upgrade advice for friend

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ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
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If your friend upgrades like this, $300 at a time, he will be still using socket 939 later anyway, since it will be the budget platform when new sockets actually arrive.

So my suggestion is 2GB CAS2 DDR400 and a AGP X700. His next upgrade then could be a Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 and Athlon 64. That board has AGP and PCIe so he can keep the X700 AGP until he can afford to upgrade to a nice PCI-e card.
 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
1,428
0
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you guys dont like the one i suggest? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817162005 Anyways back on topic psu for sure but he wants to order all at once so i need to figure out. He doesnt really know the computer market so i doubt he will save even more for s939, so bottom line is we have $350 to work with. Im still confused about the ram guys i really need help on what kind to get? i can try to find out his mobo maker.

Also what video card would you recommend? Im thinking between the x800 gto(agp version) or the 6800gs, right now im leaning more to the gto because its built on the R420 core which is the same as its pci-e counterpart=crazy OC which many people have proved already. The GS supposively performs like a 6800gt however the agp version is downclocked making it even slower.....but i dunno if overclocked.
 
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stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: Nextman916
you guys dont like the one i suggest? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817162005 Anyways back on topic psu for sure but he wants to order all at once so i need to figure out. He doesnt really know the computer market so i doubt he will save even more for s939, so bottom line is we have $350 to work with. Im still confused about the ram guys i really need help on what kind to get? i can try to find out his mobo maker.

Also what video card would you recommend? Im thinking between the x800 gto(agp version) or the 6800gs, right now im leaning more to the gto because its built on the R420 core which is the same as its pci-e counterpart=crazy OC which many people have proved already. The GS supposively performs like a 6800gt however the agp version is downclocked making it even slower.....but i dunno if overclocked.
Click to expand...

That PSU is a generic POS, I would not trust any system with it. The Fortron that ribbon recomended is the best bang for the buck, it's a quality, solid, inexepnsive PSU, I have one myself, and it will be good for future upgrades as well. For the ram, get PC3200. It's backwards compatible, it will work even if his board can't run it at full speed, and it can be used again later with a future upgrade. Either of those video cards will be a nice improvement.
 
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mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
8,877
1
81
well, get some pc3200 ram, and hitting 400mhz will be no problem, otherwise the pc2100 ram will not run at 400mhz. the cpu should be fine for 400mhz or almost 400mhz at least. You can run a divider on the pc2100 ram, but amdxps are infamous when running async espically with that much of a diffence.
 
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mamba88

Junior Member
Jan 2, 2006
7
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To go back to the first part of the thread, why do you say:

tell him to save his money for 3 months then buy into a new platform. if he goes s939 now he'll be stuck with a dead platform and have to buy a new power supply.
Click to expand...

I know that there are new xockets coming out (M2 I think), but wont 939 be around for a while?
 
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stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: Nextman916
Okay ive found out what mobo he has here- http://www.qualitron.com/qualitron/details.asp?item=BI04M7VIZ-V7
Now i need to know if its possible to overclock a athlon xp running at 333mhz with pc2100 ram to 1.99ghz? If thats possible then pc2100 is indeed what he has.
Click to expand...

The board is capable of 333mhz FSB, and can use a divider to run the mem at PC2100 speeds, so yes it's possible. It can also run DDR333 PC2700. You could put in some PC3200 and run it at PC2700.
 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
1,428
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by taking his 256mb of pc2100 ram and replacing with with a gig of pc3200 which would run at ddr333, would he lost his OC? I dont really want to overclock it like i already said because im not sure how and fear instability issues, i would if it was my own. Would a gig of pc2700 be a big bottleneck to the x800 gto agp i plan on getting him and overclocking? Howabout a stock 2400+ athlon xp?
 
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EagleEye

Senior member
Nov 5, 2005
982
0
0
How about this:

Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 BIOSTAR GEFORCE 6100-M7 Socket 754 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: GEFORCE 6100-M7
Item #: N82E16813138266
Remove item from Cart Remove Save Save Move To Wish List
$59.99 $59.99
Memory - System
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 G.SKILL Value 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model F1-3200PHU1-1GBNT - Retail
Model #: F1-3200PHU1-1GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231036
Remove item from Cart Remove Save Save Move To Wish List
$71.00 $71.00
Processors
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model SDA2800BXBOX - Retail
Model #: SDA2800BXBOX
Item #: N82E16819104245
Remove item from Cart Remove Save Save Move To Wish List
$75.50 $75.50
Subtotal: $206.49
Shipping
Zip Code:
*Enter your Zip Code and select a shipping option to determine your shipping cost. Shipping: $0.00
Redeem Gift Certificates
Claim Code:
Security Code:
Gift Certificates: $0.00
Apply Promo Code
Promo Code:
Total(before tax): $206.49

Then either add a gfx card for under $100, or have him save up another 100 (shouldn't be too hard, 4 or 5 baby sitting jobs?, mow grass, ect. ect.) and he could get a 6800gs or a used 6800gt from the forums.

EDIT: Forgot to add that you can overclock the hell out of that cpu
 
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mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
8,877
1
81
hey I just checked it out, amd xp 2400+ are 2ghz 266mhz fsb, there is nothing wrong with it. It's not overclocked. Now, if you are iffy with the oc thing, you can up the system bus from 133mhz to 200mhz and then decrease the multiploer to 10x. If your board dosent allow that, at least do 166mhz and 12x multiplier. both of those get you 2000mhz and 1992 mhz respectively while letting the pc 3200 memory you buy not go to waste. hell, 166mhz and 13x should work well stably too(2.164ghz).
 
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Dragoon42

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2000
2,078
0
0
i have a feeling that the ram is going to bottleneck a lot of things. I seriously doubt that the new graphics card will perform at their best with pc2100 ram.
 
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Bonesdad

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 2002
2,213
0
76
Originally posted by: mamba88
To go back to the first part of the thread, why do you say:

tell him to save his money for 3 months then buy into a new platform. if he goes s939 now he'll be stuck with a dead platform and have to buy a new power supply.
Click to expand...

I know that there are new xockets coming out (M2 I think), but wont 939 be around for a while?
Click to expand...



YES, s939 will be around for a while.
 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
1,428
0
0
Okay he was just over and he wanted to know if i had an idea of what parts he needed yet.....and i was like ummm ill get back to you. He was hesitant to spend $350 so i know he wont spend anymore than that. So my final decision has to be made now with a full upgrade not some partial and save up more later type of thing. I need to get him a new psu for sure that is suficient for his needs, and should i just go with a gig of pc3200 ram which would run at ddr333?, and video card is x800 gto in agp flavor. Then hell be able to play cs:source, hl2, and cod 2 right? all games at 1024x768 so even cod might not be that much of a problem with low aa and medium settings. Does this sound like and good recommendation for what his needs are and my money i have to work with? im about to tell him soon.
 
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Rockhound1

Senior member
Dec 31, 2003
592
0
0
Go with the PC3200. It is the same price as PC2700 and will allow overclocking if he decides to in the future. Both of the memory that you have linked to have lifetime warranties, so go with either. Patriot has better name recognition.
 
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Rockhound1

Senior member
Dec 31, 2003
592
0
0
Originally posted by: Nextman916
Okay he was just over and he wanted to know if i had an idea of what parts he needed yet.....and i was like ummm ill get back to you. He was hesitant to spend $350 so i know he wont spend anymore than that. So my final decision has to be made now with a full upgrade not some partial and save up more later type of thing. I need to get him a new psu for sure that is suficient for his needs, and should i just go with a gig of pc3200 ram which would run at ddr333?, and video card is x800 gto in agp flavor. Then hell be able to play cs:source, hl2, and cod 2 right? all games at 1024x768 so even cod might not be that much of a problem with low aa and medium settings. Does this sound like and good recommendation for what his needs are and my money i have to work with? im about to tell him soon.
Click to expand...

With a new PSU, 1 GB of PC3200 RAM, and an X800 GTO, he should be able to play cs:source, hl2, and cod2. If the $$ is greater than $350, then downgrade the graphics card to a 6600GT.

 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
1,428
0
0
K ram and vid card taken care of now down to psu. Ive been recommended 2 already however i dont think he needs dual 12v rails for his system and would rather get him a nice one for around $35-$45. Just wondering how many amps on the 12v should be needed around 20a? the only thing i plan on overclocking is the video card which wont really take alot. Also would you guys recommend me goin with a less well known company or one with less amps but a big name manufacturer, reason i ask is ive heard of many people running high end systems on low wattage psu's because they are of higher quality and flunctuate. However bigger name brands in my price range only pump about 18a on the 12v rail, but dont worry when i say less well known brand, trust me i can tell if its a generic POS so......

here are ones that caught my eye:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101106
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101513

coolmax and the ePOWER are probably better but i just maybe wanted him to save some money and posted the other just in case i could get away with that.
 
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mwmorph

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2004
8,877
1
81
Originally posted by: Nextman916
K ram and vid card taken care of now down to psu. Ive been recommended 2 already however i dont think he needs dual 12v rails for his system and would rather get him a nice one for around $35-$45. Just wondering how many amps on the 12v should be needed around 20a? the only thing i plan on overclocking is the video card which wont really take alot. Also would you guys recommend me goin with a less well known company or one with less amps but a big name manufacturer, reason i ask is ive heard of many people running high end systems on low wattage psu's because they are of higher quality and flunctuate. However bigger name brands in my price range only pump about 18a on the 12v rail, but dont worry when i say less well known brand, trust me i can tell if its a generic POS so......

here are ones that caught my eye:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101106
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101513

coolmax and the ePOWER are probably better but i just maybe wanted him to save some money and posted the other just in case i could get away with that.
Click to expand...


heatspreaders do nothing. it's worthless and corsair value select is a better choice because it's truly name brand and realyl has few if any combatibility issues.

as for psu, ribbon recommended a solid 36A +12 name brand for $49.99 and that's much better than the generic. PSUs should never be generic, otherwise your system stability will suffer.
 
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Nextman916

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2005
1,428
0
0
Originally posted by: mwmorph
hey I just checked it out, amd xp 2400+ are 2ghz 266mhz fsb, there is nothing wrong with it. It's not overclocked. Now, if you are iffy with the oc thing, you can up the system bus from 133mhz to 200mhz and then decrease the multiploer to 10x. If your board dosent allow that, at least do 166mhz and 12x multiplier. both of those get you 2000mhz and 1992 mhz respectively while letting the pc 3200 memory you buy not go to waste. hell, 166mhz and 13x should work well stably too(2.164ghz).
Click to expand...

Well reason i want him to get patriot or a-data is if i do decide to overclock like you suggested later on when his cpu is no longer efficient. Or since its pc3200 that i will be buying he would be future proof with overclockable ram with maybe a s939 cpu, who knows, i know corsair value is good stuff however its part of there value series and they dont overclock worth crud. I know it may not be the heatspreaders on the others that achieve a higher overclock, but the ram itself they use is better, which usually can be told if lots of reviewers have had experiences overclocking. Like the a-data for example has many people say it ran great when overclocked.

As for the psu 36a and the 12v seems like overkill, looks like it would be fit for a system way beyond the caliber of this one. And isnt coolmax a name brand? Well if none of those are really good then i might go with this xclio- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189003 which was recommended to me a long time ago when building a new system. Or maybe thie 400watt fortron and save 10 bucks? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104953
 
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Bonesdad

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 2002
2,213
0
76
if coolmax is a namebrand, it's a bad name brand from personal experience. Don't know about xclio...Fortron has always been inexpensive, solid and quiet in my builds. There is a 450W version of that Fortron for $49.99, if it's worth it to you.
 
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