What would you do....

[CLohre]

Okay I have a little decision to make. I am going to have $750 to play with in a couple of weeks and I want to upgrade my computer somewhat. I am going to give my specs, what would you do to this system with $750?

Specs:

Cpu - AMD 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo - MSI K8N Neo2-F (MS-7025) Skt 939

RAM - 1GB Kingston ValueRAM (2x512) Dual Channel at 1T

Audio - Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

GPU - PNY 6800 GT 256Mb AGP

PSU - Antec 350Watt

Case - Antc Quiet Cooler w/x2 120mm fans

Monitor - Proview 777 Flat 17" CRT

HD's - WD 80GB, WD 40GB

CD/DVD - Generic 52x24x52 Burner, Lite-On DVD Drive

There's my system what would you guys do if you had $750. I can't decide on wether to get a really fast CPU, or get a new GPU and Mobo. Any suggestions on anything would be appreciated.

 

[bladefd]

Originally posted by: CLohre
Okay I have a little decision to make. I am going to have $750 to play with in a couple of weeks and I want to upgrade my computer somewhat. I am going to give my specs, what would you do to this system with $750?

Specs:

Cpu - AMD 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo - MSI K8N Neo2-F (MS-7025)

RAM - 1GB Kingston ValueRAM (2x512) Dual Channel at 1T

GPU - PNY 6800 GT 256Mb AGP

PSU - Antec 350Watt

Case - Antc Quiet Cooler w/x2 120mm fans

Monitor - Proview 777 Flat 17" CRT

HD's - WD 80GB, WD 40GB

CD/DVD - Generic 52x24x52 Burner, Lite-On DVD Drive

There's my system what would you guys do if you had $750. I can't decide on wether to get a really fast CPU, or get a new GPU and Mobo. Any suggestions on anything would be appreciated.

With 750, I would upgrade the cpu, mobo, and videocard and memory..
Epox 9npa+ Ultra - $95 (Is your current mobo socket 939 or not? I don't know anything about Neo2-F.. If so, then you really don't need a mobo upgrade and add that money to the GPU unless if the NEO2-F is unstable..)
7800GT probably - $300
CPU - You could get one of the opterons and overclock. - $200 bucks. Only problem is that their prices have skyrocketed. I bought my opteron 144 for like 145 bucks.. Lowest is lik 179 right now for Opteron144.
Corsair XMS 1 gig - $100 or so

$700 bucks. The prices are all estimates so add 25 or take.

Actual prices:
Epox 9npa+ ULtra: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA21121
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145488
CPU: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA22046
7800 GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130247

 

[JAG87]

change cpu, mobo, video card and a good hsf

cpu - opteron 165 (325 at newegg)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103588

mobo + card - 7800 GT with free evga nforce 4 mobo (359 right now at newegg)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238

hsf - whatever you like, but dont save too much you want a good one to oc the crap out of yor opteron.

with these pieces you will have a beefy machine, and an SLI mobo, which means that later on you can add another 7800 GT.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: bladefd

Originally posted by: CLohre
Okay I have a little decision to make. I am going to have $750 to play with in a couple of weeks and I want to upgrade my computer somewhat. I am going to give my specs, what would you do to this system with $750?

Specs:

Cpu - AMD 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo - MSI K8N Neo2-F (MS-7025)

RAM - 1GB Kingston ValueRAM (2x512) Dual Channel at 1T

GPU - PNY 6800 GT 256Mb AGP

PSU - Antec 350Watt

Case - Antc Quiet Cooler w/x2 120mm fans

Monitor - Proview 777 Flat 17" CRT

HD's - WD 80GB, WD 40GB

CD/DVD - Generic 52x24x52 Burner, Lite-On DVD Drive

There's my system what would you guys do if you had $750. I can't decide on wether to get a really fast CPU, or get a new GPU and Mobo. Any suggestions on anything would be appreciated.

With 750, I would upgrade the cpu, mobo, and videocard and memory..
Epox 9npa+ Ultra - $95 (Is your current mobo socket 939 or not? I don't know anything about Neo2-F.. If so, then you really don't need a mobo upgrade and add that money to the GPU unless if the NEO2-F is unstable..)
7800GT probably - $300
CPU - You could get one of the opterons and overclock. - $200 bucks. Only problem is that their prices have skyrocketed. I bought my opteron 144 for like 145 bucks.. Lowest is lik 179 right now for Opteron144.
Corsair XMS 1 gig - $100 or so

$700 bucks. The prices are all estimates so add 25 or take.

Actual prices:
Epox 9npa+ ULtra: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA21121
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145488
CPU: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA22046
7800 GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130247

he does need a new mobo, because its AGP.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What do you want to do with it that you can't right now?

One thing you might want to do is get a new monitor.

You can get a great CRT for cheap now or an LCD if you want to go that route.
still on the way for me

If you're not sure what you want to do, this is something you'd be sure to notice and should last you a while.

Unless you have a reason to stick with a 17" display, that would be big on my list.

If it's gaming you're after, I would then use the rest to move to PCI-e and a nice videocard. You could try to do CPU too, but that's going to stretch your budget more if you're trying to get a decent upgrade to everything.

A 6800gt is still pretty good too.

I think by law I'm required to mention upgrading your sound system too. Another upgrade that should last a while and it's somehting you'll really notice if you have something not so great now.

 

[aloser]

Personally, I'd just get a DVD burner or 2, a huge SATA hard drive (200GB+) and an extra gig or 2 of RAM - mobo/CPU/GPU seems to be decent (though it depends on how "high-end" you want your system to be).

 

[Tostada]

That's a little silly to ask what to do with $750 when you haven't even specificed what it is that you do with your computer. A Venice with 1GB RAM and a 6800GT is a decent system... but you're still asking about CPU/GPU/mobo upgrades. By far the worst part of your system is the old hard drives and the 17" CRT.

Personally, I'd spend $525 on a 20" LCD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001194

and $104 on a 250GB drive with a 16MB cache:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101220-12

and save the rest of the cash, maybe wait for the X2 Toledos to come down a little.

 

[CLohre]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I think by law I'm required to mention upgrading your sound system too. Another upgrade that should last a while and it's somehting you'll really notice if you have something not so great now.

I have a SOundbalster Audigy 2 ZS, but for some reason my system become';s unstable and I get a bluecreen of Death when I put it in. I'm guessing becasue of my 350watt PSU.
I mostly use my system for games and some Photoshop stuff every so often.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

An Antec 350watt should be fine with that system.

You might have a driver issue.

Maybe try a different PCI slot?

I'm not good with BSOD error codes, but if you can write it down it might give a clue about what's happening.

 

[cKGunslinger]

7800GT + Dell 2005fpw

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
7800GT + Dell 2005fpw

agp

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
7800GT + Dell 2005fpw

agp

Eep, I missed that. Yeah, I guess the whole Mobo+GPU upgrade is the wisest way to spend money. Or maybe get the AsRock Dual mobo that supports both AGP and PCIe, then get a second GB of RAM. That's $200 down. Bump up the PSU for another $50. That leaves $500. Plenty for a new monitor and some other accessories. Maybe even a larger, faster drive.

That 17" CRT just seems like almost a waste with such a nice gaming system, depending on its quality.

 

[CLohre]

Yea I bought the monitor at Circuit City when I bought my first computer a Compaq Presairo with a AMD 1800+. I have upgraded my system numerous times since then. I went from a 1800+ Compaq, then I built my own with a 2600+ them brought it to a 3200+ and relativly recently got a sky 939 3000+.

I am thinking on a new monitor.. either a 19" or a 22" CRT since they are cheaper and have good image quality. I wonderr if I would benifit from getting a much faster processor like a AMD 64 4000+ or a X2 3800+.

Edit: Ohh and I now have got my SB Audigy 2 ZS working...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: CLohre
Yea I bought the monitor at Circuit City when I bought my first computer a Compaq Presairo with a AMD 1800+. I have upgraded my system numerous times since then. I went from a 1800+ Compaq, then I built my own with a 2600+ them brought it to a 3200+ and relativly recently got a sky 939 3000+.

I am thinking on a new monitor.. either a 19" or a 22" CRT since they are cheaper and have good image quality. I wonderr if I would benifit from getting a much faster processor like a AMD 64 4000+ or a X2 3800+.

Seems like you upgrade a lot.

What did you think of the differences before like 2600+ AXP to 3200+ AXP?
If you thought differences like those were worth it, upgrading again might be a good idea. I would wait longer until there's a more affordable upgrade that would give you a significant boost.

Have you thought about overclocking your 3000+ instead of getting a new processor?

I would bet a new monitor would be much more significant in your overall hapiness with the system than going with a faster processor.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

go 2gigs for sure

 

[CLohre]

The difference between the Athlon XP 2600 and 3200, I think was quite alot. I had also gotten a DC kit of 512 Ram too which made all the games I played get large increases of FPS.

I attempted to Overclock.. But I am a bit shaky on procedure. My motherboard has some decent overclocking utilities built into the bios but I couldn't figure out how to change my Memory so it wouldn't run at such high speed when it was overclocked. I can cahnge the HTT from x1 to x5 but that didn't help that the RAM was runnig way too fast like 260 or more when I OC the Proc a little.

 

[Bonesdad]

nice lcd monitor
2gb of RAM

you can carry both of them over to the upgrade you do next month.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Definately upgrade the monitor and the hard drives. And overclock the 3000+, which will most likely require that you upgrade the PS.

Upgrading those components Monitor,HDD,PS will be a nice investment because they should last you through the next couple of upgrades. Video cards and CPU's seem to go out of date very quickly.

 

[CLohre]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Definately upgrade the monitor and the hard drives. And overclock the 3000+, which will most likely require that you upgrade the PS.

Upgrading those components Monitor,HDD,PS will be a nice investment because they should last you through the next couple of upgrades. Video cards and CPU's seem to go out of date very quickly.

Your telling me I bought my 6800 GT for $399 when they first came out boy was that dumb...
I wish I had a PCI-EX board so I could get a X1900 cause they look shiny.

I would love to OC but, I need help with setting the memory multipliers..

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Mem dividers are easy! Many here can help

200 is the default setting and runs memory at the same speed as your HT/FSB
166 is good for HT up to 240mhz, at 240mhz HT ram will be at stock 200mhz/DDR400
133 for 240-300mhz, at 300mhz HT ram will be at stock 200mhz

 

[CLohre]

Well I'm in the process of OC'ing now.... this is fun and time consuming. I'm gonna go easy cause I like my computer running and I need to get a new PSU because my Antec 350 I don't think will cut it. I brought the vcore to 1.45 but I'm kind a shaky on puttin it to 1.50.

 

[Rumple]

I would do the following:

Evga 7800GT w/mobo combo = $350

1 more gig ram = $80

Samsung 940b 19" LCD = $330

And i would go a little over budget and pick up an Enermax Liberty 400 watt PSU = $80

Thats $840 and one hell of a gaming rig.

 

[Tostada]

You're getting some pretty bad advice here.

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Eep, I missed that. Yeah, I guess the whole Mobo+GPU upgrade is the wisest way to spend money. Or maybe get the AsRock Dual mobo that supports both AGP and PCIe, then get a second GB of RAM. That's $200 down. Bump up the PSU for another $50. That leaves $500. Plenty for a new monitor and some other accessories. Maybe even a larger, faster drive.

That 17" CRT just seems like almost a waste with such a nice gaming system, depending on its quality.

You're seriously suggesting that he get a new motherboard and a $50 PSU when he's already got a Socket 939 board and a 350W Antec PSU? If you're going to upgrade the board, it should be to get a high-end PCI-E video card ... which you didn't suggest, so what's the point in the new board? And the PSU is fine (and a $50 one isn't going to be significantly better). Antec isn't the best out there, but this system isn't stressing it.

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
go 2gigs for sure

For sure? The only thing for sure is that he won't notice any difference in 99% of things, and it's certainly not a priority unless he's doing massive multitasking (which he obviously doesn't do, or he would be far from happy with a 17" CRT).

Originally posted by: CLohre

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Definately upgrade the monitor and the hard drives. And overclock the 3000+, which will most likely require that you upgrade the PS.

Upgrading those components Monitor,HDD,PS will be a nice investment because they should last you through the next couple of upgrades. Video cards and CPU's seem to go out of date very quickly.

Your telling me I bought my 6800 GT for $399 when they first came out boy was that dumb...
I wish I had a PCI-EX board so I could get a X1900 cause they look shiny.

I would love to OC but, I need help with setting the memory multipliers..

No, I think he's telling you that you bought a $399 video card when you have a $50 monitor that came with your Presario. Strange choice.

Your monitor and hard drives are several generations behind every other component in the system, so obviously they are the most practical things to upgrade. It's just a little bonus that monitors last almost forever and hard drives stay current a lot longer than video cards.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Tostada
You're getting some pretty bad advice here.

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Eep, I missed that. Yeah, I guess the whole Mobo+GPU upgrade is the wisest way to spend money. Or maybe get the AsRock Dual mobo that supports both AGP and PCIe, then get a second GB of RAM. That's $200 down. Bump up the PSU for another $50. That leaves $500. Plenty for a new monitor and some other accessories. Maybe even a larger, faster drive.

That 17" CRT just seems like almost a waste with such a nice gaming system, depending on its quality.

You're seriously suggesting that he get a new motherboard and a $50 PSU when he's already got a Socket 939 board and a 350W Antec PSU? If you're going to upgrade the board, it should be to get a high-end PCI-E video card ... which you didn't suggest, so what's the point in the new board? And the PSU is fine (and a $50 one isn't going to be significantly better). Antec isn't the best out there, but this system isn't stressing it.

Yes, I'm telling him to get a new MoBo, because the one he has has practically no upgrade path, video-wise. If he's concerned about saving money, a new AGP/PCIe mobo is a good stop-gap upgrade, as he could keep his current, still viable, 6800, and spend more money on his monitor/RAM/HD, which are his weakest components. It woulds eat a large portion of his upgrade money to upgrade to get the new mobo and a PCIe 7800GTX/X1900. That would leave him with a very unbalanced system, considering his 17" CRT. I suggested the new PSU, as he indicated he was having stability problems - if the other component upgrades get rid of those problems, then the PSU is not required.

No, he's not getting any bad advice here, he's getting a variety of advice, which is what happens when you have a decent system, a large amount of cash, and several opinions on what to do.

 

[CLohre]

Okay I have some more things to decide... I have pretty much figured out what I want. I made two choices. I made newegg wish list to show for what items.

Here's my newegg wishlists,

HSF, Monitor, PSU, RAM and Hard Drive Upgrade

Or

Motherboard, HSF, GPU and Power Supply Upgrade

Which one would you go for? More Ram HD and a better Monitor or a faster GPU and better PSU and Motherboard?

EDIT: Yes basically this is a GAming rig.