Is Socket 939 Worth Upgrading

[TheFireBlaster]

I am trying to decide if it is worth upgrading an old system that has been lying around for a while. This really came up when my son and I were loading up Civ 5 and my other son was watching us longingly. I realized I had the old box in the basement just sitting there and after a morning of GoogleFu, I am still not sure if it is worth dumping a couple hundred into it.

Motherboard - ABIT AV8 - VIA K8T800
CPU - AMD 64 3500+ (found an FX-60 for $100)
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT (motherboard has an AGP slot which I am gathering is going to be a big headache and the crux of 'is this even worth it?')
PSU - 480 W

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated. Obviously, we are not looking to run GTA 5 on Ultra, but if we could get CIV 5 running and then maybe some other not-completely-ancient games. Thanks!

(Motherboard manual says max 4GB memory, but I have seen two places say it is 8 - any insight on that as well would be great.)

 

[Calculagator]

I wouldn't spend much upgrading it. You will end up paying quite a bit extra because the parts are so old. As a point of comparison, you can pick up on ebay a used system with a Sandy Bridge i5, 4gb ram, basic hard drive, and windows 7 license for about $200. You can get a similar Nehalem i7/xeon system for even less-some of which include a decent GPU.

Regarding the RAM, it is very common for manufacturers to understate what their boards can actually do. The larger chips may not have been available when they validated their hardware. The only way to know for sure is to test it out.

I would either use the system as-is for what it can do without upgrades or look into a new/used system. Upgrades are not worth the expense and effort.

 

[clutchc]

As nice as it would be to have an old PC upgraded for the younger boy to enjoy too, that one is going to be kind of wasting your money. If it had a PCIe X16 slot you might be able to make a low end gamer out of it for less demanding games. But doing a quick search of available cards for 4X and 8X AGP cards doesn't show anything for gaming today.
I'm not even sure you can find a BIOS update for that old Abit anymore if you need to update it to recognize the FX60. Might be better to see about replacing the board/CPU with either a low end new one or use one. Of course, it will need an OS as well.

 

[TheFireBlaster]

Appreciate the feedback. This is the way I was leaning, but was hoping for insight from those with a little more experience. Great community with good, thoughtful info - again, appreciated!