Upgrading backbone of system

[edmundoab]

Hi All,

I have long been out of touch with the latest PC hardware for gaming

and I would like to replace my RAM, CPU, motherboard and VGA Card
Would still love to use an AMD based system paired with ATI card

Any suggestions to recommend? I plan to purchase in May

For reference,
My current system rig is as follows below:-


AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester Core 1.8 Ghz
CORSAIR 1GB (512 x 2) XMS TWINX DDR400
DFI Nforce 4 LanParty UT Ultra-D
OnBoard Sound Card - Karajan Audio
ATI X800XL 256MB PCI-E
CORSAIR Water Cooling for Socket 939 CPU
WD Raptor 74GB 8 mb cache (primary drive)
Maxtor 300GB 8 mb cache (seconday drive)
Both Drives with Fan Coolers
Sony 16X DVD ROM
Gigabyte 800W Modular PSU
Thermal Take Shark - Full Tower AL Case
Acer Speakers
Logitech Multimedia Keyboard
Logitech MX510 Mouse
Hyundai L90D+ 19 inch LCD monitor 8ms (DVI / Analog)
5 Case Fans

 

[Blain]

To give you the best advice possible, we need to know...
Your budget.

 

[edmundoab]

Sorry, I guess i completely forgot to put that in

I am looking at the total sum of no more than USD 1000,
Of course i am open to suggestions if the combo of items would equal slightly more than that

whatever deemed feasible, would be great advice.

Thanks!!

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: edmundoab
Hi All,

I have long been out of touch with the latest PC hardware for gaming

and I would like to replace my RAM, CPU, motherboard and VGA Card
Would still love to use an AMD based system paired with ATI card

Any suggestions to recommend? I plan to purchase in May

You've missed a lot.

Look at the AMD 790FX motherboards - here's a combo for $380: Asus M4A79 Deluxe & Phenom 940 Black Edition

The PhII 940BE is an AM2 processor and works with DDR2 memory. Next week a new AM3 model will arrive (the 955) which will work in both AM2 (DDR2) and AM3 (DDR3) motherboards (assuming it is like the current AM3 processors). If the PhII 955 is of interest to you pay close attention in the first few weeks of May as the introduction of the PhII 940 ignited a bit of a price war (its price was cut $40+ dollars in the first few weeks).

Testing seems to indicate that there is little performance gain in using DDR3 memory at this time, so ...

You may be better served with an AM2+ motherboard for that Phenom 955 such as the Gigabyte GA-MA790X and 2x2Gb of G.Skill DDR2 1066MHz memory.

In late summer AMD is scheduled to release a new Southbridge 800 for performance motherboards. By the end of the year you may find a nice present for yourself in a new DDR3 motherboard of the 'FX' variety with SB 800 (after the prices come down a bit - both for the memory and the motherboard). Your AM3 955 processor should slide right on over ...

What is your current gaming resolution and any future monitor plans?

 

[edmundoab]

At the moment, No monitor upgrade plans

I used to game at 1280 x 1024 a year or 2 ago
This is the same resolution I use for my desktop anyway

Seems like the AM2 is a good option for me right now, although I don't know if the combo you mention is available overseas

Nonetheless, will keep these models in mind
I suppose you wanted to know about resolution so that you could advice a suitable graphics card for me?

 

[krnmastersgt]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2090214&enterthread=y

That's a good way to start to get more people helping you, as opposed to people looking up something to find it's not available in other countries, etc.

 

[edmundoab]

I am in the south east asian region (malaysia) to be specific

As for overclocking purpose, I doubt I have the time for that now (to play with settings)
Running it at stock speeds or a safe overclock without needing much tweaking should be what I plan to do at the moment

As for the other criterias, to seek advice for PCs, I should have fulfilled??

 

[edmundoab]

bump, any other suggestions?

 

[heyheybooboo]

Could you link to any websites (preferably in english) where you may be purchasing your hardware? Folks can then look at the best price performance that may be available to you.

1280 x 1024 is not a demanding resolution in today's gaming world. If you have no future plans to upgrade to a higher resolution this should save you some money on a new video card(s).

 

[edmundoab]

Ahh, so its that why people have not been giving their inputs

Anyway, here is the link
the pricelist can be obtained in the links given

Price List of Items

although they are in Malaysian Ringgit,

The typical conversion rate is about USD $1 = MYR 3.6

 

[edmundoab]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Could you link to any websites (preferably in english) where you may be purchasing your hardware? Folks can then look at the best price performance that may be available to you.

1280 x 1024 is not a demanding resolution in today's gaming world. If you have no future plans to upgrade to a higher resolution this should save you some money on a new video card(s).

I don't know about the demands of new games
but if I get the new motherboard as recommended,
will my X800XL fit into its new PCI-E slot?

I just know that the recent Need 4 Speed will not allow me to run High resolutions smoothly,
details have to be set to Medium or Low to reduce risk of Lag
and in Tomb Raider, it will not allow me to run enhanced mode because the min. requirements is 512MB card memory

:-(, thats the reason for me to think about VGA card upgrade, otherwise, all in all, I am happy with my vid card

 

[edmundoab]

I think it will be alright not to follow the specs in Asia,

You guys could list what is available in the USA
and I will try to get something similiar to that
as long as I got the specs and the platform right

That gives me some options to consider and definately have an idea on how to setup this system while re-using the parts that I have

 

[fourdegrees11]

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 Motherboard
XFX 4890 video card
G.Skill Pi DDR3 1333 4gb kit x2
Phenom II 955 3.2ghz quad core (comes out this week)

 

[edmundoab]

Originally posted by: fourdegrees11
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 Motherboard
XFX 4890 video card
G.Skill Pi DDR3 1333 4gb kit x2
Phenom II 955 3.2ghz quad core (comes out this week)

These items add up to around USD 1000?
btw, if I am running a 4GB memory system, does it mean I have to upgrade to Vista?
I am currently still on Win XP Pro

 

[fourdegrees11]

Originally posted by: edmundoab

Originally posted by: fourdegrees11
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 Motherboard
XFX 4890 video card
G.Skill Pi DDR3 1333 4gb kit x2
Phenom II 955 3.2ghz quad core (comes out this week)

These items add up to around USD 1000?
btw, if I am running a 4GB memory system, does it mean I have to upgrade to Vista?
I am currently still on Win XP Pro

The cost would be around $800 USD. You can upgrade to Vista now for around $100 or wait for Win7 later in the year. If you don't think you'll need the extra ram just get 4 gig and save $60.