce+6600gt

512 MB RAM < $50 (various)

Power Supply < $60 (various)

DVD Writer < $50 (various)

Total $505 + Tax + S&H. Could delay video or RAM and potentially power supply.

 

[elorenzen]

Thanks, that was exactly what I wanted to know. I will probably put off upgrading till July, even if I don't end up with the new AMDs there will probably be a nice price drop for the older sockets.

AFA FPSs go, the current system handles Halo 1 somewhat arthritically. Mostly, it's a system I park at home for the hubby and visiting relatives to occupy themselves with, hence the no tweaking rule.

Thanks again for the info,