Upgrading...need some advice(yes another one of these threads lol)

[Giantsfan24]

This is my current system:
Abit NF7-S v2.0
AMD Athlon 3200+(Barton)
1024 pc3200 ram
G4 TI 4600 128mb
Barracuda 7200rmp 80gig HD

I upgraded to that in June of 2004.

I have been almost completely out of the loop in terms of harware since I built this system. I am a gamer. BUT I really don't need AA and AF all that much. Can someone recomend a good upgrade. I'm looking to stay around 500-700 bux(maybe more if it is really worth it. In all honesty, I plan on buying most if not all components here on the Anandtech for sale forums so that should cut some cost. Thanks in advance.
:roll:

 

[hans030390]

7800gtx? 2gb of ram? better cpu?

 

[Bonesdad]

going to use your existing case/PSU? what is your current PSU?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

For gaming the biggest deal is going to be the videocard.

What resolution display do you use?

If you do more than just the videocard, it's probably going to entail

CPU
Motherboard
PCI-e videocard
PSU

 

[Lasthitlarry]

That should cut it for you if you are a low-end gamer (WoW and below games). If you want to play games like BF 2 and above, I would recommend a 939 mobo, CPU, 7800 GT, 2 GB RAM, which should run you around 630 bucks.

I have about the same pc, and I am going to wait it out for a few more months, considering that it handles everything I want it to.

You could even slip by with a high end AGP video card if you wanted... I just don't see myself buying AGP

 

[duragezic]

Dude I built a quite similar system as you in July-ish of 2004. I too am looking to upgrade.

As Yoyo pointed out, the resolution you intend to play games at is the biggest determining factor. I require 1680x1050 for best results with my LCD, so I'm at the point where I wanna spend $600-700 to upgrade.


So I've researched a lot in the past month or two, and still haven't bought anything since I don't have money till now (just need another paycheck or two). Problem is, we missed out on the Opteron craze which was crazy overclocks for fairly cheap $$. They can still be found but at a very premium. So that changes the CPU a little bit.

So I recommend (and what I plan to get myself):

-Nforce 4 motherboard-I personally am going with the Epox 9NPA3 for $85. If you want SLI or other features, check out the more expensive Epox boards or ASUS or DFI boards (as well as many others like eVGA/Jetway, Gigabyte, and MSI, lotsa quality NF4 boards).
-Geforce 7800GT. Depending the brand its about $270
-Fortron 450w $55 If you feel the need for overkill PSU, go with a bigger Fortron, Seasonic, Sparkle, etc etc
-Athlon 64 Venice 3500+ $200. Here you can go up or down depending your budget. If you want dual core, get the X2 3800+ but I'm sticking to single core, an Opteron 144-148 still if I can find one.

And since you are only at 1GB ram, you may consider another 512mb or 1GB of RAM. I currently have 1.5GB so I'm set for a while. 1GB is still fine though, its up to you.

FInally if you need a hard drive, I'd buy new. If theres one thing I'd buy new it'd be this. I like Seagate for their 5 yr warranty. Anything 250GB-300GB is $100 or so.

 

[Lasthitlarry]

Originally posted by: duragezic
Dude I built a quite similar system as you in July-ish of 2004. I too am looking to upgrade.

As Yoyo pointed out, the resolution you intend to play games at is the biggest determining factor. I require 1680x1050 for best results with my LCD, so I'm at the point where I wanna spend $600-700 to upgrade.


So I've researched a lot in the past month or two, and still haven't bought anything since I don't have money till now (just need another paycheck or two). Problem is, we missed out on the Opteron craze which was crazy overclocks for fairly cheap $$. They can still be found but at a very premium. So that changes the CPU a little bit.

So I recommend (and what I plan to get myself):

-Nforce 4 motherboard-I personally am going with the Epox 9NPA3 for $85. If you want SLI or other features, check out the more expensive Epox boards or ASUS or DFI boards (as well as many others like eVGA/Jetway, Gigabyte, and MSI, lotsa quality NF4 boards).
-Geforce 7800GT. Depending the brand its about $270
-Fortron 450w $55 If you feel the need for overkill PSU, go with a bigger Fortron, Seasonic, Sparkle, etc etc
-Athlon 64 Venice 3500+ $200. Here you can go up or down depending your budget. If you want dual core, get the X2 3800+ but I'm sticking to single core, an Opteron 144-148 still if I can find one.

And since you are only at 1GB ram, you may consider another 512mb or 1GB of RAM. I currently have 1.5GB so I'm set for a while. 1GB is still fine though, its up to you.

FInally if you need a hard drive, I'd buy new. If theres one thing I'd buy new it'd be this. I like Seagate for their 5 yr warranty. Anything 250GB-300GB is $100 or so.

What he said, but also I would recommend the 3200+ or the dual core 3800+, CPU doesn't matter as much, and I would lean towards lower end until dual core is more established.

Also, how is your RAM now? 2x512 or 1GB?
I do not recommend 1.5GB, you will want to use dual channel if you can for better performance. If you have 2x512, get another 2x512 or 1xGB, I believe AMD boards allow 2x512 on one channel and 1x1GB on the other, correct me if im wrong. And if you already have 1GB stick then just get another.

More than a gig isn't that important unless you play games like BF2, or want better performance out of games like WoW. Tho it certainly is cheap, and many ppl upgrade.

Oh, and the 250GB Seagates are generally a better bet for price/failure rate(ive heard stories about the 300GB models)

 

[duragezic]

Actually I kinda agree larry, I too would get the 3200+ and overclock as much as it would go, but the OP didn't mention any overclocking so I'd possibly go with a higher stock CPU. And yeah dual core may or may not good depending his needs. Personally I so rarely use different programs at the same time I don't see a need. Hell I finally got a CDR with buffer underrun protection. I had a buffer underrun just once, that was quite a few months ago, and that's been many many years since I've had that Plextor 8x (at least 6, been through 3+ different computers). Today I was backing up Steam files (about to format), downloading a torrent, playing music, copying some files, as well as browsing multiple webpages. Today was one of the first where I had such a large number going. Still, it only slowed down a lot with heavy I/O, so I think it wasn't really CPU being bottlenecked, more likely hard drives. SCSI or the 150GB Raptor would prolly feel very snappy, but damn are they expensive.

edit: Also, why would 3x512mb not be dual channel. I just checked out my Shuttle manual, and for dual channel/128-bit it includes DIMMS 1&2&3 as an option for it. I'm using 2 identical sticks of 2x512mb RAM and 1x512mb OCZ value. All are PC3200. I don't have anything to check AFAIK but I'm pretty sure its dual channel. I had something that checked and it said it was. Maybe the BIOS had it, I can't remember.

 

[JMoore]

Dual channel only runs with 2 and 4 sticks.

Edit: guess it depends on the mobo.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: JMoore
Dual channel only runs with 2 and 4 sticks.

I've built A64 based computers where I had three slots populated and the motherboard recognized it as dual channel.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Thanks for all the replies guys. WoW runs fine on my machine so I guess I would be in the BF2 crowd.

OK, would a dual core make a big difference in games or just running multiple programs? The case will stay the same but I'll prolly have to get a new PSU(for the new vid card).

As far as RAM goes, it is 2x512. Oh yeah, resolution is not a huge deal either as i play at 1024. I dont need to upgrade monitor, speakers or case. Sound is not a big thing as the onboard sound cards seam to be just fine for games.

As far as a 939 MOBO goes, any recomendations(thanks duragezic for yours)?

The part that confuses me the most(since ive been out of the loop for a while) is the single core vs dual core and all the different AMD processors(FX and FX-52 and 939)

As i tend to upgrade every 1 1/2 to 2 years, i need this cpu to last that long. Thanks guys.

 

[Rumple]

Im in the process of upgrading right now too. And i will be using mine for the same things. I dont OC or anything really i prefer just to keep it stock. I will be using the same case, hard drive, ram, and sound card i already have from my current rig. After MUCH research this is what i think i will be buying next week:

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra

AMD Athlon 64 3700+

eVGA Geforce 7800GT

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500

SAMSUNG 940b

I will finally bite the bullet and purchase an LCD. I have read so many rave reviews about this monitor i cant not get it.

PSU i just wanted something with dual 12v rails and was relatively inexpensive. Graphics card is a no brainer. Most of the reviews i have read have this one at the top of the 7800GT pile.

CPU from my understanding of the articles i have read wont matter so much in gaming. Most say to just go with a 3200+ and OC it. I would prefer not to OC my stuff so that is why im going with a 3700+. Besides it is only $40 more so why not.

The motherboard was my hardest decision. The top seems to be the DFI board with the Epox coming in 2nd. I will save the 40 bucks and go with the Epox since the DFI seems to be the favorite mostly for its OCing capabilites. The MSI board was my 3rd choice. The other dilemma i am having though is that you can buy the Evga 7800GT right now and get an Evga SLI board for free. (well sort of free they charge you $359 for that card). But from the reviews ive read that board is kind of junk. So i may just spend the extra cash and get the Epox board.

I already have 2gb (2 1gb sticks) of Corsair Value Select DDR400 Ram which will suit my purposes for now. I would ideally like to upgrade to some XMS dual channel but thats just not in the budget (so the wife says) right now.

I have an Audigy 2 ZS sound card paired with some Zalman Theater 6's and they sound wonderful. No need to mess with a good thing. And i use an 80gb WD sata HD. I dont download anything and all i really ever have on my PC is the current few games i may be playing. I normally reformat and reinstall windows every 6months or so. No need for these monster 200+ gb drives for me.

Well that is what i have decided on thanks to much research. A lot has come from this site as well as toms hardware and a few others. I feel pretty good about all of these choices and i hope this may help you decide.

 

[Giantsfan24]

I, like you Rumple, don't OC.

The motherboard is usually the hardest to decide because it is so hard to pinpoint its independent capabilities.
What exactly makes one mother board better than another?

What made you decide on the epox over the MSI?

Also, do you think I should just by pass the 6XXX series and move to the 7XXX series?

 

[Rumple]

I chose the epox because it is only a few bucks more than the MSI and there is the capability there to OC if i decide i want to sometime in the future. And there is no way in hell i would buy a 6000 series now. That is old tech as far as im concerned. I had never really heard about Epox as i only research PC parts when im about to upgrade. Which is about every other year. MSI is what i used in my last 2 pcs and i had good luck with them. After reading peoples reviews on the N4 Ultra mobo's it came down to really the choice of DFI vs Epox. The MSI was a distant 3rd in my mind. The DFI being 30 bucks more and for the serious overclocker i was only left with the Epox as my choice.

 

[Myrandex]

It won't be dual channel because you have different amounts in each channel. If you had 2x256MB in the two slots, and then a single 512MB in the other single slot, that would give you dual channel, but 3x512MB won't be dual channel.

 

[duragezic]

^^^ Depends on the mobo. I'm running 3x512mb in dual channel (I checked to confirm). Plus, 2x256mb in two then 1x512mb won't give you dual channel with any mobo I thought, since as you said they are different sizes.

 

[Giantsfan24]

OK, I've decided on the board(thanks rumple), EPOX, and the gpu(might as well bite the bullet and buy a gpu that will last awhile instead of one that i'll want to upgrade in a year) Nvidia 7800.

The only thing i am torn on is the cpu. I see all the different types of AMD 64- Venice, San Diego, Winchester and quite frankly, I'm a little confused. Also, I 've heard about the X2 and its seams they are a tad out of my price range which is fine. Also, depending on how difficult it is to OC an AMD 64, I would be open to it to save a few bux.

PSU i will be upgrading since this new rig will need more power. If any one needs any of the parts i listed in the original post, let me know.

Is pc 3200 still fine? I might add another gig if necessary but it sounds as though 1 gig should be fine.

Thanks Guys

 

[Giantsfan24]

any help?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

pc3200 is still fine.

1 gig will work just fine, no need to upgrade right away as it's very easy to add ram later (as opposed to trying to spend that money on a faster videocard later on when you already have one).

Venice vs San Diego vs Winchester isn't a big deal.

San Diego or Venice are what you want to get for the different speeds.

There are also the 939 Opterons that you can get. These aren't as good a deal as they used to be, but still a good option.

What's your CPU budget now?

 

[Rumple]

A 3200+ Venice can be overclocked pretty good. 90% of the games out there are not bottlenecked by the cpu as long as you get at least an amd64 3000+ or equivilent CPU.

Read here : CPU Test 1

and here : CPU Test 2

Pretty good info on helping you choose a new CPU. It convinced me to just go with the 3200 instead of spending an extra $70 on a 3700. That money was better spent upgrading other parts.

Check my new sig for all the parts i ordered. I have done nothing but read review after review and forum after forum trying to decide what to buy. There is nothing i hate more than buying something and they reading a review 2 days after i ordered and regretting what i bought.

The enermax liberty series seems like a good bang for you buck on PSUs if you want modular cables. I dont have a lot of things in my pc so i want to reduce the wire clutter and that is why i went modular. I went back and forth on 400w or 500w but ultimately decided to go bigger for future upgrades sake. Not a big difference in price since the 500w has a 15 rebate on it right now. Was only a 9 dollar upgrade to get 100 more watts.

PC 3200 is good enough for anything. If you go AMD that is all you need right now. 2gigs isnt really necessary but if you play games like FEAR or BF2 i would upgrade to 2gigs. I noticed a nice increse in playability in BF2 when i upgraded from 1 to 2 gigs.

 

[i1o0i]

I'll suggest you to upgrade the video card and RAM. For video card, I'll recommend you to get x800xt. Link For RAM, I think you might need 1x1gb because that motherboard support up to 3gb ram so I dont know if it possible to have 2x512 and 1x1GB in 3 slots of RAM. I think someone will explain more about that issue.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Its funny that I play games that are more cpu dependent(such as IL-2) so the jump from Athlon XP to Athlon 64 should make quite a difference.

Also, with the board you recomended, I can OC the 3200. nd with a 7800 it should do pretty darn well.

What is the difference between these two?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103602

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

The is a 20 dollar price difference for nothing it seams or maybe im missing something.

 

[TheNewGuy8]

Rumple - I haven't heard of that Enermax Liberty - where did you buy it from? I'm looking to do basically the same upgrade as everyone else around here now, and will need a new, larger, stable PSU. I love the idea of modular designs for reduced clutter.

anyone else have thoughts on that PSU?

 

[Bobthelost]

It got a good writeup at silentpcreview, which is one of the better sites for PSU testing. They care more about noise levels than they do about voltage regulation, but always reliable for thorough writeups.

I doubt you need a larger PSU though, look at the FX-60 review, it could be run using a 300W PSU.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Anyone know the difference between the two cpu's i listed?