To late to upgrade?

[pawn]

should I upgrade my current system or start fresh.
If I start fresh my son would get my current system.
and I would probly have a $1500 budget for the new system.
I would probly start buying in Dec, for parts to upgrade or start fresh.

Current system. Quick specs

AMD 64 +3400
Asus Ati 9800XT 256 DDR2
1 GB Corsair 3200 LLPro Low-Lat
WD Raptor 10k 70 GB
Zalman PS 400 watt( i think)
Win XP

Thanks for your Time.

 

[g-paw]

With $1500 you'd be better of building a new one. Do you need everything, e.g., monitor, OS, speakers? How will you use it?

How will you use the machine, e.g., gaming, video editing, etc?

 

[pawn]

yea i'll need to get a new monitor, OS and speakers

 

[wingsofzion]

Build a great machine with the $1500, use that older machine for work. This is a recent build i put together for someone:

Mobo: Asus P5K Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131182
Price: $220

PSU: Thermaltake 500W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817153050
Price: $100

Case: Thermaltake Armor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811133154
Price: $150

CPU: Intel E6750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115029
Price: $195

Memory: Corsair 2GB DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145590
Price: $80

HDD: WD 400GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144423
Price: $80

Video Card: XFX Nvidia 8800GTS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150171
Price: $280

DVD Drive: Asus DVD Sata Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827135145
Price: $33

OS: Windows Vista Premium http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16832116202
Price: $112

Monitor: View Sonic 20" Widescreen http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16824116075
Price: $190

Price: $1440

This is a basic example of what you can build with alot of room for improvement.

 

[g-paw]

Certainly nothing wrong with wingsofzion recommendations but you could save some money with one of these mobos. The ASUS would be good if you need a firewire, e.g., for a digital camcorder.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180

There are any number of nice cases, e.g., The advantage of the Sonata II and Sonata III is they come with good PSUs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

If your going to game, the above is a good video card but if you don't game, could save quite a bit on a video card.

 

[pawn]

do i need to get 2 XFX Nvidia 8800GTS? or just one.

 

[g-paw]

do i need to get 2 XFX Nvidia 8800GTS? or just one.

You only need one unless you want to run SLI, even if you get an SLI board to get something like onboard firewire. I've read both pros and cons to running SLI but the consensus seems to be that the increase in performance is not worth the additional cost, low bang for the buck, unless cost is really no object. Some very good reviews/articles on this site, extremetech, and anandtech that discuss SLI, some in reviews of high end off the shelf gaming machines. Suggest you do some research on SLI given the cost involved

 

[Falken699]

Yeah, new system time bro.