Please help me!!

[railrunner]

4 years ago i built my first rigg. had little expierience with it but i thought it sounded fun, anyway this is what i have:
Shuttle AV42 ATX mainboard
P4 2.0 Ghz
GeForce fx5200 AGP(used to have radeon 9200SE)
1Gig DDR SDRAM
mid tower
Seagate 80 Gig HD
500 Watt power supply

lately i've been thinking about upgrading but when i started looking into components so much has changed that i'm kinda lost. one reason for the upgrade is because my P4 isn't good enough to run some of the newer games. i'm not a hard core gamer but i like to play at home and i like it to play smooth. my wife does some pictur editing and we web surf a lot and my daughter does her ipod stuff. just wondering what i should do. gut most of my system or build completely new? also my dvd rw and hard drive are eide no sata which looks like a problem. i have some ideas but i'm not sure if i'm over doing it or not, i dont want to spend a fortune. this is what i was thinking about, tell me if it's overkill or not for what i want to do:

ASUS M3A78
AMD Phenom 8650+ triple core
2.3 Ghz
chipset AMD 770 & SB 700
max capacity 8GB ddr2
1xATA 133
6xsata2
1x PCI-express x 16
2x PCI-express
3x PCI slots
audio VT1708B 8-channel HD audio codec

also...how much power supply do i need these days? sorry i rambled on but any help would be great thanx

 

[ir_efrem]

I am still using a 500w power supply on my new build. It is an Antec Earthwatts to be exact. I do not know the quality of yours though.

Tell me what Kind of money you want to spend and I will try to make a decent recommendation for you.

 

[railrunner]

my power supply is a power magic 500W and it's never given me any trouble. i would like to keep my spending under $400 total if possible. i know if i build a new rigg it will be more than that but $400 is a ballpark for upgrading

 

[Akebono 98]

$400 is a bit tight, given where you want to go. You would like to have a quad core for Photoshop and lots of storage (and backup) for the music collection and pictures. Gaming requires a fast video card and overclocking (if possible).

The basics:

1. Q6600
2. Sapphire 4850 512MB
3. WD Caviar Black 640GB
4. Xigmatek HDT-S1283 with backplate and MX-2 thermal paste


About the only thing that you can salvage from your old rig is the old HDD with your data.

Why not just keep the old rig for surfing and then build a new one for the more power hungry uses?

 

[railrunner]

i dont really think i want to get into overclocking for gaming...i'm not quite that hardcore...i just like the games to run smooth and i dont game online

 

[ir_efrem]

I would go with the following for that budget

Hard Drive - 320gb Western Digital
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098

Video Card - ATI 4850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

Memory - 4gb G-Skill DDR2 @ 1066 MHZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226

Motherboard - Gigabyte Ultra Durable 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128380

Processor - Pentium E5200, 2.5 GHZ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072


My reasoning on going with an Intel is because it is stupid easy to overclock this CPU (not to mention it will work very well at stock speeds). A quick change to the FSB and it will perform very close to other processors that cost much more. Some mild overclocking can be done without changing the heat-sink as well. If you like AMD products, go with the ones that you picked out, that CPU and Motherboard wont disappoint you. I have purchased the E5200, twice now and both overclocked to 3.0Ghz without changing anything besides the FSB and the heat increase was negligible.

My product list hits at $401.95 US Dollars (add $14 to ship it to my house)

You can use slower rated memory, but its nice having Higher rated memory if you ever decide to overclock, plus the extra cost isn't much. In reality though the E5200 doesn't really need faster memory to overclock. Don't forget that I mentioned, this CPU performs quite well without overclocking.

The CPU that you picked out isn't really known to be an Awesome performer but it isn't god awful or anything.

My last 4 motherboards have been Gigabyte and they all are still running flawlessly. This is a brand preference only, and because I have always had great luck with them.

I know you said that you didn't want to overclock and my choices remain the same with that in mind. You don't need to overclock to get these components to work well with most games. Just remember, with a $400 budget you wont be playing all the newest titles with all the details and setting maxed out. You will be able to play with decent frame rates and most medium details though.

 

[railrunner]

i really appreciate those tips..those are actually some decent prices, not sure if i need that big of a HD, i could cut some costs there and use the one eide slot on the board for my existing HD and add to it later. what do you think?

 

[ir_efrem]

Do whatever you want to save some cash.

80 gb isn't much though, install a few newer games and all your space is gone. There was a 250gb hard drive at the same price as the one I listed. Other smaller hard drives cost a little bit less, so why not go with 320gb. Either way, I think you will find some limitations on exactly what you can do with 80gb pretty quickly.

A newer faster drive will really help with system performance anyway, you may as well get it now and install your operating system on it and enjoy the immediate benefits. Just my thoughts, it's your money and you know how much you have to spend.

 

[railrunner]

i was just thinking too...i'll have to get a new power supply for a new board with the PCI-E slots and stuff.....will a new power supply have power plugs for my old eide HD?

 

[ir_efrem]

Yes
I recommend any of the Antec power supplies that are 80+ certified.

I have had to go cheap on a power supply on a couple occasions in my life, I purchased 2 Hipro power supplies now and they are working wonderfully.

I own a 500w Antec Earthwatts, and a Hipro 480w power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817174036

The Hipro is my second system and is a 24/7 machine and it works flawlessly

The other Hipro that I had is 2 years old and is also working flawlessly, I gave it to my sister because her power supply died and it's still working great.

 

[aford10]

This system will run $353 before shipping and after all rebates. The board is good quality, but it's a micro atx board, so not much possibility for future upgrades. I put a psu in there b/c it doesn't appear yours has the 6 pin pcie connector, which is required by most quality modern video cards. It's a decent budget system that will do what you are looking to do, but still leaves some wiggle room.

cpu - 125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115132&Tpk=E7300
HD - 42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075
Board - 53
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128357
Video card - 80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127394
RAM - 23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161182
PSU - 30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052

 

[ir_efrem]

I do not want to sound critical at all about your suggested build aford10, but once you cross a certain point in price you may as well spend the money on something a bit better.

The PhenomII X3 can be had for just a little more, and still spend a similar amount on a motherboard.

Before I make make another recommendation to the OP, I would like to know what games he plans on running and at what resolution.

The 4830 is a nice card for the price but we really do not know what the OP needs for graphics power.

In my book, I would always say get a better graphics card Now in case the OP wants to play an up and comming game title.

It all comes down to how much exactly is going to be spent and exactly what games are going to be played at a given resolution.

 

[aford10]

I do not want to sound critical at all about your suggested build aford10, but once you cross a certain point in price you may as well spend the money on something a bit better.

The PhenomII X3 can be had for just a little more, and still spend a similar amount on a motherboard.

Before I make make another recommendation to the OP, I would like to know what games he plans on running and at what resolution.

The 4830 is a nice card for the price but we really do not know what the OP needs for graphics power.

In my book, I would always say get a better graphics card Now in case the OP wants to play an up and comming game title.

It all comes down to how much exactly is going to be spent and exactly what games are going to be played at a given resolution.

The OP said he wanted to keep it under $400. Sounded like a budget to me.
That's a good point. We don't know. I was simply going off the OP description (web surf, few games smoothly, ipod).

Anytime you are looking to build a system, it's better not to bottleneck a nice part by skimping on another part. The E5200 is a good cpu if you are planning on OC'ng it to around 3Ghz. The E7300 has a higher fsb if you aren't planning on OC'ng. For someone who isn't into the more intensive games, the 4830 will be plenty, 4850 maybe be overkill. The OP psu also is lacking the 6pin pcie connector, which requires a new psu, have to figure that in the build. DDR2 is also unnecessary as DDR2 800 is cheap and reliable. It can always be OC'd later.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

To the op, you can reuse the optical drive with the ide connection. I'm still running my drive like that, but I just run a sata hd and have no issues.

 

[railrunner]

would i be able to plug my old ide hd in the 1 ata100 spot on a new mobo? and if i did would there be conflicts moving my old hd with my OS on it and using it as my hd? i just really dont feel like saving all my files and stuff and wiping it clean you know what i mean?

 

[ir_efrem]

Plugging an old drive into a new motherboard will work. I have done it before with success, other people have done it with no success.

If it does manage to work you will need to reactivate Windows at the very least. All that is left is hoping that old driver settings in the registry do not conflict with your new hardware.

I have seen some people mentioning having real issues when changing from NVIDIA to ATI or vice-versa. If I were you I would find the tools to wipe out NVIDIA from your system before you move the drive to the new motherboard (just use your google skilz).

Unless of course you are going to buy an NVIDIA graphics card, for the price I would recommend a 9600gt or 9800gt, both are capable of running TONS of games (with 9800 being a tad faster of course); this is if you prefer to stick with NVIDIA (of course).

In short "yes" you can use the hard drive and your optical drive on that 1 ATA connector, and yes you can cross your fingers and hope you don't need to wipe out the OS. Keep in mind that the hard drive will be running at reduced performance while it is on the same physical cable as a CDROM drive. You can also try to use the repair option in widows setup if it doesn't work. No matter what I would HIGHLY suggest that you back up important data, never mind the installed programs.

 

[aford10]

The 4850 will blow away the 9600gt and the 9800gt. Your new board will very likely not recognize the HD, you can try to repair the windows installation. However, it's a good idea to back up your important data. You may have to format, a fresh windows install can clear up a lot of cobwebs at the same time.

 

[ir_efrem]

Yes indeed the 4850 is faster and it costs more. Those 2 I listed are just alternatives, some people do buy depending on brand =) and those 2 cards (9600gt, 9800gt) do play many games just fine.