Upgrading from P4 1.4 critique please

[Prettyboy Floyd]

Ok, I finally have the time/money/interest all at the same time for a new gaming system.. I am trying to put something together that will last me at least 2-4 years. I am also able to do some overclocking, but nothing over the top. Price range is $800-1200ish

Upgrading from this bad boy:

Compaq Presario 7151WM
Features
Intel Pentium 4 processor 1.4 GHz
256 MB PC800 RDRAM upgradable to 1.0 GB
40.0 GB Ultra-DMA hard drive
16x DVD-ROM drive
8x CD-RW drive
10/100 Ethernet networking card
56K ITU V.90 modem
64 MB SDR Nvidia GeForce2 MX with TV-Out (S-Video Connection)
Soundblaster 128-voice PCI audio card
3 IEEE 1394 Firewire ports
Microsoft Works Productivity Suite
Windows ME installed
It currently has a FX5600 and WinXP home on it.

Yes, I can play WoW on it

Now here is my rough draft for a new system:

Case: Coolmaster Centurion 5 $61ish shipped
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0100RU PUREPOWER 500W $58.50 shipped
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R INTEL P35 $137 shipped
Ram: OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Edition $69.00 after $30 MIR, free shipping
Processor: Not sure.....E4300 or E6600 $117 and $222 shipped, respectively
Vid Card: EVGA 8800 GTS 320 $289 shipped
DVD: Not real sure here either, open to suggestions
Monitor: Sticking with my old 21" Optiquest V95 til I can afford a quality LCD the size of a billboard
Keyboard and mouse: Same as above, will use on new system for now
OS: Sticking with XP for a while

Will add xtras like a DVD burner and sound card later on. Down the road I would like to dual boot XP/Vista and have a Raptor for the operating systems and 1-2 HD for storage etc. Future-proof is also a plus, as is better performance for close to the same price. So how does this look?

PS: I have been lurking here for a long time, and I want to thank everyone for all the great reading I have gotten here over the years.

 

[Blain]

I'd either go for the E4300 now and OC, or wait a bit until after the C2D price cuts go through and buy a faster 1066 FSB CPU.

The E4300 is in a good spot right now...
1. Even after the price cuts, they won't change much
2. The lower FSB allows for more head room on OCing with sub-Premium components.
3. It's a huge bang for the OC buck.
4. It's cheap enough to give you time to see what new CPU shakes out as a bigger bang for the buck after the end of July.

Here's my E4300, P35 and Corsair DHX combo 🙂 It's still waiting for a case/PS home.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Prettyboy Floyd
Ok, I finally have the time/money/interest all at the same time for a new gaming system.. I am trying to put something together that will last me at least 2-4 years. I am also able to do some overclocking, but nothing over the top. Price range is $800-1200ish

Upgrading from this bad boy:

Compaq Presario 7151WM
Features
Intel Pentium 4 processor 1.4 GHz
256 MB PC800 RDRAM upgradable to 1.0 GB
40.0 GB Ultra-DMA hard drive
16x DVD-ROM drive
8x CD-RW drive
10/100 Ethernet networking card
56K ITU V.90 modem
64 MB SDR Nvidia GeForce2 MX with TV-Out (S-Video Connection)
Soundblaster 128-voice PCI audio card
3 IEEE 1394 Firewire ports
Microsoft Works Productivity Suite
Windows ME installed
It currently has a FX5600 and WinXP home on it.

Yes, I can play WoW on it

Now here is my rough draft for a new system:

Case: Coolmaster Centurion 5 $61ish shipped
Power Supply: THERMALTAKE W0100RU PUREPOWER 500W $58.50 shipped-- I wouldn`t touch a thermaltake pure power PSU...with the advent of the Tough Power PSU`s Thermaltake has finally gotten it right!!
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R INTEL P35 $137 shipped
Ram: OCZ OCZ2G8002GK 2GB Kit DDR2-800 PC2-6400 Gold Gamer eXtreme XTC Edition $69.00 after $30 MIR, free shipping
Processor: Not sure.....E4300 or E6600 $117 and $222 shipped, respectively
Vid Card: EVGA 8800 GTS 320 $289 shipped
DVD: Not real sure here either, open to suggestions
Monitor: Sticking with my old 21" Optiquest V95 til I can afford a quality LCD the size of a billboard
Keyboard and mouse: Same as above, will use on new system for now
OS: Sticking with XP for a while

Will add xtras like a DVD burner and sound card later on. Down the road I would like to dual boot XP/Vista and have a Raptor for the operating systems and 1-2 HD for storage etc. Future-proof is also a plus, as is better performance for close to the same price. So how does this look?

PS: I have been lurking here for a long time, and I want to thank everyone for all the great reading I have gotten here over the years.

 

[airhendrix13]

Looks pretty good, but a few things:

1) Be careful with OCZ, they've had compatibility issues in the past, but I'm pretty sure the p35 boards support them.

2) Like Blain said, e4300 would be the route to go.

3) DVD drives are one of the few things where brand makes little difference. But because I have used Lite-On in the past with success, I recommend something from them.

4) If you are patient, you can find 8800GTS 640MB cards for like $320, but if you mostly play WoW, then the 320MB should be fine.

Hope this helped,

airhendrix13

 

[Prettyboy Floyd]

Thanks for the insight guys. I have a hard time locating information such as mobo/ram brand issues on the internet.

Blain - Good points, pretty much what I was considering doing.

JediYoda - Switched to the Enermax 500w PSU. This should be enough for future vid card upgrades etc for now right?

airhendrix13 - Thanks for the OCZ tip. Maybe a brand such as Patriot would be better with that mobo? Kind of a bummer here... the 640 MB cards seem to be climbing back up in price, at least from what I saw last night on price engines and popular sites like Newegg

I am also considering going with a cheaper card that will handle most of today's games, since by the end of the year we should have some new cards to choose from. I really don't like buying a current gen video card for a fairly hefty price when in a few months a (hopefully) better card will be out.

 

[ric1287]

i would wait 2 (?) weeks until the price cuts on the C2D. Thats what i am waiting for, and will build a new system around the $250 Quad core goodness


mmmmmm 🙂

 

[Prettyboy Floyd]

I have been trying to hold off on some of the parts till the price drop but man, after all these years with my old system.... I can't wait to get this thing built 😛 I'll go ahead and order stuff I can find good deals on now, like my hard drive and such. Then it's the long, torturous wait until July 22.