Computer Upgrade - $400

[alucardk9]

I'm Keeping:
512 x 4 = 2Gig RAM DDR 184 Pin 333 Mhz
ATX Case
Soundblaster Audigy

I'm Upgrading:
AMD Athlon 2400+
Asus Motherboard
GeForce 2 5200

For:
AMD Athlon 64
A good Motherboard
POWERCOLOR R43A-ND3 Radeon X800 256MB DDR PCI Express x16
OR Open for suggestions

Also:
I have a 420W Power Supply 20 Pin

As you can see, I have an AMD, AGP Video... I'm looking to get 64 Bit, with PCI Express Action going on. If anyone has any suggestions to help within a 400$ limit, or as close to it as you can ( 400$ W/Out shipping is fine as well )

Also if I need a new P/S in there please help me out as well...

I'd greatly appreciate any / All inputs. I've been sitting here for a good 2 hours and keep running into cons for these motherboards.

I'll be ordering whatever may be found in a few days if you come across any short time specials.

Thanks again, and for taking the time to play with this for me.

 

[zoridon]

Hope your ram can run at ddr 3200 spds = 400 Mhz. Athalon 64 3000 rev e socket 939 is going for $160 on www.pricewatch.com your vid card runs about $130 to $140 range which leaves you $100 to spend on motherboard. the Biostar NF4ST-A9 is going for $78.98 on Newegg shipped. leaving you $20 extra to jump up your video card to the next level. I'd suggest going up to 6800 gs level power on vid card and spend the extra $40 or so dollars. That gives you a $200 dollar vid card for the system.

 

[alucardk9]

Hope your ram can run at ddr 3200 spds = 400 Mhz. Athalon 64 3000 rev e socket 939 is going for $160 on www.pricewatch.com your vid card runs about $130 to $140 range which leaves you $100 to spend on motherboard. the Biostar NF4ST-A9 is going for $78.98 on Newegg shipped. leaving you $20 extra to jump up your video card to the next level. I'd suggest going up to 6800 gs level power on vid card and spend the extra $40 or so dollars. That gives you a $200 dollar vid card for the system.

I know I'm being picky, but not sure if you read the Pro's and Con's on that Motherboard you suggested to me, Also it requires 24 Pin Power, Is that all they make anymore? I was told by a local Computer Deal ( Private ) that the 24 pin vs 20 Pin has only a difference to support a dual core, It sounded good and all, until I read up on the DFI Lanparty reviews, where they said that board was very stringy about 20 pin and 20 to 24 pin adapters. Can anyone give me further review please?

 

[alucardk9]

Research, Assistance Please!!!

Upon Further Research, I have come up with the following Upgrade, Please Advise...

POWER SUPPLY

HEC HP 585DR 585W ORION HP 585D
$39 - 15 (rebate) = $24
MWAVE.com

MOTHERBOARD

Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI
- 256 MB
- PCI - E X 16 Support
- Socket 939
- 24 Pin Power
$88.50 Mwave.com
$104.00 Newegg.com

PROCESSOR

AMD Athlon 64 3000+
- Socket 939
$155 Mwave.com
$160 Newegg.com

VIDEO CARD

Power Color X550 256MB
- PCI - E
- DDR2
$72 MWave.com
$75 Newegg.com

Total $336... W/O Shipping and Handleing... All reviews of above equipment are very good. If I can get some reviews on what this should turn out to be, or If I missed anything, PLEASE POST!

Thanks Again.

 

[judey]

you're taking a chance on that power supply, however for that price why not. power supply manufacturers these days are not exactly straightforward and tend to sell crap. but the specs on it look good and its not like you're buying a $150 powersupply and being setup for huge disappointment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186056
Socket 754 board $63

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104237
Sempron 64 3100+ $99

I'm a big advocate of sempron's. I've got one, though it's doesn't have the 64bit instructions like the one above. These things overclock like crazy with the stock cooler...I bumped mine from 1800mhz to 2178mhz no problem and without any change in temp really. My RAM is what kept me from going higher. It also performs great with games, just as good as the athlons. This is a cheap option to get 64 bit computing and good performance out of your system.

that leaves you over $200 to get a decent video card, 6800GS or comparable radeon.

 

[alucardk9]

you're taking a chance on that power supply, however for that price why not. power supply manufacturers these days are not exactly straightforward and tend to sell crap. but the specs on it look good and its not like you're buying a $150 powersupply and being setup for huge disappointment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186056
Socket 754 board $63

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104237
Sempron 64 3100+ $99

I'm a big advocate of sempron's. I've got one, though it's doesn't have the 64bit instructions like the one above. These things overclock like crazy with the stock cooler...I bumped mine from 1800mhz to 2178mhz no problem and without any change in temp really. My RAM is what kept me from going higher. It also performs great with games, just as good as the athlons. This is a cheap option to get 64 bit computing and good performance out of your system.

that leaves you over $200 to get a decent video card, 6800GS or comparable radeon.

Thanks so much Judey! I havent really explored the 754 Socket options... My only concern is that it only has 3 DDR Chip Slots. Does this mean it does not support Dual Channeling? If thats the case do you know of any boards 1 step up for a few extra bucks that has 4 DDR Slots? As you may have seen, I have 4X512 RAM Chips atm.

Thanks again!

 

[judey]

well that's actually a drawback of socket 754, the processors only support single channel mode. This does not mean you can't use normal DDR sticks, it's just the memory bandwidth is limited to single channel. I'm using two dual channel sticks right now. However, is this going to hurt your performance versus dual channel? Slightly, but you probably won't even notice. See this article: http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=ddr400myths&page=5&cookie%5Ftest=1



I picked that board because it's got the nforce4 chipset, and i'm partial to nforce chipsets. However, there are also some good boards with VIA or SIS chipsets that you could use as well that would increase your selection and I'm sure one of them has space for four DIMMs. Tom's Hardware did a review on some: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/04/15/4_amd_socket_754_microatx_motherboards/

 

[judey]

bah i take it back, looks like there are no 754 boards with 4 dimm slots

and those above are all microatx boards with only 2 dimm slots...

well you could upgrade your RAM too:
g.skill 2GB kit $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231012

and you could still get a better video card:
XFX 6600GT $119
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150098

that's about $380 total w/o shipping

 

[alucardk9]

Cool Judey, I really appreciate your assistance, knowledge and research for me. I'm actually at work atm so I'll have to look a bit more in depth after work, and order them tomorrow!! (Via Payday)

:twisted: WoW is gonna love me :twisted:

But that's not the ONLY reason for this upgrade, Quake 4 looks interesting, and the new UT is comming out sometime this year.

 

[judey]

np...

but i must reiterate the powersupply issue. modern graphics cards (geforce 6+, radeon x7+) are real power hogs and you'll know right off the bat if that cheapo powersupply is gonna be able to handle it. but again, the specs look good and i figure you should be in good shape...it should at minimum be able to reach 70% of what it claims which would still be enough for your system.

however if you do run into problems, i can attest for two cases below and the powersupplies that come with them because i'm using them right now. I took a gamble because i was really just shopping for the case itself and if the powersupply in was good enough then that's just a bonus:

For my 7800GT system
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144001

For my 6600GT system
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811200024

good luck!

 

[apache_lives]

why bother with S754? go with a 939 board - then you can (later) get an X2 or any other chip for 939, more speed potential

 

[zoridon]

I would have suggested the socket 754 board in my sig but you mentioned having 4 sticks of ram. cost wise you would be about equal going with socket 939 and still have the upgrade path. BTW 6800GS 256 meg card is going for as low as $165 on tigerdirect with rebate.