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Need advice on computer rebuild

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dmbforums

Member
Hey folks. I built my computer years ago, and since then have fallen sadly out of the loop as far as hardware developments, etc. I've gotten to the point where I'd really like to regut my machine. I was hoping some people here could point me in the right direction...

Here's my current setup:
Leadtek WinFast K7nCR18D PRO
AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz
512 MB RAM (Crucial Memory)
WD 100G SE hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200 with AGP 8x
Plextor Premium CD-R (52x)
Toshiba DVD-ROM

I've got it in a fairly tall Antec case with Antec power supply.

I guess my questions are what you would upgrade first, and what brands/products you would recommend.

I'm really just looking for a nice clean system that gets the job done without dropping an excessive amount of money on it. I'm not a huge gamer. As long as I'm able to play Age of Empires 3 when it comes out, I'll be happy. I do a fair amount of graphic design-type stuff in Photoshop, but that's about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
What type of Crucial memory do you already have: 1x512 or 2x256, and what speed? If your current ram is pc2700 or above 1x512mb, I'd just add another identical 512mb stick (also from Crucial - they're still great) for Photoshop.

You'll probably want to upgrade the cpu, mobo, hdd, and video card. For the cpu, I'd recommend an amd athlon 64 cpu (socket 754 can be had pretty cheap). Mobos I usually recommend Asus, MSI & DFI. Which model you get depends on whether you want the new video card to be agp or pci-e based. (Either way I recommend nvidia over ati.) I'd recommend agp if you're not a big gamer, but I have no idea what kind of requirements AoE 3 will have. In terms of hdds, I recommend WD & Seagate, but Hitachis and Samsungs seem to get good reviews as well.
 
I have two sticks of pc2100, so I figured that'd be a wash when I upgraded the mobo.

Thanks for the advice!

Any specific models on the motherboard or graphic card?
 
go for a Athlon XP-M cpu, add another 512mb atleast of ram, and perhaps look for a ATI 9800Pro video card, if your not satisfied with the performance of your current Ti4200.

your board should be able to get a nice OC on a mobile cpu, so you will be looking at a cpu in the range of 2000mhz maybe more depending on the chip you get, twice the ram and better video card.

2400XP-M $90.
2x512 Corsair Value ram $80.
ATI 9800 Pro $125.

this is for new stuff, you can prob find it for less used on the F/S forum.

a quick look in F/S.. I see 9800 pro for $95, XP-M 2400 for $60. and too much pc3200 to sift thru.

on a tight budget this is the way I would go.
 
Originally posted by: osage
go for a Athlon XP-M cpu, add another 512mb atleast of ram, and perhaps look for a ATI 9800Pro video card, if your not satisfied with the performance of your current Ti4200.

your board should be able to get a nice OC on a mobile cpu, so you will be looking at a cpu in the range of 2000mhz maybe more depending on the chip you get, twice the ram and better video card.

2400XP-M $90.
2x512 Corsair Value ram $80.
ATI 9800 Pro $125.

this is for new stuff, you can prob find it for less used on the F/S forum.

a quick look in F/S.. I see 9800 pro for $95, XP-M 2400 for $60. and too much pc3200 to sift thru.

on a tight budget this is the way I would go.
Click to expand...

Cool. What kind of motherboard would I need to go along with this? Or was this suggesting I keep my current one?
 
just depends on how much you want to spend.

your mobo will be fine with a XP-M.
you won't see any improvement with SATA, other than reduced cable size.

cpu and ram is where you will see the most performance gain.
 
if you are going to buy ram, get pc3200...you will want faster ram than 2100. you will want to run the XP-M on 166mhz at least if not 200mhz fsb.

noticable boost ?? yes I would think that a near doubleing of cpu speed and double the ram will make a diff that you can see and feel.

 
Is pc3200 compatible with my motherboard? Also, would I need to ditch my current memory and get all 3200?

Sorry, my ignorance is really showing here. It's been quite a while since I've done this.

Thanks again for all the help.
 
Ok, what would you say to these purchases?

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 - $80
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130493 - $75
processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486 - $146

I chose that particular motherboard due to the fact that it's the only nforce 4 board i could find that would most likely support my current AGP video card (due to its AGR slot). Of course, it would really suck to get the board installed only to find out my card wasn't compatible. Maybe I should just forget the nforce 4 thing and get a better board. Something like this, perhaps:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130457

Suggestions?
 
That is a great setup although you might want to consider getting a newer graphices card such as mabey an X700 Pro because with the mobo you have picked out it is PCI-Express x16 and a agp card wont work in that, if you don't know what I'm talking about it's the socket it fits into.
 
Originally posted by: dmbforums
Ok, what would you say to these purchases?

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 - $80
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130493 - $75
processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486 - $146

I chose that particular motherboard due to the fact that it's the only nforce 4 board i could find that would most likely support my current AGP video card (due to its AGR slot). Of course, it would really suck to get the board installed only to find out my card wasn't compatible. Maybe I should just forget the nforce 4 thing and get a better board. Something like this, perhaps:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130457

Suggestions?
Click to expand...


For only slightly more you could get a socket 939 and be dual core ready.

Memory - same

Motherboard - CHAINTECH VNF4 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $83.00

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $147.99
 
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Originally posted by: dmbforums
Ok, what would you say to these purchases?

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 - $80
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130493 - $75
processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486 - $146

I chose that particular motherboard due to the fact that it's the only nforce 4 board i could find that would most likely support my current AGP video card (due to its AGR slot). Of course, it would really suck to get the board installed only to find out my card wasn't compatible. Maybe I should just forget the nforce 4 thing and get a better board. Something like this, perhaps:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130457

Suggestions?
Click to expand...


For only slightly more you could get a socket 939 and be dual core ready.

Memory - same

Motherboard - CHAINTECH VNF4 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $83.00

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $147.99
Click to expand...


Yeah. I considered that, but then I'd be forced to upgrade my video card, which is something I'd like to do, but my money is running tight as it is.
 
Originally posted by: dmbforums
Yeah. I considered that, but then I'd be forced to upgrade my video card, which is something I'd like to do, but my money is running tight as it is.
Click to expand...

You could always swap the nforce 4 board with a socket 939 nforce 3 board with AGP if you want to keep your old card.
 
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Originally posted by: dmbforums
Yeah. I considered that, but then I'd be forced to upgrade my video card, which is something I'd like to do, but my money is running tight as it is.
Click to expand...

You could always swap the nforce 4 board with a socket 939 nforce 3 board with AGP if you want to keep your old card.
Click to expand...

Funny how I sometimes overlook the simplest solutions!

What do you guys think of this board?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123230

 
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