What to upgrade next?

[Genesis15]

Well, I'm looking to build a PC that will run Vista and not get too clobbered by PC games of todays times... The thing is my birthday is coming up, I'm jobless/car-less and worst of all I'm 17, yes I know laugh...

XFX 6600GT 8X AGP 128/128
Intel Celeron 2.20 Northwood 478skt
1GB DDR333 Corsair
80GB Western Digital
19" Widescreen Samsung LCD
300w antec tp-2
Windows XP performance edition
asus p4sdx motherboard.

I was pretty sure I'd receive around $200 for my B-DAY, $300 if I'm really luck, but $200 is my range.

I want to upgrade to this:

XFX 6600GT 8X AGP
MSI K8T800 8X/AM2/DDR2
X2 4200+ AM2 64 Athlon
Windows XP Vista Home Edition
1GB (512x2) OCZ 667 DDR2
300w Antec TP-2
80GB Western Digital

I estimated the RAM, CPU, MOBO upgrade to around $210 perfect for my range... If I get 300 I'll probably throw another gig of RAM in and up it to DDR2-800 and then up to a C2D (lower end) and grab a 350w Antec.

In any case, will this be compatible? will my PSU handle this upgrade? and can anyone suggest anything better?

 

[zig3695]

i probably wouldnt buy 512mb sticks, just get one 1gb stick for now then when you get another you can run it in dual channel then.

the psu is pretty boarderline. i would try it though, i think it will work just fine. surely though, once you upgrade your video card you will need to get a stronger power supply.

get vista home premium- definitely. OEM discs are great deals, i have 3 now.

want to sell that 1gb ddr333 corsair stick to me?

 

[Genesis15]

well I was going to do the big P on the lower end vista, the premium i allready have...

i figured that aboutt he psu and 1gb stick thanks.

 

[geecee]

I realize you want to keep your existing graphics card as that is a big expense, but getting an AGP based motherboard is kind of a dead end. Get a PCI-E mb and try to ebay or FS/FT your 6600GT and get a PCI-E based card instead instead. Or get a 6100 based mb and live with the onboard graphics until you have enough to pick up a new vidcard. You might even consider dropping down to the 3800+ and saving the $15-20 and spending on memory or the new vidcard. Your PS is very borderline for any kind of a dual core system. Newegg has this CoolerMaster 430W PS for $19.99AR. Maybe that's where your processor savings can go as well. And you can always try to sell the 300W PS to recoup a little (I'm not sure how much you'll get for it). Getting the 1GB stick instead of the 2X512 is also good advice.

EDIT: Obviously, if you can get anything for the existing parts that you plan to replace (cpu, mb, memory, etc) you will have some extra flexibility.

 

[Genesis15]

No offense, I know you're trying to help... but your a moron man, how could you recommend me up my graphics when my RAM/CPU and GPU all need upgrading far before that... and my motherboard. How is buying a AGP motherboard a dead-end? I could upgrade in the future just as easily, and there are agp/pci-e motherboards outt here. I would never ebay a PC part, that's just complete foolishness. and I wouldnt use integrated or downsize my card to a 6100... my video card is enough and no point to down my CPU the MORE expensive part. and coolermaster is a complete joke!

Sorry man, you shouldn't be giving info. and I allready said I'm getting the PSU/1gb thing.

 

[TheStu]

geecee's advise was fair, you are just reticent to listen to it. I think in regard to his advise, it requires a little bit more money... the likelihood of someone wanting the 2.2GHz Celery and the old motherboard is fairly low, so I would say that you are better off going with your current plan.

Something that you will want to keep in mind is that Vista will run on 1GB, it runs jsut fine on my MacBook, but if you are gaming on it, I would recommend that you get 2GB if you can, if not right now then as soon as you possibly can.

 

[erikistired]

why is this in sff/notebooks?

 

[geecee]

Originally posted by: Genesis15
No offense, I know you're trying to help... but your a moron man, how could you recommend me up my graphics when my RAM/CPU and GPU all need upgrading far before that... and my motherboard. How is buying a AGP motherboard a dead-end? I could upgrade in the future just as easily, and there are agp/pci-e motherboards outt here. I would never ebay a PC part, that's just complete foolishness. and I wouldnt use integrated or downsize my card to a 6100... my video card is enough and no point to down my CPU the MORE expensive part. and coolermaster is a complete joke!

Sorry man, you shouldn't be giving info. and I allready said I'm getting the PSU/1gb thing.

Hmm. You're calling me a moron because I gave you some advice that you didn't read very carefully and didn't agree with. Since you're 17, I'll overlook it and chalk it up to inexperience dealing with other (rational) people.

To answer you about what actually matters, if you actually read what I posted, I didn't recommend that you upgrade your graphics card first, I recommended that you buy a pci-e motherboard and live with what you could get in the graphics dept. until you had more money (or sold some of your older parts to hurry that process along). I did not, anywhere, disagree with your plan to update your cpu/ram first. AGP motherboards are dead-ends because most companies have reduced their agp board production to a trickle and don't even offer the highest end gpus in an AGP flavor. Also, the relatively up to date AGP cards that are out there are considerably more expensive than their PCI-E counterparts. You are right in saying that there are boards with AGP & PCI-E. If you can find a good one, that probably is the best solution. Most of those boards you have to be careful with though, because usually either the AGP or the PCI-E slots are not running at full speed, which will slow your graphics performance.

I also recommended that you consider slightly downgrading the CPU you were considering (4200+) to save $20-30 that you could use to up your PS, memory or video card. A 3600+ or a 3800+ would save you money and if you OC at all, the difference would likely not be very great between those and the 4200+.

The Coolermaster PSU I recommended to you was solely because of your budget and fit in nicely with the savings from the CPU downgrade. If you had more money, I would have recommended something better obviously. Your current Antec 300W PSU, though high quality, is a little sketchy for what you want to do. And FYI, Coolermaster power supplies are manufactured by several OEMs, most of whom are excellent. This one in particular, is manufactured by HiPro, who used to make pretty good PSUs (admittedly, I don't know if they still do).

Lastly, you might be surprised at what people are looking for in used/old parts. I'm not saying you'll make a fortune on your old parts, but it doesn't hurt to see what people will pay/trade you for components that would otherwise end up in a box in your basement. It can only help you improve your current system. If you're too lazy or mistrustful to pursue this course of action, that's your choice. Calling it foolishness is your opinion, as the FS/FT forums here are quite successful (as is Ebay).

While I take little or no offense to your post (as I don't really care about your opinion one way or the other), I would suggest that in the future you more carefully consider your words so that you might not offend someone more sensitive than I.

 

[Genesis15]

You're right I was having an off day, but I'm almost 18 so I can;t be treated as a child forever... as far as my upgrades go, I just think I'm fine with my 6600Gt i only paly source etc.

 

[Genesis15]

As far as Vista I'll me multibooting, demanding stuff will stay on XP, Vista will just run minimal games/programs, I just like the OS for some reason.

 

[TheStu]

Do you like the whole OS, or just the look of the OS (like a buddy of mine) if you just like the look, then you can get a Vista Transformation Pack that will modify huge swaths of XP to make it look and act like Vista.