Upgrade Help for M2N-SLI Deluxe MB

[ToySoldier]

Built my nephew this system a few years ago. What are some practical upgrades to juice it up? I dont keep up with PC Hardware anymore. He's going off to college in Fall of 2012. I have no prob using eBay to get used parts.


AMD 6000+ 64x2
M2N-SLI Deluxe rev A2
2GB Ram (1gb x2) PC2-5300 (333mhz)
1GB Gigabyte Radeon HD 4850 GV-R485OC-1GH
WD VelociRaptor 300 GB hard drive 10k rpm
Windows 7 (64bit)

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for:

*** Gaming at medium eye candy + Auto-cad

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread:

*** $350

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from:

*** USA / eBay

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc:

*** No brand preference.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are:

*** I'd like to keep MB.. HD... RAM / Video card can be discarded for something more powerful.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads:

*** No

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds:

*** Overclocking would be considered.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with:

*** 1600 x 1200 default rez for monitor

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

*** In 2 weeks. Christmas upgrade present.

 

[Ken g6]

That is, overall, a very old system. The hard drive is fine, but the mobo is old; it appears that it can take Phenom II's, but the RAM is also old.

The GPU is actually almost decent, perhaps the equivalent of a 6750. In any case, if you want to get him a GPU, I'd give him a promissory card, or gift card or something, for the 7000 series coming early next year.

So here are your choices now:
1. Get a Phenom II, flash the BIOS, plug it in, and live with the slow, small RAM.
2. Get a cheap new mobo, cheap RAM, and balance the prices of the various socket 1155 processors against GPU prices. Hopefully your Win7 license is transferable; but if not, you still have over $150 left to balance between GPU and processor.

 

[mfenn]

Here's what I would do:

Athlon II X3 455 $80
Mushkin DDR2 800 4GB $44
6870 $140 AR
Total: $264

That's a pretty significant upgrade for $264. I wouldn't go higher than that without talking about getting a new 1155 mobo, CPU, and RAM.

 

[ToySoldier]

Thanks. I like the advice. I think I'll upgrade him to 8GB DDR2 800 (Mushkin)... some of his Engineering programs like Autocad will utilize that much ram... I think. Upgrade to the x3 455... sell his old 6000+ on Ebay.

Then upgrade his GPU to the "7000" series next summer just before he goes to school.

Will the 7000 series be too strong for this build or simply push it to the max?

 

[mfenn]

Do you mean upgrade from the 4850 to a 7000, skipping the 6870? Upgrading GPUs every 6 months usually isn't worth the money. 12-18 months is where the sweet spot usually is.

 

[ToySoldier]

Yes upgrade his current vid to the 7000 next summer.

 

[mfenn]

:thumbsup: Sounds like a plan!

 

[ToySoldier]

Here's what I would do:

Athlon II X3 455 $80
Mushkin DDR2 800 4GB $44
6870 $140 AR
Total: $264

That's a pretty significant upgrade for $264. I wouldn't go higher than that without talking about getting a new 1155 mobo, CPU, and RAM.

I havent got around to upgrading his CPU or Vid but I did upgrade him to 8GB DDR2 PC2-6400.

I just read this interesting article on Maximum PC:

Demand for Phenom X3 CPUs Rises After User Reports Unlocking Fourth Core
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/ne...ises_after_user_reports_unlocking_fourth_core

There has been some renewed excitement over AMD's triple-core Phenom X3 processors after at least one user claims to have been able to unlock the fourth core. The post appeared on Korean website Playwares.com backed by what appear to be legitimately looking screenshots. Using a Bisotar TA790GX motherboard, all it supposedly took was changing the "Advanced Clock Calibration" in the BIOS to 'Auto,' which reportedly unlocks the disabled core.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, core unlocking has been around for a while (several years). I'm not sure if you're current mobo supports it though.